Power consumption in desktop computers

[Tim Kientzle]

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