SPCR

Hi all,

As a follow up to my thread for ivy bridge (viewtopic.php?f=28&t=64635), I want to ask you guys what's the lowest idle/total power consumption builds you have seen using Haswell. Please include kill-a-watt readings!

I've been reading that MSI B85M-P33 is a low power performer. Does it beat Intel's DH87RL or DB85FL? It is a shame that Intel didn't release a Mini-ITX version (update the DH77DF)... I guess it is part of intel gradually leaving the Mobo business?


I hope to see builds in the 10-20 watt idle range.

Asus Q87T
8GB Crucial 1.5v SO-DIMM
Intel i3 4130T
Samsung EVO 840 120GB SSD
Intel 7260 AC + Bluetooth
Cooler Master SNA 90 power adapter

running Windows 7, with realtek Gb LAN in use, WLAN enabled (in scanning mode, not connected to a SSID), and HDMI hooked up I see the following readings:

idle: 16W
normal use: 20-28W
prime95: 41W
prime95 + furmark: 51W

FrankL, what are the power figures as a torrent box? do you have c6/c7 power states activated?

kucho wrote:FrankL, what are the power figures as a torrent box? do you have c6/c7 power states activated?

I'm not going to test this, but an educated guess would be that the consumption would be in the 20-25W range with HDMI, WLAN and GB-Lan active and some torrents transferring in the lower single-digit Megabyte per second range (say below 50Mbps).

As far as c6/c7: how can one tell they're being used? They're set to 'auto' in the BIOS, and the machine is running Windows 7 Home Premium.

FrankL wrote:

kucho wrote:FrankL, what are the power figures as a torrent box? do you have c6/c7 power states activated?

I'm not going to test this, but an educated guess would be that the consumption would be in the 20-25W range with HDMI, WLAN and GB-Lan active and some torrents transferring in the lower single-digit Megabyte per second range (say below 50Mbps).

As far as c6/c7: how can one tell they're being used? They're set to 'auto' in the BIOS, and the machine is running Windows 7 Home Premium.

Figures for another system, this time the configuration is:
*4-5 year old Nexus Value 430 PSU
*Intel G1820
*MSI H81M-P33
*1x 8GB 1.5v DDR3 DIMM

power figures at wall:
Idle: 19W (usb thumbdrive with Debian Wheezy Linux + USB Keyboard & Mouse)
Load: 38W (running two instances of burnP6)

I've confirmed that C6 is working. Models that are cheaper than the Core i3 line do not contain the C7 state however.

Kill-a-Watt readings of the following system:

IWill SH-55 mini-ITX PC case
ASUS H81T/CSM motherboard
Core i3-4130 CPU
Gelid Slim Silence i-Plus CPU cooler
Crucial 1 x 8GB DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM
Samsung 64GB mSATA
Internal USB IR receiver
19V 4.74A Anker AC adapter

Windows 7 desktop (nothing running, just sitting idle, a minute of so after boot): 14.8W
Watching 1080p MKV: 19.9W-20.3W
Prime-95: 53.8W
Idle with screen automatic off (sat for 30min but not in sleep): 9.8W
Sleep: 1.4W

What impressed even more were temperatures. Under normal usage, 30-40C and Prime95 in the low 60sC. I've never seen temps that good in such a small case.

Thanks for the info FrankL.

Asus Q87T : 16W idle.

Is this average for a Haswell build, using a mini-ITX board?

I imagine he is using a PicoPSU. That saves him the 10-13W that a big sized PSU is wasting as heat at such load loads. 30W at idle at the power socket is normal for Haswell builds without discrete GPUs as long as no "gaming" or "OC" micro-ATX / mini-ITX motherboards are used, and that includes the 10+ Watts wasted in a normal PSU.

Thanks bbalex. The Q87T is a Thin Mini-ITX board with the DC-DC power supply built in...

The Asus boards aren't among the most efficient. MSI and ASRock are usually a bit better.

My two Haswell systems (copy-paste from sig):
ASRock B85M-ITX | i3-4330 | 16GB DDR3 | Intel 730 240GB | HDPLEX H1-S | picoPSU | No moving parts | Idle 13.9W AC
ASRock H81M-ITX | Pentium G3420 | 4GB DDR3 | Intel 520 120GB | HDPLEX H1-S | picoPSU | No moving parts | Idle 11.2W AC

Thanks Vicotnik, yes I've seen your builds on your thread, and one of my options is using AsRock Z87E-ITX as the power efficiency is also very good... but I am concerned about the mSATA on the underside overheating.

bbalex wrote:I imagine he is using a PicoPSU. That saves him the 10-13W that a big sized PSU is wasting as heat at such load loads. 30W at idle at the power socket is normal for Haswell builds without discrete GPUs as long as no "gaming" or "OC" micro-ATX / mini-ITX motherboards are used, and that includes the 10+ Watts wasted in a normal PSU.

I don't see any PicuPSU in this thread; in fact, the PSU used was mentioned by every user posting consumption figures.

Even the above mentioned Celeron Haswell build with my 5 year old Nexus value 430W does only 19W at idle...

In my observation, Haswell builds idle in the 10-20 Watts range depending on the motherboard and power supply used. Properly built Bay Trail systems should idle in the 5-15W range (based on observations)

StardogChampion wrote:Idle with screen automatic off (sat for 30min but not in sleep): 9.8W

That's an excellent result! It seems that you can now build a moderately powerful system in an ultra-low power envelope, without the use of a soldering iron. That's assuming you don't want to fork out for the Intel NUC or similar prebuilt systems, of course.

FrankL wrote:

bbalex wrote:I imagine he is using a PicoPSU. That saves him the 10-13W that a big sized PSU is wasting as heat at such load loads. 30W at idle at the power socket is normal for Haswell builds without discrete GPUs as long as no "gaming" or "OC" micro-ATX / mini-ITX motherboards are used, and that includes the 10+ Watts wasted in a normal PSU.

I don't see any PicuPSU in this thread; in fact, the PSU used was mentioned by every user posting consumption figures.

Even the above mentioned Celeron Haswell build with my 5 year old Nexus value 430W does only 19W at idle...

In my observation, Haswell builds idle in the 10-20 Watts range depending on the motherboard and power supply used. Properly built Bay Trail systems should idle in the 5-15W range (based on observations)

That system was indeed not using a picoPSU. The motherboard is one of those that has a 19V DC input and can use a typical laptop adapter directly, like leem noticed.

I don't doubt that a Celeron Haswell can go that low. I have not seen reviews for motherboards with i5 and i7 parts showing that kind of excellent power consumption though. I did see some at 30W (usually ASRock). But then, there are not many reviews for H, B and Q series motherboards, most are Z series ones, and usually fed by oversized PSUs that are not going to shine at low loads. The power lost in a common PSU by today's standards (are there PSUs lower than 500W anymore?) at these loads is great relative to the amount of power needed by the system itself. Review sites like Hardware.info and TechPowerUp also do measurements at loads of 20-100W when they test PSUs, and from what I've seen not even Platinum units fair very well in such conditions.

bbalex wrote:from what I've seen not even Platinum units fair very well in such conditions.

Currently the only ATX PSU acceptable at those levels is the 80Plus Gold-rated Cooler Master V-450S (about 81% @ 22W/230V, about 88% @ 45W/230V but with a rather mediocre PFC, almost identical @ 115V), besting the Seasonic Platinum fanless units by probably 3-4% @ 10% level, and by a larger 6-8% down to the 5% level.

...there are not many reviews for H, B and Q series motherboards...

and practically none for Thin Mini-ITX boards

An opportunity for SPCR to fill the gap...?

I'm thinking of getting a 4160T CPU and a micro ATX motherboard for the most low power server possible and with an old school PCI slot for a TV card. Can anyone recommend a motherboard?

T or S or standard CPU?

viewtopic.php?p=588222#p588222

This is my first PC build. Here are my numbers for power consumption of my Haswell-refresh PC. I searched hard for these numbers before building my PC and found them only at few sites, so I am posting mine here for benefit of others.

1. Processor: Intel i3-4150
2. Cooler: Stock Intel
3. Motherboard: ASUS H97M-E/CSM
4. Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical BLT2K4G3D1608ET3LX0 2 x 4GB, DDR3, DDR31600, PC3-12800, 1.35V, Low Profile, Memory
5. Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-430D Green (Bronze level of efficiency)
6. Hard Drive: WD Blue WD5000LPVX 500GB Laptop HDD
7. No Optical drive

I have enabled all 'C' states, enabled Intel SpeedStep, enabled ASUS EPU in BIOS (an ASUS board feature) and set it in 'Savings' mode (in ASUS AI Suite 3), and have disabled many items including ports that would be unused.

Kill-A-Watt power meter readings
a. Idle with no user apps running: Reading moves around 11-12w.
b. Idle with Firefox running (with few loaded tabs) and in foreground: 12-13w.
c. Watching Netflix or Hulu in IE11 with video in a 7" X 12.1/4" sized area: 15-18w (Power use varies with video area). Watching same in Firefox in similar sized video area consumes 19-20w; Not sure about Google Chrome.
d. In BIOS mode the power drawn is a constant 30w.
e. The standby power is 0w

On disabling the ASUS EPU or setting it to 'Performance' mode, the idle power usage (with no user apps running) is around 16-17w.
I use my PC mostly for Internet browsing, using online apps like Microsoft Excelonline and Google spreadsheet, and watching videos online on sites like Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube. I never play any big games, online or offline. The EPU in 'Savings' mode is perfectly alright for this type of work. In my usage the power is mostly below 25w and sometimes goes above 30w and rarely above 40w.
The temperature reading is around 33 degC.

Wow, 11w seems great. I would like to build home server based on your build, as the numbers are awesome. Just one, probably stupid question - how much power does hdd consume when it is spun down?

Kinda funny, that according to spec LSI2008 hba would consume 6.5w alone, half of rest of the system overall

evlo wrote:Wow, 11w seems great. I would like to build home server based on your build, as the numbers are awesome. Just one, probably stupid question - how much power does hdd consume when it is spun down?

Kinda funny, that according to spec LSI2008 hba would consume 6.5w alone, half of rest of the system overall

Yes, I am also happy with that number (11w). This is because, as I mentioned above, I always keep the ASUS motherboard EPU in 'Savings' mode, otherwise energy usage jumps to 16-17w. I have also kept my machine to a minimum - only a laptop HDD and nothing else.

If you buy a power supply, buy one that is ErP lot 6 2013 compliant. Then the PC should consume less than 0.5w when OFF and less than 1w in Standby mode (the main converter is off (PS_ON=High) and +5Vsb converter is working).

FYI, I recently bought a Seasonic SS-300TFX power supply (which is ErP lot 6 2013 compliant) and with that the power numbers are 1w higher than what I reported in my post. So, the idle power (with no user apps running) is 12w and so on.

No, your question is alright, it is not stupid to me , but I don't have the exact power number. The HDD spec gives idle power as 0.55w, so I assume it would be around that.