Comments on: Google, Intel target efficient PC power supplies

An awful lot of juice meant to power PCs never gets used. Tech companies team up to make PCs and servers run more efficiently.

[Neven Acropolis]

low power computers

There is a company in the Netherlands that has already begun selling low power computers (20-25 watts): www.wesavepower.nl

It's one of the few websites out there where you actually get the power consumption figures of the pc up front.

Here's another US company that states the power consumption of its computers: http://www.yourtechoncall.com/special5.html

It's only with transparency that innovation is stimulated and people get the chance to make conscious consumer choices. OEMs, large and small, should start to inform consumers on power consumption figures, and not only market their megahertzes, gigabytes and inches.

[uk-forum]

Re: low power computers

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[shark12er]

goo

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[lingsun]

Who cares? Electricity is cheap.

Who cares? Electricity is cheap.

[volterwd]

But the cost to the environment

to get that cheap electricity isnt.

[ittesi259]

You must not live in California

Its not cheap for everybody.....

[Button Boy]

Not when you have large server farms!

Spoken like a Truly Ignorant Republican.

[flat1ron]

where can a consumer opt in

If they exist, where can the forward looking consumer go to
improve the efficiency of their power supply. (In other words,
where can I buy a 90% efficient power supply today?)

[SiliconAlchemy]

Not positive, but...

I would guess PC Power & Cooling. I'm not as "in the know" as I used to be, but when I built PCs, that's all we would use for energy-efficient and high-end systems.

[bugfreezer]

$20 More...are you sure?

It's not about cheap electricity, it's about waste heat, especially in summertime...after all, why work the air conditioners harder?

Sign me up, where do I get one?

[ahickey]

Cost $20 more - Saves $20 a year

If the figures in the article are right then the added retail cost of a PC would be off set in the first year and there after it would be savings all the way.

The only thing is I don't believe it only cost $30 a year to run a computer.

But, it is a great initiative.
The cooler systems run the more reliable they are.

Also, as a previous poster stated it will put less pressure on air conditioning systems.
I knew of a company in the 90s who were making a decision to move to LCD montiors at £3,500 each or upgrade their air conditioning system. - Never heard the outcome but you can see how this can be an big issue.

[SiliconAlchemy]

$30 isn't the cost to RUN a PC...

...it's the cost of one sitting idle. Those, of course, are estimates and averages. Cali would cost more than Chicago, and using the PC all the time would cost more. Even then, however -- they really don't cost as much as everybody thinks. Turn off the HDTV once in awhile if you're concerned about energy costs.

[Button Boy]

I'd like one please

However, when I get tired of all this geekdom, I just shut my computer off and go for a trail bike ride. If more people did this, power consumption wouldn't be so high, and our parks would be crowded with bicyclists. ;)

[ramudd]

Anything to power this Acer laptop

When I bought this ACER laptop, nobody told me the battery life was about 20 minutes. So it has always run on the power cord. Can't even do benchmark tests with just the battery because it won't last long enough. Maybe with this, it could at least not waste what electricity i can get for it.

ACER = No battery life