45w Athlon II X3 good enough for this?

[jacktesterson]

Evening Folks!


I am thinking about going a little bit "greener". I am using my old processor in my HTPC. At 125w and 3.4Ghz, the 965 black edition is probably a little bit overkill.

I was thinking of selling the 965 and getting something like a Athlon II X3 405 or 415 at 45w.

Would this be enough to power 720 and 1080p video? (both MKV using DVXA, not using DVXA and Blu Rays discs using hardware acceleration)

This PC is used for 2 reasons:

1) Mass storage PC on gigabit network
2) Media player. 85% is Blu Ray rips, 15% is Blu Ray playback. Some work with DXVA, some don't for the rips.


Of course I'd like to use this PC for a few years if possible without upgrade. Am I better of just sticking with the 965?

 

[Medikit]

Evening Folks!


I am thinking about going a little bit "greener". I am using my old processor in my HTPC. At 125w and 3.4Ghz, the 965 black edition is probably a little bit overkill.

I was thinking of selling the 965 and getting something like a Athlon II X3 405 or 415 at 45w.

Would this be enough to power 720 and 1080p video? (both MKV using DVXA, not using DVXA and Blu Rays discs using hardware acceleration)

This PC is used for 2 reasons:

1) Mass storage PC on gigabit network
2) Media player. 85% is Blu Ray rips, 15% is Blu Ray playback. Some work with DXVA, some don't for the rips.


Of course I'd like to use this PC for a few years if possible without upgrade. Am I better of just sticking with the 965?

Install the Cool N Quiet software. That should throttle your CPU down and save some energy. The X3 you mentioned would have no trouble playing blu-ray rips. Your ATI card can be used to assist your X3. I actually recommend getting an X2 if you plan on using less energy but I would try just using Cool N Quiet first.

 

[xd_1771]

Cool'n'Quiet requires no software; it is enabled by default in the BIOS.
The x3 would play your BRRips perfectly, even with CPU-only decoding.

 

[soccerballtux]

Evening Folks!


I am thinking about going a little bit "greener". I am using my old processor in my HTPC. At 125w and 3.4Ghz, the 965 black edition is probably a little bit overkill.

I was thinking of selling the 965 and getting something like a Athlon II X3 405 or 415 at 45w.

Would this be enough to power 720 and 1080p video? (both MKV using DVXA, not using DVXA and Blu Rays discs using hardware acceleration)

This PC is used for 2 reasons:

1) Mass storage PC on gigabit network
2) Media player. 85% is Blu Ray rips, 15% is Blu Ray playback. Some work with DXVA, some don't for the rips.


Of course I'd like to use this PC for a few years if possible without upgrade. Am I better of just sticking with the 965?

95% of the time processors are not using anywhere near their potential.

Cool'n'Quiet clocks the processor down to a low voltage and uses minimal power.

I don't think you need to change procs.

 

[jacktesterson]

95% of the time processors are not using anywhere near their potential.

Cool'n'Quiet clocks the processor down to a low voltage and uses minimal power.

I don't think you need to change procs.

My HTPC is always turned on downloading something or doing something minor with little CPU power being utilized.

Since it is idle (if downloading files considered idle), would my Phenom II 965 eat a lot of power compaired to a energy line AMD CPU?

I was considering selling the 965 on ebay, and buying either a 235e, 405e or 605e.

I was about to make the purchase tonight until I read this thread.

Does cool and quiet make my Processor comparable to these 45 watters?

Also, 2 vs 3 vs 4 core, for my use which is preferred? The dual core is clocked higher (2.7ghz) then the triple and quad versions (2.3ghz) and they are all rated about the same power wise due to this. Is the higher clock speed more important for me, or more cores?

 

[cubeless]

spend $20 on a kill-a-watt... best way to see what your box is using... downloading probably uses one core anyways, power draw is going to be minimal even with the x4... probably not worth the change, especially if you want to be sure you have enuf zoom to keep the thing for a couple years...

 

[fffblackmage]

How much is "a lot of power?" I would just keep the 965BE.

 

[jacktesterson]

Thanks for the input everyone I'm sticking with the 965

 

[fuzzymath10]

You can always undervolt. You could possibly undervolt even more if you lowered your clock speed a bit (to maybe 2.4 or 2.6). This gets my Intel CPU running really quiet and cool (and with less power consumption)

 

[richierich1212]

Yeah I agree with fuzzy, undervolting helps a lot.

 

[soccerballtux]

You can always undervolt. You could possibly undervolt even more if you lowered your clock speed a bit (to maybe 2.4 or 2.6). This gets my Intel CPU running really quiet and cool (and with less power consumption)

or disable a core or two.

my first vote would be undervolting.

 

[universeis42]

Use K10Stat to undervolt your CPU. I can get mine to idle at 0.8V at 1000 Mhz.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I guess another vote for undervolting!

My Q8200 drop temps incredibly when I boot at 1.5ghz, .85V. I believe the sensors are way off even after reapply and remounting the HSF a dozen times. My CPU usually says it idles at 42C, but when undervolted it hangs out at 31C with the fan barely moving. That tells me the computer is sipping power.

I have an arctic freezer 7 and its done wonder in temps as well.

 

[coolVariable]

It would take you years to recover the cost of the "upgrade"/downgrade in energy savings.

Undervolt/underclock is your best bet. You will probably be surprised how little the system uses anyhow.
Also - maybe try running the machine with IGP only (saving the energy for the dedicated GPU).

 

[Jovec]

Undervolt and underclock your existing CPU. You should be able to simply drop your multi on the 965 down to get as low as possible while still meeting your performance goals. After that, you should be able to undervolt. Keep trying lower values while testing for stability.

CnQ makes the idle power consumption much closer than you might realize. My 125w 955 would idle 1.0v, while my 65w 705e idles at 0.95 or so.

You can try shutting off a core as suggested (assuming your mobo supports it), but AMD doesn't have Intel's level of power gating so it might not net you anything. You'd have to measure it to be sure you aren't using the power of 4 cores but only getting 3.

If you really want to "go green", then you have to consider things like the energy and materials needed to create, box, and ship the new CPU and potentially proper disposal of your old CPU (whether you do it or the guy that you might sell it to eventually does).

 

[fffblackmage]

You can try shutting off a core as suggested (assuming your mobo supports it), but AMD doesn't have Intel's level of power gating so it might not net you anything. You'd have to measure it to be sure you are using the power of 4 cores but only getting 3.

I don't have a perfect comparison between dual core and quad core, but it's close. I was actually testing something else, but the numbers should give an idea what happens.

I used a Kill-A-Watt meter to measure my system's power consumption.

= Locked 550BE = dual core, using 1.475V, at 3.8GHz.
It idled at 116W.
Loaded with P95, it consumed 195W.

= Unlocked 550BE = quad core, 1.475V, 3.3GHz.
Idled at 119W.
Loaded with P95, it consumed 245W.

Again, it's not a perfect comparison, since I didn't use the same clocks. Still, it shows idle power consumption didn't change too significantly.

If saving even a few watts matter, disabling two cores can help. Performance-wise, it shouldn't hurt much; I don't think H.264 playback will use more than a couple cores.

 

[Computers_Plus]

Just get this new 45 watt quad core

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103902

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Just get this new 45 watt quad core

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103902

Now thats a HTPC cpu.

Its too weak for me though. Drop it to $65 and my parents will have a new computer.

 

[Computers_Plus]

These just came out give it a little time they will drop in price a bit.

 

[Malfeas]

Undervolt/clock the cpu. I keep mine at 2ghz max, which is still probably overkill, CnQ enabled so it clocks lower when not in use. You could probably go lower.

 

[Computers_Plus]

Can't see having a CPU and under utilize it like that.