Comments on: Giving Away Hardware http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/ Linux, politics, and other interesting things Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:42:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: etbe http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12385 etbe Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:59 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12385 John: That's a good point. Of course the higher speed RAM uses more power than the older RAM, and the power used by the motherboard chipset and the video controller has also increased. As far as I recall P3 class machines usually didn't have cooling fans on the video card (for the cards that shipped with them anyway) or on the motherboard chipset. Of course the next thing that has to be considered is the power used in creating a PC, which in some cases may be more than the PC uses in it's life. If I'm deploying a machine for 24*7 use then I will carefully choose the machine for low power operation. If it's a desktop PC for someone who uses it for a few hours a week then I'll use something power hungry (better to use a little extra power running a P4 than to waste the energy invested in building a power efficient machine). John: That’s a good point. Of course the higher speed RAM uses more power than the older RAM, and the power used by the motherboard chipset and the video controller has also increased. As far as I recall P3 class machines usually didn’t have cooling fans on the video card (for the cards that shipped with them anyway) or on the motherboard chipset.

Of course the next thing that has to be considered is the power used in creating a PC, which in some cases may be more than the PC uses in it’s life. If I’m deploying a machine for 24*7 use then I will carefully choose the machine for low power operation. If it’s a desktop PC for someone who uses it for a few hours a week then I’ll use something power hungry (better to use a little extra power running a P4 than to waste the energy invested in building a power efficient machine).

]]> By: John Hughes http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12381 John Hughes Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:14:54 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12381 I'd expect a Pentium-M (or it's descendants, Core solo & Core duo) to be quite a bit better than a P4. That's what they were made for after all. The Pentium-D is a development the the P4, so shares it's "more power, Igor!" design. I’d expect a Pentium-M (or it’s descendants, Core solo & Core duo) to be quite a bit better than a P4. That’s what they were made for after all.

The Pentium-D is a development the the P4, so shares it’s “more power, Igor!” design.

]]> By: etbe http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12362 etbe Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:03:25 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12362 http://doc.coker.com.au/environment/computer-power-use/ See the above URL for the power use of some machines. You will notice that P3 is better than P4, and P4 is better than Pentium-D. I haven't tested any of the Core and Core2 systems, but I doubt that they would be much better than the P4 and am almost certain that they wouldn't be as good as a P3. http://doc.coker.com.au/environment/computer-power-use/

See the above URL for the power use of some machines. You will notice that P3 is better than P4, and P4 is better than Pentium-D. I haven’t tested any of the Core and Core2 systems, but I doubt that they would be much better than the P4 and am almost certain that they wouldn’t be as good as a P3.

]]> By: John Hughes http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12361 John Hughes Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:26:01 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/02/23/giving-away-hardware/#comment-12361 Given that old hardware (especially anything with a PentiumIV) probably uses more energy than new stuff maybe this is not a totally good idea? Given that old hardware (especially anything with a PentiumIV) probably uses more energy than new stuff maybe this is not a totally good idea?

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