[mythtv-users] Lowest power HD frontend?

[Mike Perkins]

On 29/05/13 00:43, Raymond Wagner wrote:
> On 5/28/2013 6:05 PM, Mike Perkins wrote:
>> On 28/05/13 20:46, Raymond Wagner wrote:
>>> On 5/28/2013 2:01 PM, Jeff Siddall wrote:
>>>> I just went and measured my IONITX fronted and it idles at 23 W and
>>>> peaks at
>>>> 28 W when playing 1080p video.
>>>
>>> Last time I checked, my 55W TDP system was runing 25W idle and 32W
>>> playing 1080p
>>> video.  45W was the absolute maximum I managed to coax out of it.  Had
>>> I gotten
>>> a DC-DC power supply (like a PicoPSU) with an external brick, I could
>>> be running
>>> around half that within the case itself, and stored the brick behind
>>> my cabinet
>>> in the open air.
>>>
>> Using a PicoPSU brings other benefits. Any power supply itself expends
>> power on its own. I have noticed that using a PicoPSU vs. a Flex-ATX PSU
>> on the same motherboard can drop total wattage by half. Those things are
>> designed for low-power use, where a regular PSU might not be. (Of
>> course, YMMV.)
>
> That's not at all true. The PicoPSU itself is going to run 96%+ efficiency,
> compared to an average ATX PSU which is going to be down in the 50s or 60s at
> those low power outputs, but don't forget, something has to supply that DC power
> in the first place. The average power brick isn't too efficient either. Unless
> you are running DC off battery, the only real advantage is it allows you to move
> that power brick, and all the additional heat it generates, somewhere else.
>
A test using a wattmeter at the wall socket gave the results I quoted. That 
would include the power loss of the brick.

Trying to measure power any other way would require equipment, resources and 
time I don't have. Power-at-the-wall is good enough for me. I'm only a consumer, 
after all.

-- 

Mike Perkins