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Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 11:22:10 -0800
From: Tim Kientzle <kientzle@acm.org>
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To: Martin Cracauer <cracauer@cons.org>
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cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Power consumption in desktop computers
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Martin Cracauer wrote:
> Here is what my powermeter thinks my desktops are using with various
> options:
> 
> System 1 ("wavehh", FreeBSD-4-stable):
> - 1300 MHz Celeron
> Base power consumption with all drives: 99 watts
> - No drives connected: 82 watts
> 
> System 2: 
> - AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83GHz 
> Base system with all drives: 	148 watts

Ouch!  I've tested a bunch of 'business-grade' desktops around
my office, and they all run 40-60 watts during normal use (not
including monitor) with peak power at boot time up to 70-80 watts.
This includes some P4s with lots of memory, CD-RWs, etc.
(The one exception is an AMD Duron system; it seems that
the AMD processors are uniformly power-hungry.)

I'm told that Mini-ITX systems pull around 20w, if
you're serious about low power:  I'm eyeing one of
those for my office mail server.  Any decent laptop should
be under 30 watts.

Tim