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Maingear Touts New Rig As "Planet's Greenest Gaming PC"
Maingear has just unveiled what they are calling the "planet's greenest gaming PC." Built using a small form factor and coming with Intel's new Ion graphics as the default option, this little powerhouse is built with a definite eye toward energy consumption. "Said configuration is available with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs and an 80+ certified 300-watt power supply; those who care more about frame rates than Ma Earth can opt for a GeForce 9800 GT ECO, which — despite being a discrete, power-hungry GPU — still swallows some 40 percent less power than a standard 9800 GT. You'll also find WiFi support, room for an optional Blu-ray drive and TV tuner, upwards of 8GB of RAM and room for a single 2.5-inch HDD or SSD. The whole box checks in at just 7.6- x 8.3- x 11.4-inches, and it's available for order right now starting at $799."
is not to play
I don't think this really qualifies as either a real gaming PC or a green PC. Sure, it will play games, but I wouldn't call it a gaming PC. Same thing with green, it uses a bit too much power to be considered really all that green. Sure, its a good compromise but I don't think its really that green or really that much of a gaming PC.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Mmm... Slashvertising. How tasty!
Rhapsody in Numbers
Slap together some mid range components, an ugly case and call it Prius... err Pulse.
It's "eco-conscious" says the article/advertisement/press release.
Too much power usage to be truly green. Too little performance to be a real gaming rig. Lame.
And for their next trick, they're targeting the auto industry, planning a sports car that gets 40 mpg.
Sure, it may have an unimpressive 0-60 time of 8.4 seconds, but they've gotta hop on this "green" bandwagon while they still can!
On the one hand, this seems like a good alternative. On the other, the notion is basically incompatible. After all, wouldn't the greenest thing of all be to simply unplug and go till your garden?
I fear that 'green' is becoming more about fashion than it is about the Earth, and the notion of a green way to do a very non-green thing seems to support that. Sort of like a hybrid SUV, an eco-friendly landfill, or a more merciful way to kill whales.
Some things just aren't green...
Why do I feel the need to go buy carbon credits just for posting this?
Those parts are outdated for anyone who cares to be on the 'bleeding edge' in gaming, and anyone who doesn't can build their own version of that rig at about half the price (ignoring the form factor).
Given the probable lifetime energy savings of that $800 box over the $400 DIY job, plus the base environmental costs of building all those parts, you're essentially spending money to have someone else make you feel better.
Then what the hell is the Mac mini at only 110W?
Sure, it's not a "gaming PC" but it does have a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and the nVidia 9400M is about the same as Ion graphics too, not to mention that the Mac mini is smaller and cheaper. And yes, you can install Windows on it if you want.
So what's special about that not-so-small Maingear "green" PC again?
Oblig. BOFH:
"A REAL computer has ONE speed and the only powersaving it permits is when you pull the power leads out of the back!" I blurt. "In fact, a REAL computer would have a hole in the front to push trees into and an exhaust pipe out the back for the black smoke to come out of."
Alright, where to begin...
"ION" is nVidia's, not Intel's. (Only the story submitter makes this mistake, not TFA.)
"ION" is nVidia's codename for the combination of their 9400 or 9300 integrated graphics chipset plus the Intel Atom processor. This rig uses a Core 2; which makes it *NOT* an ION. It just makes it a Core 2 plus 9400 chipset.
And as others mention, the Mac mini is the same damn thing; only smaller, draws less power, and costs less. (However this one has the ability to add a discrete graphics card, which the Mac mini obviously lacks.)
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
Strikes me as World's Greenest Gaming PC, is equivalent to Worlds Gentlest Rape.
Why bother
Is like the most fuel-efficient Hummer. Who cares about it?
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
You don't get out much, do you? There are watches out there that use no electricity. In fact, they were some of the first time-keeping devices that weren't dependent on a sunny day. There are flashlights that you just shake or crank to charge, they use capacitors instead of batteries and LED's for illumination because they use energy so much more efficiently. They're usually billed as emergency flashlights if you want to buy one. A water heater that doesn't require massive resistance coils to heat up water? Gas heaters are quite common, and if you live in a sunny enough place you can use solar heat to boost your water heater. That's been around since, well, forever. Hell, they sell black bags you can fill with water and hang in the sun so you can take a hot shower while camping. And for alternative cooking methods, again, gas. Quite common in many places, and preferred by chefs for more even, controllable heat.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
That's a pretty big typo, writing intel instead of nvidia and throwing in the word "gaming" in there somehow when this thing isn't a gaming PC at all. This whole article is one big typo. I wish I could unread it.
The word isn't as narrow as I think you'd like it to be.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
Oh. Ummm... okay then. Thanks.