Power Consumption Question

[bladephoenix]

Hi. I am running a Fedora Core 4 file server at home with the current specs:

Dell Dimension 4100
-------------------------
Some unknown Dell Mobo
PIII 866 Mhz
256 Mb SDR SDRAM PC133
20 Mb Quantum Fireball ATA66 HD
Santa Cruz Turtle Beach Sound Card
Nvidia TNT2 32 Mb video card
Network card

I have a spare computer with the following specs that I want to upgrade the file server to:

"DIY" Computer
--------------------
Gigabyte GA-PE667 Pro Mobo (Intel 845PE chipset) w/ LAN & AC97 Audio
P4 2.53 Ghz Northwood 533 FSB
512 MB DDR Kingston PC2700 DDR
80 Gb WD ATA100 HD with 8 Mb cache
ATI Radeon AIW 9800 video card

Now here is my question: I am trying to figure out the power consumption difference between the two computers, to see if upgrading my server will make a dent in my electricity bill. The rate in my area is $0.09 / Kwh for electricity.

I know that the P4 system uses about 140W - 150W idle, when I checked the bios -- 12A according to BIOS * 12V = 144W. This would work out to be:

144W / 1000W = 0.144Kw
0.144 * $0.09 per Kwh = $0.01296 per hour
$0.01296 * 24h = $0.31104 per day
$0.31104 * 30 days a month = $9.33 per month on my bill -- not hefty, but noticable amount.

However, the PIII system does not have a feature like this in BIOS to do a comparison. How much less is it to operate a PIII 24/7?

 

[modedepe]

The P3 is probably still going to pull ~100W so you're looking at under a $3 difference.

 

[bladephoenix]

Pretty interesting that an extra 44W gives 3X the Mhz...:thumbsup:

 

[chilled]

It shouldn't be too bad. But if it's a file server, I would swap the 9800 and the TNT2. Or just underclock the 9800. That'll save quite a bit and I doubt you'll need the power anyway.

 

[CigarSmokedByClinton]

I don't know that that would make much of a difference , chilled, as the 9800 would only draw more power while doing 3d acceleration. 2d would prob use about the same.

Shame to have such a nice vid card in a file server though....

 

[bladephoenix]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing also. Perhaps I will swap the TNT2 with the 9800, perhaps not to save power, but just so I can use the 9800 in another machine later on.

 

[alimoalem]

don't even worry about the power difference. even if it is $9 (meaning the PIII has no power consumption) you shouldn't fret about it