How much does it cost to keep a desktop on all year?

[minestrone]

Just wondering.

I have a dell dimension 8400 which I have started to use as a server and I am leaving it on all the time now. Monitors off.

I have this number in my head of 50 quid per year but I don't know.

[voodooflux]

Just wondering.

I have a dell dimension 8400 which I have started to use as a server and I am leaving it on all the time now. Monitors off.

I have this number in my head of 50 quid per year but I don't know.

It will depend on the spec of your machine and how much time it spends idle. What's in the box and what does it typically do (file server, download machine, etc.)

Might be worth getting hold of a power monitor plug adapter and see what it draws in a typical day.

[minestrone]

It's a pentium 4 3.00 ghz, 3 gig ram with a 160 sapa drive. About 3 years old

It's pretty much doing everything, apache server, tomcat server, subversion server, mingle server, cruise control server.

Basically runnning it as a development server.

Probably sits fairly idle for most of the day, it wakes up every hour for about 10 minutes to do a set of batch processes, builds etc, then back to sleep.

[voodooflux]

It's a pentium 4 3.00 ghz, 3 gig ram with a 160 sapa drive. About 3 years old

It's pretty much doing everything, apache server, tomcat server, subversion server, mingle server, cruise control server.

Basically runnning it as a development server.

Probably sits fairly idle for most of the day, it wakes up every hour for about 10 minutes to do a set of batch processes, builds etc, then back to sleep.

What PSU has it got in it?

[minestrone]

What PSU has it got in it?

It's not 200 it's the one up, 260?

[VectraMan]

I've always wondered this too. So I've just bought a current measuring plug from Amazon for £15, and hopefully I'll be able to tell you in 1-3 days.

I would imagine what you're doing doesn't make such a great difference on a desktop, where the fans typically stay on and the PSU must be pretty wasteful.

I also want to know how much my NAS is using.

[d000hg]

I've always wondered this too. So I've just bought a current measuring plug from Amazon for £15, and hopefully I'll be able to tell you in 1-3 days.

I would imagine what you're doing doesn't make such a great difference on a desktop, where the fans typically stay on and the PSU must be pretty wasteful.

I also want to know how much my NAS is using.

CPUs definitely draw more power when working hard, for instance playing games, than when idle. I think a CPU draws somewhere around 50W so it's not trivial, solid-state parts of the PC are a big power draw compared to a little fan. Graphics cards often use way more, I seem to recall up to 200W or something crazy!

For what it's worth I would expect the P4 to be pretty power-hungry but if your PC is not under heavy load it should be fine. Playing with power-saving settings could be worth it depending on exactly what the PC is doing.

[voodooflux]

I also want to know how much my NAS is using.

I'm interested to find that out for my QNAP box as well. A lot depends on what drives are in there, and how good the box is at getting them to spin down when idle. Rough stats that I've seen in reviews seem to suggest something in the region of 13W when idle for my TS-209 Pro II.

[voodooflux]

CPUs definitely draw more power when working hard, for instance playing games, than when idle. I think a CPU draws somewhere around 50W so it's not trivial, solid-state parts of the PC are a big power draw compared to a little fan. Graphics cards often use way more, I seem to recall up to 200W or something crazy!

For what it's worth I would expect the P4 to be pretty power-hungry but if your PC is not under heavy load it should be fine. Playing with power-saving settings could be worth it depending on exactly what the PC is doing.

Something like an Intel Q6600 can draw about 95W - and that's the energy efficient stepping!

Some gaming spec PCs configured for SLI are equipped with 1KW power supplies these days.

[VectraMan]

I'm interested to find that out for my QNAP box as well. A lot depends on what drives are in there, and how good the box is at getting them to spin down when idle. Rough stats that I've seen in reviews seem to suggest something in the region of 13W when idle for my TS-209 Pro II.

My Buffalo NAS doesn't spin down the drives, which is a bit poor for something that's sitting idle most of the time.