Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu box
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Calmatory
I didn't read the whole thread, but given the hardware addict I am, all I can say is that keeping this kind of a thing up to date, with good bang for the buck and low power parts WILL be possibly an impossible task.
Good luck trying though. :)
Hehe, know what you're saying. I figure I might update when I do a build (usually two or three times a year). That is when I generally spend way too much time researching what is current. I have a build coming up soon.
It might also be interesting, in these times of rapid and accelerating technological change, to post a build once a year. A bit of a time capsule of technological advancement, evolving energy efficiency and methods of dealing with computer waste/obsolete technology (we hope).
Let's call this one 'Energy Efficient Build #1: 2009!'
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu box
The CPU is no longer available in North America. AMD has a single-processor 45 w unit, or up to a quad at 65 w.
A dual-processor Atom with the Ion video seems like the natural next configuration.
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu box
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gordintoronto
The CPU is no longer available in North America. AMD has a single-processor 45 w unit, or up to a quad at 65 w.
A dual-processor Atom with the Ion video seems like the natural next configuration.
Bring on the ARM I say!!
Thanks for the info and input. :)
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
FiReSTaRT
Thanks again. I almost pulled the trigger on the buy. Back to the drawing board for me. Might just get an ink-jet instead as we don't do much colour printing (mostly the occasional map/profile for the report).
Just an update. I ended up buying a CP1215. Your best bet is to install is via the CUPS web interface. I had network printing via a print server set up within 5min on the first machine while I didn't know what I was doing and under 2min on the second machine. All that was needed was to specify the printer and the IP.
Compare that to the 2 ******* boxes (XP and Vista).. Took me a few hours to figure out how it's done and another 60-90min to figure out that a reboot was necessary (printed the test page but no documents before the reboot).
Environmentally, a cheap laser printer might be your best bet if you only print occasionally. You won't be throwing out your cartridges as the toner will never go bad. If you leave it in there for years, all you need to do is to shake it up and it's good to go again.
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu computer
Sorry to seemingly go off topic, but even Mac OS 9 has had a utiliuty to stop the hard drive platters from spinning, included in the OS. I put in a standard hard drive and I can choose to stop the platters when the hard drive is not doing anything. Is there not a utility to do the same in Ubuntu? And what are your opinions on this? Because some may argue that it actually uses more power in constantly having to stop and start the hard drive...
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Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu computer
I have an option to spin down hard drives in Power Management. I'm running karmic but I'm pretty sure it was in jaunty as well.
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu computer
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu box
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gordintoronto
The CPU is no longer available in North America. AMD has a single-processor 45 w unit, or up to a quad at 65 w.
A dual-processor Atom with the Ion video seems like the natural next configuration.
Theres a new 45w TDP dual, triple and quad-core AMDs out now-
Athlon II X4 600e/Athlon II X4 605e (quad) Athlon II X3 400e/Athlon II X3 405e (triple) and Athlon II X2 235e/Athlon II X2 240e (dual). They only got released in the last few days (20th October 2009) so I'm not sure how avaible they are now, but they should be around soon if they arent already.
I'm not sure about how the newer 'e' series CPUs would compare to the Atom, but I would guess that the Atom would use less if it was always at idle, and AMD would be better if you had much load. Thats just a guess though....
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu box
Re: HOWTO: Build an energy-efficient Ubuntu box
While choosing efficient hardware is very important, a lot can be done with *existing* systems -- in fact, you're likely to save more net energy by deferring your purchase of new components and sticking with an existing system.
Whatever you choose to do, you can eke out savings by monitoring how your software choices affect power consumption. A program like powertop (which I believe works on all platforms, even though the its website is Intel-centric) can help you figure out what potentially extraneous processes are causing power consumption. If you find something is unnecessary, you can uninstall it and save a little.
http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/