Green PC

J

JohnSearle

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
228
Hey,

I was thinking about trying to build an environmentally friendly PC (or as close as one can come ATM), and I was wondering if are any suggestions out there for this type of undertaking. Does anyone have an experience in doing anything like this, or know of any products that might be useful.

I'm going for power efficiency, cleanly produced materials, or anything else. I know Antec makes a PSU that is supposed to be power efficient, and I think produced in a clean manner. I was thinking about producing my own case for the task, perhaps out of some type of wood. I assume a green PC wouldn't really have to worry about heating issues too much.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

- John
 
Get a 45W CPU, and make sure everything is ROHS compliant. Better yet, get a laptop, lol.

If you don't want a laptop...

If you don't build the case yourself... go with an Antec NSK4480 case w/ Earthwatts 380W PSU
If you build the case yourself, the Antec Earthwatts 380W is around $35 alone.
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400
Gigabyte AMD 690G motherboard w/ onboard video (cuts down on power consumption)
Two sticks of DDR2-800 1.8v (2GB or 4GB, choice is yours -- just make sure its two sticks only)
WD Green Hard Drive
Samsung DVDRW SATA
 
enginurd said:
Get a 45W CPU, and make sure everything is ROHS compliant. Better yet, get a laptop, lol.

If you don't want a laptop...

If you don't build the case yourself... go with an Antec NSK4480 case w/ Earthwatts 380W PSU
If you build the case yourself, the Antec Earthwatts 380W is around $35 alone.
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400
Gigabyte AMD 690G motherboard w/ onboard video (cuts down on power consumption)
Two sticks of DDR2-800 1.8v (2GB or 4GB, choice is yours -- just make sure its two sticks only)
WD Green Hard Drive
Samsung DVDRW SATA
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks.

The reasoning behind not getting a laptop, is that I was going to make this a DIY project for a seminar on how to build a computer. It's much more difficult to teach the computer components with a laptop.

- John
 
Are you looking for a good performing computer that uses power efficiently, or just a pc that uses little power?
If you're looking for pretty decent performance, the HD3850 video card uses considerably little power when compared to it's performance, as does the 45nm processors.
Seasonic makes the most power effecient psu's..
As for a case.. I think a Aluminum Lian-li is much more better for the environment then a plastic case.
Also, Lian-li also recycle's it's machinery to make new cases.

p35-ds3l is one of the favorite among budget-boards that provides high performance, and also cuts down on the pcb... fr-4 I think? some kind of resin epoxy... some reason, I always thought pcb's were made of silicon. ehm..

I also second the WD green drive.. (GD). Good drives from a good company that create very little heat or noise.
 
Don't forget to undervolt. The computer in my sig was built with energy consumption in mind. I actually use this one a whole lot more than the quadcore pc I built a year ago. The CPU is a standard Brisbane undervolted to just a hair below 1.0V . Without the 7300GT and running on integrated nvidia 7025 graphics, I get somewhere around 37 watts idle, 59 watts full load. I get something like 63 watts and 90 watts respectively if I leave it at the default 1.35V. I'd probably have even better results undervolting a modern intel chip. If you have the cash on hand, a SSD instead of a hard drive will certainly help on power as well. An 80 PLUS certified power supply keeps the AC-DC conversion process at atleast 80% efficiency. Most low-mid range power supplies are around 65-70 percent efficiency.
 
JamesL said:
Are you looking for a good performing computer that uses power efficiently, or just a pc that uses little power?
If you're looking for pretty decent performance, the HD3850 video card uses considerably little power when compared to it's performance, as does the 45nm processors.
Seasonic makes the most power effecient psu's..
As for a case.. I think a Aluminum Lian-li is much more better for the environment then a plastic case.
Also, Lian-li also recycle's it's machinery to make new cases.

p35-ds3l is one of the favorite among budget-boards that provides high performance, and also cuts down on the pcb... fr-4 I think? some kind of resin epoxy... some reason, I always thought pcb's were made of silicon. ehm..
Click to expand...

Well I plan on building a model for myself, as well as a model to teach a group on how to build a PC that is both environmentally friendly and running OSS (kind of a leftist computer).

That being said... I'm looking for a system that is somewhat scalable in terms of processing power. For myself, I would like it to play Civ4, which doesn't really require that much. I'm assuming for the most part this system will be used to play DVD's, word processing, and various other minor tasks.

I'm going to have to go check out seasonic a little further. I was looking at Antec's Earthwatt PSU, but this always gives me another good option. I'm going to email the companies and see if they can give me any information on their manufacturing processes (not like they will).

fss69 said:
Don't forget to undervolt. The computer in my sig was built with energy consumption in mind. I actually use this one a whole lot more than the quadcore pc I built a year ago. The CPU is a standard Brisbane undervolted to just a hair below 1.0V . Without the 7300GT and running on integrated nvidia 7025 graphics, I get somewhere around 37 watts idle, 59 watts full load. I get something like 63 watts and 90 watts respectively if I leave it at the default 1.35V. I'd probably have even better results undervolting a modern intel chip. If you have the cash on hand, a SSD instead of a hard drive will certainly help on power as well. An 80 PLUS certified power supply keeps the AC-DC conversion process at atleast 80% efficiency. Most low-mid range power supplies are around 65-70 percent efficiency.
Click to expand...

I really like the idea of undervolting the system. One thing about an environmental computer is the scalability. It should be durable and have longevity. It's pointless to build a system with environmentalism in mind, if you're just planning on tossing it out in a year. If you have a decent processor and motherboard in there, then you can always just up the power as needed. I would have never thought of that....

A SSD would be nice, but they'll leave you with a whole in your pocket. I would also like to go for environmentally friendly production methods, so I'm going to have to check both of those HD's out (WD & SSD).

Thanks for the advice guys... keep it coming! :)

- John
 
Intel makes a Conroe-L chip that is a single core rated at a miniscule 35W. Undervolting and/or underclocking will reduce power draw. Efficiency is tops on PSU. Also look for "green" motherboards like some of the ASUS mATXs.
 
VIA chip is the best way to show a green pc.

check out the VIA thread
 
JohnSearle said:
... I'm going to have to go check out seasonic a little further. I was looking at Antec's Earthwatt PSU, but this always gives me another good option. ...
Click to expand...
Antec Earthwatts PSUs are made by Seasonic. ;)
 
Don't forget as regards to power supplies that a high-wattage power supply isn't non-environmentally-friendly - it only draws what it needs to, so it depends on the efficiency. I think most peak in efficiency round about 50% load, so getting a higher-wattage PSU with 80%+ efficiency would be better than getting one that just about covers the computer's needs.
 
... and if you build the low power PCs (with onboard video) that we've been spec'ing, 380W is still overkill. Without a vidcard, you'll be under 50% capacity of that PSU, and with a vidcard, you may be slightly above 50% capacity, depending on the vidcard.
 
So most everyone has at least agreed upon the Antec Earthwatt 380 (which is made by Seasonic ;)), WD green drive (or SSD), and something with integrated video as being the best fit. I take it that there is no such a thing as green RAM, right?

I did check out the green motherboards at ASUS, but it looked like they were all Intel (not that that should make a difference), and I didn't see any that had integrated video. Gigabyte was also advertising a couple boards for green computing, but I haven't had a chance to go through them and take a real look.

I might contact them and ask about the production methods of these things, because that is definitely a something to be examined as well. Does anyone know how these companies do in green production methods?
 
I guess the best you'll get with RAM is making sure it doesn't require higher voltages than normal.. I'm not aware of any RAM being specifically sold as low power though.

It kinda amuses me when it's sold as a great thing that products are RoHS compliant. Not because it's a bad thing or that it's not a good thing - but it's also law in the EU, so it's just basically saying "this product is not illegal" when sold in EU countries.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I saw the one article posted on slashdot.org, and it was pretty interesting. They also had a link to the picoPSU, which sounds like a pretty promising power supply. It has a 120W fanless design, which is pretty appealing for noise... so I think I'm going to try to build something out of that if possible. If I can't get the design under 120W, though, then I'll have to head for a Seasonic.

Thanks a lot guys.
 
In addition to various products that have been recommended here is a little advice. Only use one stick of ram. This lowers power consumption a tad.
 
As said before the earthwatts will only provide (and thus draw) what the computer needs -- not all 380 watts. To use that picoPSU you'd probably have to use a via chip and the computer will be very weak compared to even the lowest intel processors available.

Almost all (98%+) of micro ATX motherboards have onboard video. If you find a board in this formfactor at a major retailer it will almost certainly have onboard video. Look at the motherboard ports for VGA, DVI, or HDMI outputs and then you can be sure.

You ideal build would probably be, from the comments in this thread:
ASUS mATX "green" board - $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131237

earthwatts PSU - $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

intel celeron 420 chip (conroe-L single core) 35W - $44
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116040

500 gb wd green drive - $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149

single stick of ddr2 1.8V ram - $20 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134045

This would be for optimal environmental friendliness. Add in a home-built wooden PC case or some other material more friendly than plastic and you can compute with a clear conscience.

If you want an optical drive you could add it in, although I don't know where you'd look for a friendly one. You can probably get away with any mATX board, I don't think the "green" label on Asus's board really means much in terms of power--just make sure your board is configured to reduce clock speed and/or multiplier on the CPU when it isn't underload.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top