From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Fri May 16 12:58:33 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2C92737B404 for ; Fri, 16 May 2003 12:58:33 -0700 (PDT) Received: from gw.catspoiler.org (217-ip-163.nccn.net [209.79.217.163]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6559243F75 for ; Fri, 16 May 2003 12:58:32 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from truckman@FreeBSD.org) Received: from FreeBSD.org (mousie.catspoiler.org [192.168.101.2]) by gw.catspoiler.org (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h4GJwFM7058958; Fri, 16 May 2003 12:58:20 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from truckman@FreeBSD.org) Message-Id: <200305161958.h4GJwFM7058958@gw.catspoiler.org> Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 12:58:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Don Lewis To: edhall@weirdnoise.com In-Reply-To: <200305161931.h4GJVxnM023264@screech.weirdnoise.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/plain; charset=us-ascii cc: dillon@apollo.backplane.com cc: freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.org cc: drais@wow.atlasta.net Subject: Re: Via EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 19:58:33 -0000 On 16 May, Ed Hall wrote: > Like Matt says, you'd only get such a system if power, noise, or size > is a strong factor. Power here in PG&E-land is a significant cost -- > I figure that my ~40W system will pay for itself in a couple of years > compared to the average 200W drawn by most 2GHz+ boxes out there. > But it's only a bit faster than my old 333MHz P-II -- fast enough for > surfing, modest development, and as a front-end to other networked > systems. Speaking of power consumption, my firewall box uses a standard Socket 370 motherboard and one of the newer Celerons, which I underclocked. The disk is an IBM 2.5 inch 10 GB drive. I think the power supply is the standard ATX form factor, but I think it's only rated at 90W. According to my handy Radio Shack watt meter, it draws 39 W. I went this route because I wanted an affordable low-power machine that could use ECC RAM. It's also the quietest machine in the house, though probably not nearly as good as the EPIA.