the most efficient 1150?

[Kledgie]

I'm building an eco friendly rig with an Intel MSI H81M ECO board. I think i have to go with a 35w. Can anyone recommend a CPU that runs cool, efficiently, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Many thanks.

 

[Burpo]

Intel I3-4130T

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-4130T+@+2.90GHz

 

[ao_ika_red]

I know it's a bit off topic, but if you need something more power efficient have a look at this. It's based on Intel's Braswell (Atom / Celeron line) with just 10W of TDP.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157619&cm_re=n3150-_-13-157-619-_-Product

 

[crashtech]

I think it's hard to find new 35W Haswells anymore, but if you are looking for used ones, you might add the 4160T and 4170T to the list. They are 35W as well, but at 3.1 and 3.2GHz respectively. If you can find a 4170T for less than 10% more than a 4130T, it might be worthwhile to consider.

 

[Kledgie]

I know it's a bit off topic, but if you need something more power efficient have a look at this. It's based on Intel's Braswell (Atom / Celeron line) with just 10W of TDP.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157619&cm_re=n3150-_-13-157-619-_-Product

Wow, that's really impressive. I haven't looked into those really. I know that the soldered cpu is more efficient. Are there any other ones I should consider? Probably hard to beat 10 tdp.

What's a good price for the 4130T used? Like 80 and under?

Thank you for the answers, guys.

 

[crashtech]

I'd try to stay about $70, myself. The last 10 sold on ebay averaged $70.40. If you are in a hurry, $80 is probably not hard to find.

 

[Yuriman]

My testing has shown that lower watt CPUs aren't really more efficient in sustained loads when you look at total system power consumption, reason being that you have a lot of "fixed" power costs in the system. It will depend on your use-case though.

Be aware that both 35w and 55w CPUs will draw the same power at idle. The faster CPU will draw more under load, and be less efficient there, but spend less time there too.

Power consumption for my i5:

Performance per watt for just my i5:

Performance per watt taking the whole system power consumption into account:

For this particular CPU, sustained loads are most efficient at 2.8-3.2ghz. For a CPU with half the cores, the most efficient clockspeed will be higher because your fixed power costs will be the same. My guess is that a 4170 would be more efficient overall than a 4130T.

 

[crashtech]

They are all right there in the sweet spot, and there are possible thermal considerations here which haven't been asked about.

 

[vinhom]

Is it feasible to run such low power CPUs (like the 6700T or 6600T) totally fanless using a big heatsink and decent VRM on the motherboard?

 

[crashtech]

Depends on a lot of things, but in most unoptimized situations I would say no, but with a dual core, it is much more plausible. Not to say it can't be done, but lots of things have to be right for a quad to run at heavy loads passively.

 

[Burpo]

What's a good price for the 4130T used? Like 80 and under?

From ebay.. includes stock HSF.

" purchased new in 2015. TDP only 35W, perfect for an energy efficient desktop or HTPC.
Includes the stock Intel fan/heatsink"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-...279782?hash=item3f861234e6:g:QD4AAOSwtRBZrD3l

 

[coercitiv]

Is it feasible to run such low power CPUs (like the 6700T or 6600T) totally fanless using a big heatsink and decent VRM on the motherboard?

Not to say it can't be done, but lots of things have to be right for a quad to run at heavy loads passively.

Not the case anymore since I added a dGPU in the mix, but up until a few weeks ago my HTPC was running a 6600K + Noctua NH D14 semi-passive combo with only 1 case fan set at minimum speed. If memory serves me right my stress tests concluded the setup could handle Prime 95 for 30-60 min intervals with no TDP limit in place, but a ~50W TDP limit would have been better if the CPU was to be continuously loaded (which was not the case).

Somewhere along 35-40W TDP it could probably stay truly fanless, although in that case - just like crashtech said - optimization might be needed. My case is an aluminum enclosure which helps with cooling since it radiates heat easily, but I'm using it laid on the side so the heatsink is not in an optimal position for making good use of convection, and it is placed inside the living room furniture creating a potential warm air pocket (open on one side).

That being said, the only reason I would consider fanless operation would be preventing dust accumulation, semi-passive setups are much easier to build and configure while being completely silent with a proper choice of fan.

 

[Kledgie]

Good stuff, guys. Seems like the 4130T is the answer to my question. I had actually been considering the dual cores before i made this thread though haha. I wonder if i still should.

 

[Burpo]

4130T IS a dual core..

 

[Kledgie]

Thanks again, guys.

 

[kwalkingcraze]

I'm building an eco friendly rig with an Intel MSI H81M ECO board. I think i have to go with a 35w. Can anyone recommend a CPU that runs cool, efficiently, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Many thanks.

I have this board as well. After measuring power consumption, the H81M ECO board returns almost with the same power consumption as with H81M-E33. The ECO board was a marketing gimmick at launch.

 

[Yuriman]

They are all right there in the sweet spot, and there are possible thermal considerations here which haven't been asked about.

The graph would be shifted to the right maybe 600-1000mhz for a dual core.

 

[PingSpike]

Yeah, one thing I've noticed about Intel low power CPUs (if you could find reviews/benchmarks of them at all) was that they seemed to have the same idle power draw as their more mundane counterparts. Which makes sense, as they all scale down their close and voltage at idle. Weirdly, 2 or 4 cores didn't seem to make much of a difference in the charts I looked at either. Then what was left was playing with clock speeds, which does change the load power consumption, and number of cores mattered here IIRC. It became my opinion that there was nothing special about the T and S chips, they weren't binned for lower power consumption they were just underclocked more or less. And the i5 Ts only have dual cores. Maybe that has changed with newer chips though.

But you also have to remember the faster chip will complete the task and return to idle speed quicker...so its not always clear that underclocking a chip that is actually doing work will reduce your power bill. It certainly makes no difference underclocking a chip that is idle most of the time, because they all downclock themselves anyway during idle. There's some reviews that try to calculate this as watts used during a task but I'm not familiar with those results.

 

[Yuriman]

Race to idle is a nice concept but doesn't really apply to desktops, because we don't immediately put them to sleep once our webpage is finished loading - they sit idle in front of us, drawing power for the same amount of time regardless. The best ways to save power are to get a high efficiency power supply and a motherboard with low idle power.

 

[Engineer]

Sort of OT...but I've been using a 4130T since mid 2015 on a WMC setup (6 tuner max) and have yet to see it spike over 20W TOTAL system usage. Don't remember the board right off hand but it is using a highly efficient PICO PSU. I've got a 120mm fan running in silent mode. Knock on wood, but have never had an issue with it, even while streaming HD on the TV using Netflix/HULU/Amazon Prime video along with the WMC duty.

It was recommended to have 1 core per tuner if possible or go to a faster setup when I was building. I took a chance on the dual core with hyperthreading and it's been fine. Not sure that we have ever had more than 4 tuners (out of 6) going at once though.

Oh, and as for the N3150 posted above, I'm running a home built router (pFsense) on a SuperMicro N3700 quad core chip / board and the system runs between 9 and 12 watts depending on load. Seems to gravitate closer to 10-11 with occasional dips and spikes. This system is fanless. Antec ISK-110 case with built in 90W supply.

 

[ericlp]

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-7100+@+3.90GHz

For only 15 watts more, and 30% faster than a 4130T... It's a no brainer...

Bonus... Built in HD graphics 630...If you have to install a graphics board on your system, well, there goes your 15 watts advantage, can guarantee that!

Can get one with a stock cooler for a little over 100 bucks.

 

[PingSpike]

Sort of OT...but I've been using a 4130T since mid 2015 on a WMC setup (6 tuner max) and have yet to see it spike over 20W TOTAL system usage. Don't remember the board right off hand but it is using a highly efficient PICO PSU. I've got a 120mm fan running in silent mode. Knock on wood, but have never had an issue with it, even while streaming HD on the TV using Netflix/HULU/Amazon Prime video along with the WMC duty.

I wouldn't call that OT. That's pretty impressive if the max load is 20W though, even if it was was just the board and a SSD.

 

[Engineer]

I wouldn't call that OT. That's pretty impressive if the max load is 20W though, even if it was was just the board and a SSD.

16GB of DDR3, 2TB WD Green drive and 120GB Intel SSD plus CPU fan and case fan (slowed down via MB and additional hardware fan controllers). It may spike higher than that but I've never caught it.

 

[Kledgie]

Well, good news gents.. I picked up that 4130T for 56 bucks.

 

[Ratman6161]

Well, good news gents.. I picked up that 4130T for 56 bucks.

Guess my comment comes too late for you, but for others, if you really have to have socket 1150, and are willing to go with just a little bit more power, and of course are willing to spend a few bucks more, all of the socket 1150 cpus that are "T" chips max out at 45 watts. This includes up to the i7-4770K...that is if you can find one and if the price is right.