Ultra Low Power Consumption Video Cards

[janas19]

I'm trying to learn more about them. Anybody with experience with these?

As an example, I'm eyeing a couple of cards:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/graphics_cards/p_series/p690pluslppciex16/

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Volari-Video-Adapter-PCIVGAV7/dp/B001ODM5AK

They use 11 and 2 watts, respectively.

A few more additional questions I have:

Is there any particular reason these cards are so expensive, ie, is there any specific technology that makes them better than a low-cost card with similar specs, eg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125359

This card has similar specs, but is much less expensive. Doesn't list the power usage.

I'm very green when it comes to video cards. Is there any GPU on the market that has a dynamic power setting, similar to Intel's EIST?

Thanks for any help!

 

[-Slacker-]

Never heard of these, and I'm probably talking out of my ass, but the reason they are so expensive is because so few of them have been made or are are available.

An intel hd 3000 igp should eat up around the same amount of power while being much faster.

 

[Concillian]

The ultra low power video card market is pretty well covered by Intel and AMD CPUs that have the GPU built in. Versions as low as 35W at full load including CPU, GPU, memory controller, etc...

Most any video card scales clocks down when just using windows and such. The AMD7xxx series is supposed to completely shut off the GPU whenever the OS does a screen-blanking screen saver.

Just realize that no GPU is going to be at it's max draw at idle, and TDP or power consumption figures are going to be significantly higher than normal desktop style usage.

 

[janas19]

Never heard of these, and I'm probably talking out of my ass, but the reason they are so expensive is because so few of them have been made or are are available.

An intel hd 3000 igp should eat up around the same amount of power while being much faster.

That's very possible. Also I was thinking these are probably aimed at a POS market, probably not offering anything significant (technology wise) over similar spec'd aftermarket cards. I'm thinking the high price reflects the stability, compatibility, and customer service they offer (at least for the first one, the Matrox).

I understand that an IGP is the better solution for low power, and that it's the direction the industry is heading in, so this is probably a very "niche" question. Still, my original question stands, wondering if someone has experience with a marketed "ultra low power" discrete video card

 

[janas19]

Most any video card scales clocks down when just using windows and such.

The AMD7xxx series is supposed to completely shut off the GPU whenever the OS does a screen-blanking screen saver.

Do you have a link?

Just realize that no GPU is going to be at it's max draw at idle, and TDP or power consumption figures are going to be significantly higher than normal desktop style usage.

Gotcha. That makes sense, there has to be a different power draw in different states.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Most any video card scales clocks down when just using windows and such. The AMD7xxx series is supposed to completely shut off the GPU whenever the OS does a screen-blanking screen saver.

Do you have a link for that?

That could be very BAD for distributed computing applications, that use the video card.

 

[Concillian]

Do you have a link for that?

That could be very BAD for distributed computing applications, that use the video card.

distributed computing / GPGPU is not "just using windows and such". I don't use GPGPU stuff, but I assume this runs full clocks.

AMD instituted clock changes in 5xxx series. Idle power for 5xxx is way lower than 4xxx series because they started doing the lower clocks thing. nVidia idle power took a downturn around that time too, so I assume they're doing the same thing.


You can see here, the whole 5xxx series is lower idle than anything previous, even though the 5870 uses a lot more power than something like a 4850 when it's full load.

The AMD7xxx turn off thing is in the AT review of the 7970, I'm sure most of the launch day reviews cover this feature as well.

 

[IonusX]

TC matorx cards are expensive because their designed for multi-monitor and workstation cards. there one of the only companies (other than amd) that can preform large scale multi-monitor setups effectively. which makes them very nice for people that can afford them like stock traders and folks wanting to do a huge multi-monitor wall advert or something like that. in terms of comparison in preformance the best matrox card available in a GAMING or EVERYDAY environment is = gt 520

startech well.. they suck all round so getting something from then is tossing your money away :thumbsdown:
i used to have a modem from them. the thing was hot enough to cook eggs on i swear..:awe:

 

[janas19]

TC matorx cards are expensive because their designed for multi-monitor and workstation cards. there one of the only companies (other than amd) that can preform large scale multi-monitor setups effectively. which makes them very nice for people that can afford them like stock traders and folks wanting to do a huge multi-monitor wall advert or something like that. in terms of comparison in preformance the best matrox card available in a GAMING or EVERYDAY environment is = gt 520

startech well.. they suck all round so getting something from then is tossing your money away :thumbsdown:
i used to have a modem from them. the thing was hot enough to cook eggs on i swear..:awe:

That's what I was after. So Matrox is more pricey because they have effective multi-monitor capability (I guess it's the combo of hardware and drivers?).

Thanks. I'll have to check out that GT 520. :thumbup:

 

[fffblackmage]

Here's the HD7xxx power saving thing you guys are looking for:
AMD's ZeroCore Power

With Southern Islands AMD is introducing ZeroCore Power, their long idle power saving technology. By implementing power islands on their GPUs AMD can now outright shut off most of the functional units of a GPU when the GPU is going unused, leaving only the PCIe bus interface and a couple other components active. By doing this AMD is able to reduce their power consumption from 15W at idle to under 3W in long idle, a power level low enough that in a desktop the power consumption of the video card becomes trivial. So trivial in fact that with under 3W of heat generation AMD doesn’t even need to run the fan – ZeroCore Power shuts off the fan as it’s rendered an unnecessary device that’s consuming power.

 

[Arkadrel]

janas19

If your all about low power usage:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135290

It goes for ~65$ (you get motherboard+cpu+gpu in 1) (after MIR)

Then download this:
http://code.google.com/p/brazostweaker/

BrazosTweaker program, and undervolt your APU.
With any luck you can get another ~15-20% more effecient cpu by tweaking its power state voltages.


Add in 2 sticks of DDR3-1333 and a small SSD, and you ll be around ~25-30watts in idle mode,
for the intire pc (not counting monitor).

 

[KingFatty]

janas19

If your all about low power usage:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135290

It goes for ~65$ (you get motherboard+cpu+gpu in 1) (after MIR)

Then download this:
http://code.google.com/p/brazostweaker/

BrazosTweaker program, and undervolt your APU.
With any luck you can get another ~15-20% more effecient cpu by tweaking its power state voltages.


Add in 2 sticks of DDR3-1333 and a small SSD, and you ll be around ~25-30watts in idle mode,
for the intire pc (not counting monitor).

I'll chime in with my own personal experience with a somewhat similar (sort of) graphics setup since I used a kill-o-watt meter to see my power consumption of the PC. I was using a standard motherboard with integrated graphics (ASUS m4a89gtd_pro_usb3) and when it went into idle mode, the PC was drawing 50 watts at the wall. Crazy. integrated graphics are awesome for power conserving. The M4A89GTD ASUS motherboard uses an AMD Radeon HD4290 integrated graphics, and it can drive 2 monitors simultaneously right off the motherboard. I even ran Starcraft 2 on that thing using low settings in online multiplayer, very impressive.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Nothing can beat integrated GPU on CPU stuff by that criteria.