On Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:18 +0100, "Peter Andrijeczko"
<peter.andrijeczko@???> wrote:
Chris
Yep, there was a cost element to it but it was mainly about
trying to reduce heat output in my study which toasts during
the warmer months! :-)
Peter
You shouldn't forget to factor the running costs too. Each watt
required by something you have on permanently equates to 8760kWh per
year or give or take one pound to run. So a 30W NAS costs £30 a year to
keep switched on as opposed to £100 say for an old PC.
Having said that, it is possible to get an ordinary PC down to less than
30W. Many ATX power supplies are not that inefficient even at relatively
low power draws, regardless of what they are rated at. If you are lucky
enough to have a BIOS which allows you to change clock multipliers and
core voltages, you can get the power consumption for the processor and
memory way down. Set the disk(s) to spin down when not active. Use a USB
pen drive for a swap partition if you decide you can't do without one or
even for root if you're brave. Remove any peripheral devices you don't
need. If you're under-clocking the processor you might be able to get
away with disconnecting its fan too.
Neil
