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Building a Green PC

Posted by kdawson on from the in-time-for-st.-patrick's dept.

Kermit writes "Ars Technica has put together a green DIY system building guide. The idea is to build a PC offering decent energy efficiency as well as solid performance. The 'Green Gaming Box' draws about 125W at full load (not including a monitor); the minimalist 'Extreme Green Box' uses a mini-ITX case and a VIA CPU-motherboard combo for about 30W at typical load. If you want to mix and match components, or modify your current system so that it uses less energy, there are plenty of options for swapping out individual components."

5 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. I don't have a green PC by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Tagan 800w PSU, Core2Quad Q6600, NF4650SLI motherboard, 8800gtx, backlit keyboard, wireless mouse (with transformer).

    However, I DO ride a motorcycle, pumping out far less CO2 than almost any other motorised road vehicle.

    I also don't have a TV, as my PC does everything I need it to. MORE savings. It's not about a green PC, it's about reducing load on the grid. I do it by having less equipment, not greener equipment.

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    1. Re:I don't have a green PC by heapcat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      However, I DO ride a motorcycle, pumping out far less CO2 than almost any other motorised road vehicle. Not quite true. http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~siah/MiniProjects/MotorcyclePollution.html In urban setting yes, but in rural or highway driving they pump out more CO2 pollution. About 50% more.

      Remember less gas != less CO2. Just check your lawn mower.
  2. OLPC XO laptop by lobiusmoop · · Score: 4, Interesting

    125W? For a _really_ green PC, check out the XO-1. It is not just physically green, it runs at 2-3W. Another upshot of this is that the battery life is 9 to 10 hours.

    --
    "I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
  3. Re:Mac mini by clare-ents · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We colocate and run dedicated servers on Mac Minis. Electricity prices in London data centres are crippling. In a standard 2kW rack we get 55 Mac Minis - 37W each. The guys in the rack next door have 6 Dell 1950s. They look at us enviously and mumble about the cost of Windows server licences. On the other side we've got people with a HP blade server (just one!) unhappy that they haven't enough power to fill it with blades, whereas we've got 3 times as many CPU cores and a massively lower hardware cost.

    http://www.mythic-beasts.com/

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
  4. Re:Green Software + Hardware by Stachybotris · · Score: 3, Interesting

    AC-to-DC conversion is messy and lossy. Fortunately, we do have servers that can take DC directly from a shared AC-DC power supply. This concept needs to move into the home. Why should my PC, monitor, printer and God knows what else all each have their own AC-DC power converter box? Homes could have a single large converter and then have DC-only outlets for all those appliances that need it. That's such an insipidly great idea (especially when you stop and consider that all of your consoles, your TV, your stereo, and pretty much every other electronic device in your house is running a rectifier of its own) that you just know it won't even be considered. From the hardware standpoint, however, it wouldn't actually be that difficult to implement - you'd just have to get a standardized power cable and outlet. Oh, wait, we have those already - we use them in racks.

    And from an economical/'green' standpoint, that's just another cost that can be rolled into the price of a new home. Everybody wins!