At Icrontic, do-it-yourself desktop enthusiasts are our kind of people. We build systems with almost insane specs, utilizing powerful quad core processors, huge graphics cards (sometimes two, maybe three)—all overvolted and overclocked to obtain any available extra bit of performance. This is our passion; it is who we are. This passion, however, comes at a price. As components continue to gain exponential performance increases, in turn we require ever larger power supplies.
For those of us that have been in the game a number of years, we remember a time when a quality 300-watt power supply seemed like the most we would ever need. Today, my primary system runs an 850-watt power supply, draws well over 300 watts under load, and this is all before I’ve even dropped in a second enthusiast-level graphics card. Despite major advancements in chip efficiency, PC enthusiasts still demand more power. Reasonable estimates have the enthusiast desktops drawing at least twice as much electricity as they did just a few short years ago. Can this trend be reversed? Can today’s PC enthusiast make a few compromises to build a PC that is reasonably powerful while saving energy with a few smart component selections?
The core components
April 22nd is Earth Day. Its as good a day as any to start a Green PC project. The objective is simple: build an enthusiast-grade desktop machine that cuts the power under load to at least half versus a typical high-end system. Today is part one in a three-part series; here I’ll explore the component selection. In part two, I will document the build process for viewers that may be new to PC building, and part three will be testing performance per watt: Green Machine versus its big brother—an overclocked AMD 790fx with a Phenom II 965 BE, 8 gigs of Corsair Ballistix RAM, and an AMD Radeon 5870 graphics card.
I know I’m going to be making some compromises in performance for the sake of being more energy-conscious, but I don’t want a machine that runs at a snail’s pace. I need something that can multitask effectively, play games at reasonable framerates, and encode audio and video quickly. Let’s get started.
Any good system starts with the motherboard and processor selection. In this case, I’ve settled on working with the AMD Phenom II X4 905e. It’s a quad core processor with the unique distinction of running at a 65-watt TDP (thermal design power, a measure of how warm a chip runs). This is as good as it gets for quads in terms of energy consumption: most enthusiast quads come in between 125 and 140 watts. This will be a significant energy-saving part in the design of this system. The four processing cores should still provide adequate multitasking clout for all but the most power-hungry users.
I will mate this energy-saving CPU to the ECS Black Series A785GM-M motherboard. I’ve chosen a micro-ATX form factor because it’s a Green PC, after all. Why use more printed circuit board and case material than necessary for the build? The 785G chipset from AMD is highly scalable, with integrated graphics that are robust enough to handle HD video without breaking a sweat; you’ll only want to add a discrete card if you are a gamer.
It just so happens that a few of us happen to like 3D games, though, so the next part in the build is the XFX Radeon HD 5750. Once again, this part is selected because it’s a component that is reasonably powerful, but does the job while using less than half the power of the current top-of-the-line cards. It’s the sweet spot between being energy-efficient and being just powerful enough that it should be able to handle gaming with some reasonable compromises for the sake of mother nature and our power bill.
There are a few vendors making more power-conscious RAM that can still run at the JEDEC specs while requiring lower voltages. Geil makes a Green Series 2GB kit that run at 1.3 volts, a solid 15% improvement over most DDR3 kits. Versus an older DDR2 kit that’s overclocked past 2.0 volts, it’s a vast improvement. It’s so cool, they forego the heatspreaders entirely.
Storage: what to do, what to do? Solid state drives are an attractive energy saving option, but it’s not in the budget, at least not for a drive large enough to eliminate my requirement for a system hard drive altogether. For this build, I’m going to use a Western Digital Caviar Green. It will be interesting to see how it fares against the Caviar Black drive in the main rig. In terms of power savings, we should be looking at about four watts saved under load. Every little bit counts.
Last, but certainly not least, case and power supply selection is critical. Pack these parts in the wrong case and heat buildup can rob the core components of their maximum performance and efficiency. Choose the wrong power supply and we lose savings due to poor efficiency. For the case, we want to stay micro ATX for the form factor, so I chose the beautiful Antec Mini P180. Its bigger brother is holding the main rig, so I can attest that this case is as solidly constructed as anything on the market. Layered baffles with great sound attenuation while providing great air flow, the P series from Antec gets it done. It’s important to invest in a good case; spend a little more up front and you can be building in it for years. System after system, a good case can be a great long term investment; once again, thinking green—do it right first so you don’t have to scrap a case that you hate a year from now.
As for power supply selection, I have some rules about how I go about selecting a quality unit that is sized properly. First, always consider power supplies that are independently verified by the 80 Plus organization for efficiency. If it does not say 80 Plus, generally I would hesitate to recommend it. Secondly, we should do some math and figure out what the system will draw under maximum load, and at least double it to figure what our minimum power supply requirement in a quality 80 Plus-rated unit should be. In this case, I selected the Antec EarthWatts Green 380W unit. Yes, that’s right: a 380-watt unit will actually be overkill for this build. 80 Plus Bronze certification should guarantee us solid efficiency and good, clean, stable power with minimal waste.
This concludes part one, component selection. Please join me next week for part two, documenting the build, then part three to see how the green compromises stack up against a power-hungry monster in a real David vs. Goliath-style matchup.
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