When someone gets their Q6600 working...

[Bill Clo]

I'd sure appreciate it if you would post power consumption figures, both stock and overclocked (if you do that)...

Trying to decide if it's worth dumping my E6400 overclocked to 3ghz (150w/hour). Not sure if it is more or less power efficient than a Q6600 @ stock or a measly 100-200mhz overclocked.

Thanks

 

[SmokeRngs]

I'd sure appreciate it if you would post power consumption figures, both stock and overclocked (if you do that)...

Trying to decide if it's worth dumping my E6400 overclocked to 3ghz (150w/hour). Not sure if it is more or less power efficient than a Q6600 @ stock or a measly 100-200mhz overclocked.

Thanks

Do like I plan on doing. I have an E6400@3.4Ghz. As long as I have the money, I'm doing mobo, CPU and RAM upgrade to my current system and move my current stuff over into a second system for more folding goodness.

And while the Q6600 will use more power, it won't be as much as two dual core systems would use. If you run the SMP client, a quad core at a slower speed will chew up more WU's than a faster dual core.

Of course I plan on overclocking the bejeezus out of the quad core I get. But that's beside the point. I don't really care about how much more power my main system uses. The overclock isn't going to significantly increase my power bill over stock speeds. Besides, despite the fact my power bill is between $20-$30/month more than it used to be, it's still under $100/month so I'm not going to worry much.

 

[Bill Clo]

I'm more sensitive to power costs, so I am more or less abandoning overclocking. A very mild overclock that doesn't require a bump in voltages is a possibility, depending on what the power meter says.

My power bill is too high, and is in dire need of reduction.

 

[Xilikon]

A thing for sure, a quad core will be more efficient than dual core. You have 2 more cores and if you get a G0 Q6600, the TDP is 95W compared to 80W but you can also undervolt/underclock if you want to keep the consumption at a minimum. The G0 is pretty cool to run and require less voltage (1.25v average than the B3's 1.35v).

 

[Parja]

I'm more sensitive to power costs, so I am more or less abandoning overclocking. A very mild overclock that doesn't require a bump in voltages is a possibility, depending on what the power meter says.

My power bill is too high, and is in dire need of reduction.

Check out the Intel Processors forum. People are overclocking the bejeezus out of the G0 stepping Q6600s without even having to touch the voltage.

 

[Xilikon]

Check out the Intel Processors forum. People are overclocking the bejeezus out of the G0 stepping Q6600s without even having to touch the voltage.

That's true... Mine is currently running at 3.2 GHz @ 1.325v (1.29v actual).

 

[Bill Clo]

Check out the Intel Processors forum. People are overclocking the bejeezus out of the G0 stepping Q6600s without even having to touch the voltage.

I have to wonder if the CPU is drawing more power even if not requiring a voltage boost. No way to tell unless one had it running with a Killawatt, at stock speed and checked it at various overclocks. I suspect those CPUs at 3+ghz are drawing more power, even if they are stable OCs.

 

[BillR]

I have to wonder if the CPU is drawing more power even if not requiring a voltage boost. No way to tell unless one had it running with a Killawatt, at stock speed and checked it at various overclocks. I suspect those CPUs at 3+ghz are drawing more power, even if they are stable OCs.

Man, I do hear you on the whole power thing. The CPUs might be getting cheaper but my KWH rate keeps on rising which is why I’m down to 6 machines.

My plan was to do a G0 Quad and run two SMP clients if possible, then shut one of the older power suckers off to compensate.

These guys running SLI gaming rigs and using 1k to 1400k PSUs just amaze me. I have an AC unit that doesn’t draw that much

 

[Parja]

These guys running SLI gaming rigs and using 1k to 1400k PSUs just amaze me. I have an AC unit that doesn’t draw that much

Yeah, pretty soon we'll have to run a 220V line to power our gaming rigs.

 

[BillR]

Yeah, pretty soon we'll have to run a 220V line to power our gaming rigs.

Funny you should mention that. Although it might be a bit complex for some running 220 volts vs. 110 volts it more efficient.

I know a number of years ago I was running 7 500 watt mono block power amps for my home theater system and switched that all over to 220 and was very pleased with the results.

If you take it a step further you will notice that the typical specs on a better PSU tell you that it draws 10 amps at the wall at 110 volts but only 5 amps at 220.

This is something I plan to work on over the next few weeks so I’ll let you know how it works out.

 

[ChelseaOilman]

If you take it a step further you will notice that the typical specs on a better PSU tell you that it draws 10 amps at the wall at 110 volts but only 5 amps at 220.

I've heard 220 volts is more efficient, but isn't your example the same amount of watts used?

Amps x Volts = Watts

Now if it was 4 amps @ 220 volts, that would be a savings.

ChelseaOilman

 

[BillR]

I've heard 220 volts is more efficient, but isn't your example the same amount of watts used?

Amps x Volts = Watts

Now if it was 4 amps @ 220 volts, that would be a savings.

ChelseaOilman

Very true to a point, what happens with conventional power supplies, my home amps for instance is a 500 watt amp at 120 volts would drop to a 250 watt power amp, but produce twice the current at the output.

That worked, still works well with conventional power supplies. I’m looking into it with these crap digital PSUs we use in computers.

Since current or AMPS is the thing we are looking for, the thing that does all the work, that’s what I’m playing with at the moment. So far I’ve noticed far less heat at 220 but I’m going to have to build a proper “bridge” to get good input readings.

 

[jebo_4jc]

I have a kill a watt and a Q6600 on their way through the mail right now. I'm going to be putting the quad into my main rig, and moving the E6600 to my HTPC along with grabbing a mATX mobo for my HTPC. The X2 in my HTPC now is getting sold. I'll be running some tests to attempt to determine how much power all this stuff pulls.

If you want to see a worklog of sorts for all this shuffling around see here