KILL A WATT owners report in

[M0RPH]

Been playing with my new KILL A WATT and I'd like to compare idle power usage.

Dell E520
E4300 C2D CPU
Nvidia 8600GT
4GB RAM
2 hard drives

~90 Watts at idle


I plan to upgrade my system next year with Sandy Bridge or Llano and I'd like to have a system that idles at 50W or less with the integrated graphics. Think that will be doable?

 

[RebateMonger]

Some readings I've taken over the last year:

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My Windows Home Servers:

The first two WHS machines both have a single 320 GB or 640 GB SATA hard drive, so they are pretty comparable.

WHS1 is an ASROCK Core2Duo motherboard with a 2.5 GHz 4500 dual-core and built-in Intel VGA and 512MB of RAM. It's in an Antec Solution-Series mid-tower case with an Antec 350 Watt power supply.

WHS2 is the MSI Wind with the built-in 1.6 GHz Atom processor, 60 Watt power supply (inline), built-in Intel VGA, and 512 MB of RAM.

Server--------IDLE-----------Load
WHS1 -------56 Watts -----60 Watts
WHS2 -------30 Watts------30 Watts

I also measured my old WHS box, with an Abit IT7 motherboard with P4 Celeron 1.7 GHz processor and THREE hard drives. It has an Antec 430 Watt power supply and seemed to put out quite a bit of heat and noise. The additional two hard drives probably account for 15 to 20 (idle) watts of power draw.

Celeron 1.7 ---112 Watts ---150 Watts (balancing drives)

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My SBS 2003 Servers:

Well, my SBS 2003 server wasn't as bad as I thought. First, it's actually a 2.5 GHz Celeron D, which isn't all that hot-running. It's got a pair of Seagate 160 GB SATA drives in RAID 1 (using an onboard Adaptec RAID chipset), 2.5 GB of DDR2 ECC memory, and onboard Intel video.

Server---------- Idle ------- Final Boot
Dell SC420 ---- 80 Watts ------120 Watts (Celeron D, 2.53 GHz, 2.25 GB ECC DDR2, two WD 160GB drives)
Dell SC440 ----85 Watts -----105 Watts (C2Duo 6300 (1.86 GHz), 8 GB ECC DDR2, two Hitachi 1 TB SATA drives.)

=========================
My personal desktop:

Desktop --------- Idle---------- Boot
Desktop1 (old) --85 Watts -------100 Watts (P4 2.26 GHz, 1 GB DDR, one hard drive, Ti4200 Video)
Desktop2 (new) --- 115 Watts --- 140 Watts (C2D E6300 1.86 GHz, 8 GB DDR2, two hard drives, 9600 GSO video)

================================
Some CPU and Video Card readings:

Ti4200 = 30 Watts
8600 GT = 30 Watts to 50 Watts, depending on usage. Verified 50 Watts: http://www.cpuid.com/vvikoo-8600gt-hd2600pro.php
9600 GSO = apparently about 60 Watts to 100 Watts, depending on usage. Verified 100 Watts: http://www.cpuid.com/vvikoo_9600gt.php
P4 2.4 GHz - 67 Watts
C2Duo 1.86 = 65 Watts

 

[MrK6]

A couple of my own rigs I've tested since I bought a Kill-a-Watt:

Q6600 @ 3.6GHz @ 1.375V, EP45-UD3P, 2x2GB G.Skill DDR2-1000 @ 1080MHz 2.16V, GTX295 @ 648/1242/1116, 2x 1TB Caviar Blacks, 4x120mm fans, Corsair HX620 PSU (~80% efficient)
Idle - 190W, Gaming load - 515W

Same rig as above, but Q6600 @ 3.2GHz, 1.2375V, GTX295 @ stock and undervolted
Idle - 170W, Gaming load - 370W

Current rig (in my signature) at 4GHz CPU, 1.35V, no power saving options enabled -
Idle - 123W, Gaming load - 300W

At current specs in signature, all power saving options enabled -
Idle - 82W, Gaming load - 245W

I plan to upgrade my system next year with Sandy Bridge or Llano and I'd like to have a system that idles at 50W or less with the integrated graphics. Think that will be doable?

I think it's quite possible. You could probably do it now with an i3 530, especially if you undervolted it. I've gotten my current rig down to 75W idle when I take the CPU back to stock, and could probably go even lower if I undervolted it. Add the fact that the 5870 still pulls at least 20W at idle, you're almost down to 50W there, nevermind that you'd eliminate two CPU cores with an i3 530.

 

[Udgnim]

CPU: E8500 @ 4.1 Ghz, 1.36 VCore, LLC on, Speedstep off
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
RAM: 2*2GB Corsair 1066 DDR2 RAM, 2.1V
Video Card: 4870 512, 245 / 200 2D clocks, 1.263V
Hard Drives: Velocirpator 300, Hiatchi 160 7200, Samsung 1GB 7200
PSU: Silverstone Olympia 650W
OS: Windows XP
Fans: 3 120mm on lowest speed, 1 3*40mm fan over RAM

Idle: 124W

 

[21stHermit]

KAW from the last few weeks:

      PSU          FF       No Load      Idle     Comments
Seasonic 180W     SFX        7W           44W     SS-180SFD   
Sparkle 200W      SFX        9W           45W     FSP200-50SNV
Antec EW 380W     ATX        6W           34W     EA-380 80+
TT 420W           ATX       14W           45W     Thermaltake HPC-420-102DF
Bestec 250W       ATX        6W           39W     ATX-250-12Z Compaq OEM
[SIZE=1]
[SIZE=2]All the PSU's were connected to a i3-530 on a Gigabyte microATX MB w/4GB DDR3 and a notebook HDD[/SIZE].[/SIZE]

No load is simply shorting the green to any black, nothing connected. Not a meaningful PC test, but of interest for its own sake.

I'm currently soldering up a Dell RM112, 235W 80+ Silver, should handily beat all the above PSU's. I'll add it to the list in a few days.