65W vs 45W

[Gamingphreek]

Hey Guys,

I am running a Brisbane based Athlon X2 3600+ right now. The HSF, I believe, has a bearing that is going in the fan and I am looking to replace the cooler.

In looking, given that this is a 65W TDP, the X2, I noticed that some of the newer cores have the lower power model specification which signifies that they operate with a 45W TDP.

This is an HTPC. Thus, I am planning on getting a Zalman 7000 series cooler for the case, but any chance to lower the power (and thus heat) output of the system is a welcome addition.

Do you think the 20 Watt drop will be worth an additional $50?

-Kevin

 

[veri745]

I'd say no. a 65W TDP doesn't mean your processor is actually drawing 65W, so it may not even be a 20W power savings. Plus, even it it were, at $0.11/kWh it would take over 2.5 years of 24/7 usage to save $50 worth of electricity.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: veri745
I'd say no. a 65W TDP doesn't mean your processor is actually drawing 65W, so it may not even be a 20W power savings. Plus, even it it were, at $0.11/kWh it would take over 2.5 years of 24/7 usage to save $50 worth of electricity.

Well a couple reasons I am considering it:

1.) I am a Senior in College (Woohoo ) and I'm in the dorms. Thus no A/C.
2.) Granted, the processor should not scale to the 65 Watt often given that the video card onboard has full HD Decode; however, having a lower ceiling with additional processor power can't hurt.

-Kevin

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835200042

Even though it uses a sleeve bearing, you could replace the fan when needed.

 

[yh125d]

For an HTPC the difference between a 45w cpu and a 65w cpu at the ~10% usage which is normal during playback is probably 2w or less. Not worth mentioning really

 

[LoneNinja]

Have you tried under volting your cpu? All they do to make the energy efficient models is undervolt them to reduce power consumption and heat.

 

[hans007]

unless you plan on making use of the power of a new chip, i cant say its worth the $50 (i'm assuming you mean, say buying a 5050e for $60.... and not counting say selling your 3600+).

if its just an htpc it probably will not be running at load most of the time. that and your chip doesnt actually use 65W at load (if its a brisbane 3600+ it probably uses like 35 watts @ load). the 65W and 45W ratings are just for the heat class of that chip.

so basically AMD goes.. look all our brisbane chips will use no more than 65W. doesnt mean most will even come close, its just a rating so heatsink makers can make a heatsink that can clear 65W. in the brisbane line the only chips that realy use anywhere near 65W is the 5600+ which is the highest chip in the line. I mean for example...

the brisbane g2 5600+ is 2.9ghz. the g2 5800+ is 3.0 ghz. 5600+ is 65W tdp, and the 5800+ is 89W. that doesnt mean the 100mhz jump added 24 W of load heat. it just means that the 5800+ at max theoretical load (which is very unlikely) went over 65W , into the 89W class (which is obviously greater than 65W and less than 89W , not just 89W). similarly AMD chips that are over 89 are in the 89-125W, and then 125-140 for the 140W TDP chips.


also at idle all brisbane chips run at I believe 1000mhz @ .96 volts or something. so every brisbane chip will be dissipating the same anyway no matter which chip yuou have at idle.

a dvd can be played back @ basically idle.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Hey Guys,

I am running a Brisbane based Athlon X2 3600+ right now. The HSF, I believe, has a bearing that is going in the fan and I am looking to replace the cooler.

In looking, given that this is a 65W TDP, the X2, I noticed that some of the newer cores have the lower power model specification which signifies that they operate with a 45W TDP.

This is an HTPC. Thus, I am planning on getting a Zalman 7000 series cooler for the case, but any chance to lower the power (and thus heat) output of the system is a welcome addition.

Do you think the 20 Watt drop will be worth an additional $50?

-Kevin

i did exactly that... my net power draw was -2 watts on idle and -8 watts on load for going from a same mhz 65 watt X2 to a 45 watt one.

 

[Denithor]

talt - did the new (45W) chip run any cooler than the older one?

 

[taltamir]

i didn't check the temps. only the at the wall wattage.