TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-05, 08:44:[...] […]
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Umm how many of us are actually doing that ?
I have one file server and even though its a P4 its not even worth worrying about in relation to power costs .. I have so many other devices that consume more . .such as my Daily PC with its 3080ti and 10980Xe .. both of which are high power devices on their own ...and no my main PC never gets shutdown or turned off unless Windows does it for updates.
I dont worry about power usage from retro hardware, its measured in cents which doesnt impact my bill enough to matter.
If your power bill for a 24/7 P4 server is measured in cents, you're a very lucky person.
The big issue with retro stuff running 24/7 is the near complete absence of power management. Yes, that 3080Ti and 10980Xe will draw massively more at full load, but even if the PC stays on when you go to bed, it will be idling at far lower power levels, far lower indeed than that P4.
Assuming the P4 system draws 100W idle (which is realistic, a bit on the high side for Northwood, a bit on the low side for Prescott), that means 2.4kWh per day, 876kWh per year. With network operator costs and taxes factored in, where I live we pay on average EUR 0.67 per kWh. That means that P4 sitting idle all day and night would cost me EUR 587 a year - most definitely not cents.
I do have a server myself, based on a Core i3-2100 with motherboard chosen for lowest power consumption and a PicoPSU. Even with its two big 3TB HDDs, idle consumption is under 20W. That still costs me over EUR 100 per year at current electricity prices, but the difference with a P4 is very, very significant. For stuff that's on 24/7, it quite literally pays to choose the lowest power option, which will generally be low-end relatively modern equipment, not big loud & proud stuff like a P4. In fact I'd say a P4 (or a Netburst Xeon) is the single worst choice possible for this application as it's new enough to draw a lot of power, but old enough not to be able to cut that power use when idle.
But that said, I don't care about power consumption of my vintage stuff for the simple reason that almost all of it is powered off almost all the time - and my preferred era is DOS anyway, so there is no need for high-power stuff. My most-used vintage system runs a Katmai on i440BX. That still uses more at idle than my Core i3, but I don't leave it on to idle.
TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-06, 09:25:
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I actually wonder about older LCD panels being lower power requirements, modern backlit LED panels dont use much power at all whereas old LCDs usually used CCFL or the older LED back lights that were not energy efficient.
I doubt the old 20" LCD/CCFL panels were more energy efficient than a modern LED 27/32" panel, I fully expect the modern panel to beat it in every area for efficiency.
Definitely. Can confirm that as I recently replaced my son's old (2005-era) EIZO 19" CCFL-lit IPS 1280x1024 with a 2nd hand 3-year old Dell 24" Edge-lit LED IPS 1920x1200 screen. Despite significantly bigger screen surface, its power draw is actually 20% less. Oh, and no coil whine, which was actually my main reason for the upgrade - it was driving me mad.