The light!!
(Credit: NEC)Energy-efficient computer monitors are seemingly the new black. With each new press release vendors never fail to mention how much power their products use, or more specifically, don't use. Nothing wrong with that, really; I'm just usually skeptical of manufacturer's claims. Which is why CNET does its own power efficiency testing. Check out our green guide to get a glimpse of the lengths we go through.
In keeping with the latest trend, on Thursday, NEC announced three new "energy-efficient" computer monitors. I put "energy-efficient" in quotes 'cause, you know, I've yet to actually test them.
The monitors include the 19-inch AS191 (4:3 aspect ratio), 19-inch widescreen AS191WM and 22-inch wide-screen AS221WM.
According to NEC, each monitor consumes up to 48 percent less energy than their predecessors, their predecessors being previous versions of the Accusync line I'm guessing.
The AS191WM and AS221WM also include ECO Mmdes, which in past NEC monitors has basically capped the monitor's brightness at about 50 percent.
Other features included in each monitor:
- VGA and DVI connectivity
- Up to 1000:1 contrast ratio
- 5ms fast response time
- Touch integratable (AS191WM and AS221WM only)
- Down-firing speakers with headphone jack (AS191WM and AS221WM only)
The AS221WM will begin shipping in October 2009 with an estimated street price of $249. The AS191 and AS191WM will begin shipping in November 2009 with an estimated street price of $199 and $189. Good to see NEC is keeping the prices relatively low.
The displays will ship with a standard three-year parts-and-labor warranty, including the backlight.
Digital Storm's 950Si carries hidden costs for gamers.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)If you're a PC gamer, you might willingly pay $15 a month to stomp around the World of Warcraft. What if we also told you that depending on your rig and daily play time, you might also be paying a hidden fee of $10 or more a month to play even single-player PC games?
After our debut round of all-in-one PC power efficiency results, we've had a chance to test the power consumption of a few other kinds of desktops. The most intriguing system so far has been a $3,600 gaming desktop from Digital Storm.
It's no surprise that a quad-core, overclocked gaming system with a 1,000-watt power supply and dual-chip 3D card sucks up energy. We also weren't shocked that the Digital Storm PC drew more power by itself than even the most inefficient all-in-one, which includes the power draw from its display. But once we crunched the numbers, we admit we didn't expect to find such a large disparity.
Consider the following comparison, drawn from the power consumption tests in each system's review:
Annual power consumption cost - Apple iMac (24-inch, 2.66GHz): $16.20
Annual power consumption cost - Sony Vaio LV250B: $29.40
Annual power consumption cost - Digital Storm 950Si: $118.27
Annual power consumption cost - Digital Storm 950Si (2.4 gaming hours/day): $134.77
(See our power testing methodology here.)
Digital Storm has the unfortunate honor of submitting the first high-end gaming rig since we implemented our power testing, so let us be clear that we have no way to say (yet) how its results compare with those of systems from other boutique PC vendors.
As a $3,600 configuration, though, this system represents the middle ground for performance gaming nicely. It didn't set any performance records, but it can play most current games at decent image quality settings on a 24-inch LCD at full resolution. And while we will allow that an extra $120 to $130 in annual power charges might not present a financial challenge to someone who's paid $3,600 for a gaming PC, anyone might pause to consider that even with a nongaming workload (aka our multimedia multitasking test), a system such as this Digital Storm 950Si will consume roughly four to seven times as much energy as a high-end all-in-one PC.
Most performance-driven gamers will consider the added power consumption simply the cost of racking up more kills, but that hasn't stopped vendors from trying to bring that cost down. HP's Firebird was an admirable first attempt, and we're eager to see what Maingear has accomplished with its forthcoming Pulse. Hopefully Maingear, unlike HP, can keep the power draw down, without charging you more for the privilege of fewer frame rates and limited upgradability. We'll know once we get one in for review.
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