Idle computer power usage

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sschnee
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 3:58 pm
Location: USA

Idle computer power usage

Post by sschnee » Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:15 pm

I have a thread in this forum about building a new gaming and media PC.

It will probably have a Sky Lake core i5 processor, GTX 970 GPU, 500w platinum PSU, one SSD and one HD.

If I were to make it my media streaming PC, I'd likely leave it on all the time. I used an online calculator, which estimated it would use 66w at idle.

It occurs to me I could build second PC with a low power processor, such as a cherry trail 3150 mATX motherboard, reuse my old Antec solo case and fans and DVD drive, and run Ubuntu and Plex media server off that. Probably would use a PicoPSU and a WD Red HD with no SSD. The same calculator projected idle power use of 25 or so Watts for this system, and I could leave my gaming system off most of the time.

My questions are 1) do these estimates for power seem reasonable? And if so, would building the second PC be worth it vs just having the first on all the time.

CA_Steve
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Re: Idle computer power usage

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:22 pm

The gaming PC will idle somewhere in the 35-40W range - see my signature.

The most efficient NUC-style Baytrail systems w/o a HDD idle in the 6-7W range (using a wall wart and internal PSU on the mobo) and consume 10-12W while pushing Flash and Netflix to a TV. Add another 5W or so for a 5400rpm HDD. Figure something similar for Cherrytrail. Add another few watts if using a pico-PSU.

sschnee
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 3:58 pm
Location: USA

Re: Idle computer power usage

Post by sschnee » Sun Jul 12, 2015 3:42 am

Ok. So plugging those numbers into a calculator show I'd save $30 a year by using the lower power system as always on with the gaming build only on when gaming.

I'll do a little shopping to see how cheap I can build a such a system, but I'll guess it won't be worth it.

CA_Steve
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Re: Idle computer power usage

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:59 am

Just a thought - maybe some Plex users can comment...perhaps you can use Wake on Lan function. The gaming PC is allowed to go to sleep (1-2W) and Plex front end client sends WOL request as needed to wake it up. Try a web search for "plex wake on lan". There seems to be a lot of reddit and other threads. Here's one.

sschnee
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 3:58 pm
Location: USA

Re: Idle computer power usage

Post by sschnee » Sun Jul 12, 2015 6:32 am

That is a super useful link. Thanks so much.

Steve

fuzzymath10
Posts: 69
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 5:52 pm
Location: Toronto

Re: Idle computer power usage

Post by fuzzymath10 » Sun Jul 12, 2015 8:16 am

I think you may be better off than you think. The PC I keep in my living room (see below - the A04) used to idle around your figure at the wall, and that was with a discrete GPU (HD 5750). The recent generation cards idle pretty well, even a higher-range model like yours.

When I switched to the IGP, I think I was around 45-50W at the wall, if all the hard drives were spun down, which they generally are.

My other system with a picopsu idles around 26W.

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