MSI B85M-ECO motherboard

[bastiaan]

Anandtech has a review of the MSI B85-M ECO µATX motherboard, apparently designed to reduce power consumption.

Of most interest to me is the idle power without discrete GPU, which Anandtech measured at some 21 Watts. This seems a singularly underwhelming result given that SPRC has tested several mainstream boards and measured similar power consumption figures. But perhaps allowance should be made for differences between Anand's and SPCR's respective lab equipment.

Further, some users here on the SPCR boards have reported power figures approaching 10W using the ASRock H81T, which is admittedly a smaller form factor and has a DC power connector. That gives rise to the question: why didn't MSI go a similar route?

All the same, it's encouraging to see a manufacturer capitalizing on power consumption.

[MikeC]

underwhelming is a perfect description.

Just skimmed the piece but the eco labeling seems totally unwarranted. There must be umpteen boards with lower power consumption -- but power efficiency is only one part of the picture. Maybe they're using less materials & energy to make it? Or it is supposed to last longer?

The measured power is quite suspect tho, cus it's the AC power draw (right?) and I read in their test setup that they are using a 1250W PSU. Why? At 21W power draw, so far below its peak in the efficiency curve, my guess is half goes to heat in that PSU, never mind that it is gold 80+.

[bastiaan]

Maybe they're using less materials & energy to make it? Or it is supposed to last longer?

If either were the case, you'd think they would make a point of it in their advertising, but it seems they pretty much focused on power consumption.

The measured power is quite suspect tho, cus it's the AC power draw (right?) and I read in their test setup that they are using a 1250W PSU. Why? At 21W power draw, so far below its peak in the efficiency curve, my guess is half goes to heat in that PSU, never mind that it is gold 80+.

Well, the manufacturer claims 17W power consumption under (presumably) ideal conditions. So perhaps Anand's figures are not too far fetched.

Still, it's rare to see a motherboard manufacturer actually advertising specific power figures like that. I think that's commendable.

All the same, even 17W at idle doesn't seem such a leap from the status quo that it deserves the ECO badge, in my opinion. As you say there are loads of boards (even AMD ones) with similar results. I suppose one advantage of this board is that it has six SATA connectors and so could be used in a server setup, unlike the run-of-the-mill ITX board.

[MikeC]

All the same, even 17W at idle doesn't seem such a leap from the status quo that it deserves the ECO badge, in my opinion. As you say there are loads of boards (even AMD ones) with similar results. I suppose one advantage of this board is that it has six SATA connectors and so could be used in a server setup, unlike the run-of-the-mill ITX board.

Just did a search on newegg for matx and mitx 1150 boards with 6 sata ports: 53 showed up, starting at $60. Not so unique, eh?

[bastiaan]

Just did a search on newegg for matx and mitx 1150 boards with 6 sata ports: 53 showed up, starting at $60. Not so unique, eh?

No, but if you limit your search to ITX you'll find far fewer (I only find 8 in my region, starting at $120). So the value proposition of the MSI board is a ITX power consumption profile in µATX form factor and for a price reasonable for a µATX board. It seems to me there is a market for this board, even if it won't rock the boat much.

[Vicotnik]

I'd like to see the power draw of MSI B85M-ECO vs. Intel DH87RL with something like a picoPSU. Not that much difference between mini ITX and micro ATX btw. Why would it be? It's the same stuff basically.

[bastiaan]

There are few other reviews available, such as this one, but they make little sense because they only measure the board with a discrete GPU installed. It seems to me that if you want to go "eco" the very first step is to get rid of your power-guzzling GPU.

[MikeC]

I'd like to see the power draw of MSI B85M-ECO vs. Intel DH87RL with something like a picoPSU. Not that much difference between mini ITX and micro ATX btw. Why would it be? It's the same stuff basically.

I agree, mITX & mATX generally have very similar power draw, except when the latter is totally loaded with extra features.

[evlo]

Does any know of actually more power efficient haswell motherboard? I would like to build me a new nas and info about MoBos consumption is very very sparse