[mythtv-users] Secrets for low powered front ends ?

William Kenworthy billk at iinet.net.au
Fri Oct 14 22:45:10 UTC 2011


On Fri, 2011-10-14 at 22:59 +0100, Tim Draper wrote:
> 
> 
> On 13 October 2011 21:41, Mark Lord <mythtv at rtr.ca> wrote:
>         On 11-10-13 02:31 PM, Richard Morton wrote:
>         >
>         > So at 35wtdp the i3 is almost as efficient as an atom and
>         almost as powerful as
>         > a q6600 circa 2007 ( its not overclocked - the q6600 is
>         legendary how far you
>         > can clock it).
>         
>         
>         A typical Atom CPU has a TDP of between 6 and 8 watts.
>         Add to that the TDP of the Ion2 (13W) to get a proper
>         comparison.
>         
>         So.. Atom+GPU(Ion2) is around 20W TDP.
>         That's quite a bit less than an i3 at 35W.
>         
>  
> but TDP is not fixed on i3, like the atoms TDP is. also, some atoms
> run in the 13w area.
> i'll presume the ion also doesnt include throttling like the i3 does.
> i'm going to go out on a limb here - i bet theres next to nothing in
> terms of power consumption difference - maybe 20-30p/month for 24/7
> consumption, presuming the i3 is idle.
> 
> 
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I have both a Jetway and a zotac ion N330's as diskless systems.  Both
use approximately 25-30W according to a kilawatt type meter.  Of that,
the power brick uses 9W in each case - even when not plugged into the
box!

Mind you, thats still a fraction of the recycled desktop systems they
replaced.  Its now been around 2 years since I got the first one, and
its played everything Ive put at it (i.e., what I want to watch).  By
the time the off-air etc comes up with something it wont play, it will
easily be time to replace them anyway.  In the meantime I have been
watching on power saving hardware, that at the time cost less than
non-power saving alternatives.

Also, I find that power saving on non-atom type systems is not the
easiest thing to get right, and keep it right - are you getting what you
think you are getting?

BillK



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