[mythtv-users] Lowest power HD frontend?

[Jeff Siddall]

On 05/28/2013 01:20 PM, Raymond Wagner wrote:
> On 5/28/2013 1:04 PM, Jeff Siddall wrote:
>> On 05/23/2013 09:28 PM, jacek burghardt wrote:
>>> I know there is i3 530 that is like 16 watts
>>
>> Really?  I looked up the i3-530 and it has a TDP of 73 W!
>>
>> http://ark.intel.com/products/46472/Intel-Core-i3-530-Processor-4M-Cache-2_93-GHz
>>
>>
>> Also, that's just the CPU.  By comparison the Atom 330 used in the
>> IONITX stuff has a TDP of 8 W.
>
> So?  The Atom330 used in the IONITX stuff basically has no power gating
> or clocking.  That means regardless of what it's doing, it's going to be
> running near that 8W usage.  Meanwhile that 73W i3, with around 6x the
> performance of an Atom330, will rarely, if ever, actually see that kind
> of usage, and will spend more time idling down around 15W.  My 55W G2120
> idles at 25W, measured at the wall. That includes the system board,
> gigabit network controller, two sticks of DDR3, and a PSU that's running
> so far off its designed output, it's hitting an abysmal 50-60%
> efficiency.  The CPU itself is probably drawing somewhere around 8W at
> that point.
>
> Low power does not necessitate low performance.

Perhaps, but my frontend is in an enclosed cabinet with no cooling.  I 
need to be certain it will _never_ shoot up past ~25 W or it will turn 
itself into a radiant heater and I will have an expensive pile of melted 
plastic left over.  Perhaps my subject line should have been more exact: 
"Lowest PEAK power HD frontend?"

I just went and measured my IONITX fronted and it idles at 23 W and 
peaks at 28 W when playing 1080p video.  So, context added, is there any 
HD frontend out there that never draws more than 28 W?