Comments on: Doing our bit for the environment. http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/ The life and times of Stuart Longland (VK4MSL) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:50:04 +1100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Jon Akers http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-910 Jon Akers Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:46:30 +0000 http://stuartl.longlandclan.hopto.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/#comment-910 We just did a power test against a Fulong, and according to the power meter between the wall and the power transformer, it appears that the machine is only using 20W of power, whether it is idle or running HPL. Sure, the power brick is rated for using about 40W of power, but it never comes close to that. As an aside, I was able to get 0.3695GFlops out of the processor using HPL in a single processor mode. Not so shabby for a machine like this! We just did a power test against a Fulong, and according to the power meter between the wall and the power transformer, it appears that the machine is only using 20W of power, whether it is idle or running HPL. Sure, the power brick is rated for using about 40W of power, but it never comes close to that.

As an aside, I was able to get 0.3695GFlops out of the processor using HPL in a single processor mode. Not so shabby for a machine like this!

]]> By: Kevin Bowling http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-790 Kevin Bowling Tue, 17 Jul 2007 03:07:25 +0000 http://stuartl.longlandclan.hopto.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/#comment-790 Most power supplies would die if they were pushed anywhere close to the maximum output. I know this from experience, most are very low quality. You also cannot fully calculate power consumption from the component ratings either, because the PSU will have a certain efficiency degree. Thus, your power estimates are very very high. A typical desktop PC of the past decade will probably use around 100W. Indeed, I recommend you look for and purchase a watt meter that you can plug devices into so you can garner actual power levels when deciding what to do with devices around the house (not just PCs!). For example, I have an IBM X330 - dual 1GHz PIII, 3GB RAM, 2 320GB Barracudas, 3Ware RAID - for my home server. This is quite similar to your desktop, and it runs under 100W idle. Under heavy load it might rise 20W. On the same token, CONFIG_NO_HZ saved about 1-2 Watts or VA - and this will only rise in the future with improved kernel and userland, and on newer hardware. The catch here is cooling, especially in data centers. Days with temperature reaching 120F in the summer time here in Arizona are not uncommon. If you really are running 30 systems, I imagine your A/C is on quite a bit. If you are not using Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) at home, that is an area that can make a big difference. Also, investment in an LCD monitor from that 20" CRT could give you significant power savings, better ergonomics, and increased resolution. Just a few points to consider, but good article! Most power supplies would die if they were pushed anywhere close to the maximum output. I know this from experience, most are very low quality. You also cannot fully calculate power consumption from the component ratings either, because the PSU will have a certain efficiency degree.

Thus, your power estimates are very very high. A typical desktop PC of the past decade will probably use around 100W. Indeed, I recommend you look for and purchase a watt meter that you can plug devices into so you can garner actual power levels when deciding what to do with devices around the house (not just PCs!).

For example, I have an IBM X330 – dual 1GHz PIII, 3GB RAM, 2 320GB Barracudas, 3Ware RAID – for my home server. This is quite similar to your desktop, and it runs under 100W idle. Under heavy load it might rise 20W. On the same token, CONFIG_NO_HZ saved about 1-2 Watts or VA – and this will only rise in the future with improved kernel and userland, and on newer hardware.

The catch here is cooling, especially in data centers. Days with temperature reaching 120F in the summer time here in Arizona are not uncommon. If you really are running 30 systems, I imagine your A/C is on quite a bit.

If you are not using Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) at home, that is an area that can make a big difference. Also, investment in an LCD monitor from that 20″ CRT could give you significant power savings, better ergonomics, and increased resolution. Just a few points to consider, but good article!

]]> By: Redhatter’s Web Blog » Blog Archive » Gentoo/MIPS Status Update http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-781 Redhatter’s Web Blog » Blog Archive » Gentoo/MIPS Status Update Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:58:05 +0000 http://stuartl.longlandclan.hopto.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/#comment-781 [...] Gentoo Planet… Others may recall seeing my Gentoo Universe post talking about my usage of a Lemote Fulong minicomputer… No official decision has been made at this time, but behind the scenes work is already [...] [...] Gentoo Planet… Others may recall seeing my Gentoo Universe post talking about my usage of a Lemote Fulong minicomputer… No official decision has been made at this time, but behind the scenes work is already [...]

]]> By: Redhatter http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-751 Redhatter Sun, 08 Jul 2007 01:39:22 +0000 http://stuartl.longlandclan.hopto.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/#comment-751 genone: Well, that is interesting. I've been going via the various power consumption calculators you can find on the net, many of which do state a requirement a lot higher than what you suggest. I've got no way of measuring my boxes safely (I don't fancy sticking an ammeter in series on 240v) so I've worked on the rating of the power supply -- which naturally has *always* got to be higher than the actual power consumption at all times. What I am noticing though, is an increase in the number of video cards that require additional power sources via sockets on the PCB, as well as the one provided via the PCI/AGP slot. And it's things like the DirectX 10 spec and modern games that seem to be necessitating these behemoth video cards. The GPUs could damn near run a full OS and peripherals on their own. Okay, fine... the gamers will tend to flock to these things... but why push these requirements on the general population? That's what some companies seem to be intent on doing. genone: Well, that is interesting. I’ve been going via the various power consumption calculators you can find on the net, many of which do state a requirement a lot higher than what you suggest.

I’ve got no way of measuring my boxes safely (I don’t fancy sticking an ammeter in series on 240v) so I’ve worked on the rating of the power supply — which naturally has *always* got to be higher than the actual power consumption at all times.

What I am noticing though, is an increase in the number of video cards that require additional power sources via sockets on the PCB, as well as the one provided via the PCI/AGP slot. And it’s things like the DirectX 10 spec and modern games that seem to be necessitating these behemoth video cards. The GPUs could damn near run a full OS and peripherals on their own.

Okay, fine… the gamers will tend to flock to these things… but why push these requirements on the general population? That’s what some companies seem to be intent on doing.

]]> By: genone http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-750 genone Sat, 07 Jul 2007 21:32:15 +0000 http://stuartl.longlandclan.hopto.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/#comment-750 Modern (x86/amd64) hardware doesn't really need that much more energy as you suspect. Only the real high-end CPUs and graphics card are very power hungry, and those probably account for maybe 1-2% of the market. However current system generally have completely oversized PSUs that were designed to supply multiple of those highend components, but are underutilized in 99% of all systems. As an example, my current desktop (Athlon64 X2, GF7600GT, two HDs, two opical drives) has a 480W PSU, but even under high load (3D games) it "only" consumes 160W (measured at wall outlet). In comparison, teh box I got 10 years ago (P2 233, TNT1, three disks, no optical drives, 230W PSU) used about 120W under load. So you see, the difference in actual consumption isn't that big, especially when you consider the performance difference (the difference is a bit bigger in idle mode, about 105W to 70W). The real problem is the increased amount of systems in use today, not just desktop computer systems and servers, but also all kinds of embedded systems that are usually always on or on standby. Modern (x86/amd64) hardware doesn’t really need that much more energy as you suspect. Only the real high-end CPUs and graphics card are very power hungry, and those probably account for maybe 1-2% of the market. However current system generally have completely oversized PSUs that were designed to supply multiple of those highend components, but are underutilized in 99% of all systems. As an example, my current desktop (Athlon64 X2, GF7600GT, two HDs, two opical drives) has a 480W PSU, but even under high load (3D games) it “only” consumes 160W (measured at wall outlet). In comparison, teh box I got 10 years ago (P2 233, TNT1, three disks, no optical drives, 230W PSU) used about 120W under load. So you see, the difference in actual consumption isn’t that big, especially when you consider the performance difference (the difference is a bit bigger in idle mode, about 105W to 70W).
The real problem is the increased amount of systems in use today, not just desktop computer systems and servers, but also all kinds of embedded systems that are usually always on or on standby.

]]> By: Appleman1234 http://stuartl.longlandclan.yi.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-748 Appleman1234 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 13:02:05 +0000 http://stuartl.longlandclan.hopto.org/blog/2007/07/07/doing-our-bit-for-the-environment/#comment-748 Well said Redhatter, I agree with you entirely, but unfortunately ignorance seems to be bliss in our current IT environment. More resources should be devoted to sustainable computing both in the hardware and software sections, and for those that can't minimise their power usage, they could at least invest in alternate methods of powering their computers (I heard somewhere that Google has a wind farm or 3), or at donating their CPU cycles to a Boinc or similar project. Hopefully humanity will realise that state of affairs before it becomes too late to actually do any significant to delay or prevent them. (Yes some would argue it is never too late, but when there are no fossil fuels remaining and the average temperature of the world is +15 Celsius, it will be a much harder challenge). Well said Redhatter, I agree with you entirely, but unfortunately ignorance seems to be bliss in our current IT environment.

More resources should be devoted to sustainable computing both in the hardware and software sections, and for those that can’t minimise their power usage, they could at least invest in alternate methods of powering their computers (I heard somewhere that Google has a wind farm or 3), or at donating their CPU cycles to a Boinc or similar project.

Hopefully humanity will realise that state of affairs before it becomes too late to actually do any significant to delay or prevent them. (Yes some would argue it is never too late, but when there are no fossil fuels remaining and the average temperature of the world is +15 Celsius, it will be a much harder challenge).

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