[ydl-gen] Mac mini vs Powerpc 8600=energy consumption

[H. Apfel]

>Cool!!!
>
>On 1/9/06, H. Apfel <linux at apfel-edv.de> wrote:
>>  ><snip>
>>  >
>>  >It depends what you use it for and with. Is it headless? Then the Mac
>>  >mini will probably use half _or less_ the energy that the 8600 with
>>  >the G4 upgrade (which will add to the load) would.
>>  >
>>  >You could be saving on the order of $20-70/year if you were to compare
>>  >running both machines 24/7 (assuming ~50 W draw for the Mac mini (on
>>  >average) vs 150 W draw (on average) for your 8600, upgraded to G4 (the
>>  >upgrade will draw more power than the 8600 would alone)).
>>
>>  Nononono! I measured a Mac mini (1.42 - 1 Gig) at 27 W (Typing) / 35
>>  W (with optical drive on).
>>
>>  My iBook (1.25) has a 45 W Adapter which powers the computer, screen
>>  & battery recharger. It's basically the same computer with an added
>>  screen.
>>
>>  So I'd max the mini (CPU 100% load, low graphic load, no optical
>>  drive) at 35 W.
>
>(just being conservative (if you'll pardon the bad pun) in my energy
>use estimate)
>
>A few questions:
>
>How did you measure usage?

Power meter at the AC power input - so it includes converter losses. 
Uh,oh <blush> I remembered wrong. After consulting my spreadsheet the 
mini uses 18 W idling / 32 W with optical drive on/ '0' (< 1.5 W) 
'off'.
For comparison: My Dual G5/1.8 needs 130 W idling / 200 W 'SETI'ing / 
2 W 'off'.
Er, and I measured an old G3/300 as well: 41 W/ 45 W/ 3.6 W.
7600/132: 55W / 2.5 W. (even more than a G3!)

So from a energetic point of view: get a stack of minis!

>
>Were you reading with your optical drive or writing?

'Noising' ;-) I guess reading..

>
>Also, did you have a BT/Airport Extreme module installed?

Nope. It's a CAD station, gimmicks excluded. But great fun if once a 
while a windozer starts looking for the computer which drives the 23' 
screen :-)

Greetings

Holger