Gigabyte goes "Green" with DES software
by Rajinder Gill on January 23, 2008 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
| Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 Testbed | |
| Processors | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Quad-core, 3GHz, 2x6MB Cache, 1333FSB Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Quad-core, 2.93GHz, 2x4MB Cache, 1066FSB |
| CPU Voltage | Various according to DES Level |
| Cooling | Water cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX, PA120.3 Rad, 3 X Laing DDC Ultra Petra Top pumps in series, 3x Panaflo 120mm Fans 7-10V |
| Power Supply | OCZ 1000W |
| Memory | OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum
Edition 2GB XP, 4GB Vista 64 |
| Memory Settings | Default via SPD |
| Video Cards | Asus 8800 GTS 640MB |
| Video Drivers | Nvidia 169.09 (XP) |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 7200RPM 250GB SATA 3/Gbps 16MB Buffer |
| Optical Drives | Plextor PX-B900A |
| Case | Lian Li -75 |
| BIOS | F4B |
| Operating System | Windows XP 32 Bit SP2 |
| Watt Meter | Paget 9149 |
| . | |
We decided to use Windows XP 32-bit as our test operating system with 2GB of memory installed. The Stanford Folding@Home client was used to simulate 100% loading tests and to test for stability at a variety of processor core voltage levels. Prime95 Torture tests were also run in small FFT mode to place a maximum load on the CPU in order to determine the worst case scenario for voltage droop at each of the available DES levels. As we are monitoring for outright system power consumption and savings, we did not account for PSU losses in any of the idle and full load wattage figures. However, PSU load efficiency will obviously affect the total level of power saving that can be realized. The most important factor to us today is how much overall power we can save at the wall. We did find that the watt-meter cycled between a variety of voltages at both idle and full load of the processor. For this reason, the figures shown in our tables represent averages that are accurate to around +/- ~.5W.
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icthy - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
Is this software tied to a specific OS, like Vista?Rajinder Gill - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
DES works with both XP and Vista (32 and 64bit)...regards
Raja
legoman666 - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
the power savings seem too low to be of any real value. Just turn off the light while you're gaming or something.androo - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
It's an interesting concept, but the test rig is not what I would pick if I was worried about power. Water cooling? 8800GTS? 1000W Power Supply? Sounds more like my gaming rig which is only on when I play. Best way to save power on a behemoth system is to turn it off.If you are worried about power, select an appropriate video card, the 8300GS at 24 watts or the HD2400Pro at 10 watts for example. A quality active PFC 350 Watt power supply and 1 or 2 fans for cooling. A nice, quiet low power system. It's no gaming rig, but who needs a gaming rig for email, web, movies, coding, etc ... the stuff we do all day.
Chadder007 - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
""Stable power draw is in the region of 2200W when both units have reached cooling capacity. In case anyone is wondering just how much power it takes to send a watt-meter off the scale, it's around 3588W.""3588 watts? WTF?
Rajinder Gill - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - link
Yes my friend, over 3588W switch on surge, the watt-meter 'flat-lines' when I switch both cascades on together. Of course the meter may just be inaccurate when up that high.(UK 220 13 amp sustained max). It can handle short peaks or surges over that... The bigger unit has 2 X 1.5HP rotary compressors, the smaller unit 1HP + 1/3HP.. Naturally I plug the rest of the system to a separate ring while benching..Lol
regards
Raja