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Power-consumption
AE35:
Hi all. I'm in a mood to post today :)
I'm not what you might be calling a green guy, but the wife and I have
decided to try to cut back on the power consumption. Usually alle PC's
and monitors would be running 24/7 with CRT monitors on the larger size,
21"-37", not counting the CRT projectors etc.
So, I'm looking at my arcade machines and thinking that each of them
has a CPU at 2,8Ghz minimum each. Even the one running only classic
4-way vertical games like Lady Bug and Donkey Kong(Billy Mitchell HELL
YEAH)
So I'm thinking. Does the CPU run at max power all the time, or does it
go with the flow :)? I take it a CPU like that would run about 80W?
Should I turn it down in speed and just have longer reboot? Would there
be something to gain here? Because, with the 21" CRT and the 2,8Ghz
PC etc. we're talking 200W + to play Pac-Man ::) (don't take it the wrong way)
So what do you think? I really want to hear, just as long as it's not a
suggestion about going flatpanel :angry:
Thanks!!
Nicholas
blueznl:
It depends on the software you run. But if you're running windows, AND hibernate works, I suggest you enable hibernate on all your machines, which makes booting it acceptable.
BobA:
You can also go the full route and make sure your monitor is set to power down and your monitor and hard drives power down after a specific time of non use. It is in the Power Options area where you also setup for hibernate and standby.
RayB:
You'll reduce more consumption by just replacing your incandescant light bulbs and turning off stuff that doesn't need to be on.
FrizzleFried:
Running your CPU at a slower speed isn't going to significantly reduce your power usage. The primary culprit is, of course, the monitor.
When not using your PC's, make sure to enable hibernate. Also make sure your monitors go to sleep when hibernate is enabled...Smartpower strips work wonderfully with Arcade Monitors to shut them down when the PC goes to sleep. Also, the less "stuff" the PC has, the less power it uses. Do you have a floppy drive in your cabinet? If so, WHY? Do you have a CDROM/DVDROM in your cabinet, if so, WHY? Are you running on board sound or do you have a Sound Blaster sucking up energy in there? Is that TV card really necessary in a dedicated cabinet? Etc...
Replace all your incandescent light bulbs throughout the house with florescent replacements. There is a HUGE difference between a 100w incandescent bulb that uses, well, 100 watts and a 100w florescent replacement bulb that uses 13 watts...now if you are like me you have 4 of the suckers running in the garage when you turn on the light. That would be 400 watts of incandescent power vs 52 watts of florescent power...it really adds up (especially on those nights that in a drunken stupor you forget to turn off the lights for the night). Helll, my kitchen uses 7 bulbs! ...that would be 700 watts! Instead I run 6 florescent bulbs and 1 incandescent (the one negitive of florescent bulbs is they take a minute or so to warm up and output maximum light...so I run 1 incandescent to immediately light up to full strength when I turn on the light. So instead of 700 watts to light up the kitchen, I am rolling with 178 watts.
My Bad Dudes cabinet actually used INCANDESCENT LIGHTS in it (as evidenced by the burn mark at the top of the cabinet). I now use two 40 watt replacement bulbs in there. They are 4 watts apiece...8 watts to light up the marquee isn't bad at all...
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