Underclocking old desktops for WHS use

[coolVariable]

Am going to get some old Desktops (Dell Dimension 2400s and an HP Pavillion 762).
If I can properly underclock them and make them low-power I might keep one ... or is that a lost cause due to the Dell Bios?

 

[alyarb]

lost cause.

 

[Zap]

Wasn't the Dimension 2400 based on the Netburst architecture? I don't think you could underclock it enough to make a difference. You would also have to undervolt it.

 

[heyheybooboo]

The Dimension 2400 with a 2GHz Celly pulls around 51 watts (look around the middle of the page).

It does not list power consumption in hibernation/sleep. The 'ex' used to have one but I can't recall any real details (other than needing 3 hands to open that silly case ...)





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[coolVariable]

The Dimension 2400 with a 2GHz Celly pulls around 51 watts (look around the middle of the page).

It does not list power consumption in hibernation/sleep. The 'ex' used to have one but I can't recall any real details (other than needing 3 hands to open that silly case ...)

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Great website!
Thank you very much. That's not that bad, considering that an Atom still eats 30-45W.

 

[Lemon law]

To start out, just because Dell does not provide a bios with over or underclocking options,
that does not mean that its impossible to write custom bios software, and if needed, to substitute in better bios hardware if the existing bios chip is not flashable.

It merely means that its a hell of a lot of work for an old computer system.

 

[coolVariable]

To start out, just because Dell does not provide a bios with over or underclocking options,
that does not mean that its impossible to write custom bios software, and if needed, to substitute in better bios hardware if the existing bios chip is not flashable.

It merely means that its a hell of a lot of work for an old computer system.

Sooooo ... the point is?

 

[alyarb]

yeah, it's also possible for private citizens to develop their own nuclear weapons, missile guidance systems and mars rovers.

 

[aigomorla]

Sooooo ... the point is?

Its possible but takes knowledge... SetFSB would make your life a lot easier...

yeah, it's also possible for private citizens to develop their own nuclear weapons, missile guidance systems and mars rovers.

Yeah but we have something called SetFSB for software moding a dell.
:T

I dont see a setNUKE to build nukes... or did i miss that sale on ebay?

 

[alyarb]

the only fictional tool pertinent to this thread would be a "setVcc" which doesn't exist either. half-ass approaches are simply not worth the time spent speculating on them.

 

[aigomorla]

u run the clock lower, and it uses less energy regardless of power.

 

[alyarb]

you should know full well that freq reduction without volt reduction does not significantly lower power. even if you knew which clock generator dell used, and all the other components could go down to 100-133 mhz fsb, it would only shave ~5-7 watts if the CPU is still running at 1.5. Since it's very unlikely (unless you want to try every clock generator in the list) that you'll be able to do that with or without voltage adjustments, it's like I said: not even worth thinking about. If it were a p4b533-e or one of the popular ~$60 boards from that time period, I would totally support this because I know 1.4 GHz at ~1.2 volts is reasonable, but people thinking they can have their way with a dell motherboard need to realize there are no good tools for them and SetFSB is simply not a solution. It's a fun thing to mention matter-of-factly on the forums because there's nothing we can do to help this guy, but setFSB is nothing more than that. It's fun to play with and a good proof of concept but as a 24/7 solution it's a piece of shit. It's not even a candidate.