blackhead said:
I have a 9 year old AMD 300 computer running Windows 98 that I am in
the process of replacng mainly because the components are power
hungry. Otherwise it's fine for running business applications,
browsing the internet and viewing YouTube with.
So what would you guys recommend as the components necessary for a
computer that is energy efficient as possible? Do you know any makes
from Dell etc that are recommended? I am open to laptops and have less
than $1000 to spend.
Thanks for your time.
Generally, you should AVOID buying a laptop for any computer that does not
NEED to be portable. With technology being out-dated in less than two
years, even a cheap laptop today will be expensive in the long run, due to
the fact that you need to replace the whole darn computer just to upgrade!!!
However, if you are content to use the same computer for 9 years and want
energy efficiency, then a laptop might be the way to go. If you do buy a
laptop, get a well-known name-brand, and an extended warranty. Repairs on a
laptop can be ultra-expensive, and it's not something you can do yourself,
so make sure that your warranty will cover your laptop for a minimum of
about four years.
Other than saying "buy name brand", and "buy extended warranty", it would be
a waste of time to try to recommend a particular laptop. Just about any
laptop sold today will be extremely energy efficient and more than capable
of handling what you want to do with it.
If you want to go the desktop route, you can build a very energy-efficient
model yourself. HOWEVER, any "desktop" machine you build today WILL use
more power than the machine it is replacing. That is unavoidable. Any
current microprocessor will likely draw more power (all by itself) than the
power supply of your 9-year-old computer can produce. That means that
your -current- power supply would be overloaded just trying to power the new
CPU, and no power would be left for mainboard or video card or hard drive or
....
Of course, you could always go mini-itx build with a via(cyrix) processor,
but if you're going that route, might as well just buy a laptop.
If you want to stick with intel or amd, and build as energy-efficient as
possible, try the following:
SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151027
The power supply, more than any other component, will affect how energy
efficient your system is. Note that this one is up to 88% efficient, which
is awesome. It's also a good name-brand, and plenty powerful to handle any
current low to mid-range desktop build.
To that, add an all-in-one motherboard. You want sound, LAN/ethernet, and
video adapter all built into the motherboard, so that there are fewer
individual components to power. Also, video adapters built into mainboards
are going to be low-power (non-gaming) type video solutions that will be
very energy efficient. For further energy efficiency, try to find a
motherboard WITHOUT a cooling fan installed on it. Fans draw a lot of
power.
You'll still need a cooling fan on the CPU, and at least one case fan. For
these cooling fans, look for "quiet", low RPM fans. If they are running
fast and generating a lot of noise, they are wasting electricity.
For a hard drive, you might want to look at Seagate brand drives, as (from
what I've read anyway), they seem to have some of the more energy efficient
designs.
That's about the best you can do for an energy-efficient desktop, other than
programming the power settings of your OS to shut down the system when not
in use.
Again, anything you build today will use more power than your old system.
No matter how efficient the new system is. Unless you go the laptop
oute. -Dave
