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  • HTPC power consumption

    With regards to power consumption do you think that manufacturers should be more careful when they make and market HTPC's? As they generally consume more power than traditional living room related products.
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  • #2
    Yes.

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    • #3
      Nah.
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      • #4
        Originally posted by Fluff
        With regards to power consumption do you think that manufacturers should be more careful when they make and market HTPC's? As they generally consume more power than traditional living room related products.
        as long as they go to S3 standby after a short idle period then I don't see why

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        • #5
          1 PC on 27/7 costs about $20/month for power here.. so yes.. if in sleep mode, naturally less.
          We have enough youth - What we need is a fountain of smart!


          i7-920, 6GB DDR3-1600, HD4870X2, Dell 27" LCD

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Chrono_Wanderer
            Seriously, those pre-amps probably use a lot more power than any HTPC...
            Seriously:
            There's an Opera in my macbook.

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            • #7
              if you consider how much power the amplifier draws, the pc is almost negligable. for example, my cambridge Azur 640A, which is just a stereo integrated amplifier outputs 65W into 8ohms to both channels but is listed at maximum power consumption 615W!
              Then there is also the TV
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              • #8
                A few things:

                Preamps use very little power (you can run them from batteries).
                Power amps use power depending on their output volume (except for class A amps, which always use maximum power, but hardly anybody has a class A amp, and those who do usually don't care about its power draw.).
                An integrated amplifier is just a pre-amp and a power-amp integrated into one case.
                Your amp usually probably only draws a few watts, since to double subjective volume you have to increase output power by a factor of ten, which means that most of the time, your amp is going to use less than one tenth of its output rating, probably less.
                Most consumer amps are actually rated at less input power than output power, because they never have to output (and actually can't) at their maximum rated power for extended periods of time (meaning a few seconds at most, depending on amp and volume), for which they get their energy out of those big caps you usually find in amps.
                There's an Opera in my macbook.

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                • #9
                  yeah but do some comparisons between a 7.1 channel 100wpc (+subwoofer) playing a movie + the tv, etc. You will have spikes that extremely high. When you compare that to the steady 150-200Wish that a HTPC consumes, makes the HTPC negligable.
                  We ARE talking about home theatre setups here, my stereo isn't the greatest example, but it shows, relatively to some extent, what just 2 channels can do.
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                  • #10
                    This doesn't make the HTPC negligible at all. The TV will probably consume about that same amount of power, depending on size and technology. The Receiver will probably idle around 20-40 Watts, and draw maybe 100 on average when music or movies are played. The Sub should idle at next to nothing and in use should draw about as much as the receiver, tops.

                    Well, I haven't measured and neither have you, but the HTPC will consume at least a fifth or so of your home theater setup's power - that's not negligible.
                    There's an Opera in my macbook.

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                    • #11
                      I suppose you are right, but before I take us too far off topic with my rebuttal... ()

                      If you are running a full home theatre, the addition of a HTPC vs. a DVD player wouldn't be significant enough for the manufacturers to really focus on reducing. It is unlikely that, say you are consuming up to 400W normally, the addition of a 150W htpc will not make a difference unless you have really poor power in your home. If anything, the manufacturers should focus on figuring out this whole HD/BluRay fiasco!

                      On the otherhand, if you mean that the manufacturers should be concerned with the power consumption of the htpc during idle (say you leave it on 24/7); then there are always easy power saving tools on the pc you can use.
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                      • #12
                        get a watt meter, canadian tire sells them as "kill a watt" .they are about $20cdn. calculate actual cost per kw/h in your area, here $0.13cdn plug the htpc in and wait a month.. then you will see what difference it makes. If the computer is only turned on while watching tv, it may not be too bad, but many such sit powered at all times, making it fairly expensive.
                        We have enough youth - What we need is a fountain of smart!


                        i7-920, 6GB DDR3-1600, HD4870X2, Dell 27" LCD

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                        • #13
                          the $20 meter will cost more than the power does running it for a year straight
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                          • #14
                            0,15 kw/h * 0,13 $CDN/kw/h *12 (if we assume it to be off during the night) * 365 = 85,41 $CDN

                            It's also about the environment and our ressources - why use too much when it isn't necessary?
                            There's an Opera in my macbook.

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                            • #15
                              forgot I had a sensor on my UPS

                              P4 2Ghz
                              P3 500
                              (5 HDs total)
                              2 cable modems
                              2 routers
                              1 wireless access point
                              1 16 port 10/100 switch
                              1 samsung laser printer

                              Total 174W

                              Single computer would be closer to 80W. Price per kWh here in Winnipeg is $0.068 CAD

                              .08kWh * $0.068 * 24 hours * 365 = $47.65.

                              Thats 24 hours a day, so half that for 12hrs, then you can consider extra cost to manufacturer for making more efficient psu, more money on expensive low power components (ie laptopish stuff), it does not add up for the manufacturer to be "nice" and save us some money on power. As for the consumer, I could see how in places where power is more expensive (3 or 4 times as much), that this could be a factor.

                              As to answer Fluff's question: it would be NICE if they did, but there is very little incentive for them to do it. Most cases, anyone with enough $$ to have a home theatre and a HTPC won't really be affected, the small amount of other cases is just too small for the manufacturers to worry about.

                              Figuring this out also makes me realize I should retire that stupid 500mhz though cuz it is doing very little.

                              I must admit I was wrong though, I thought price per kWh was much lower, closer to ~$0.01 or 0.02. Also I forgot to factor in the "environmentally conscious"
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