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post #1 of 6

7/30/12 at 10:35am

Thread Starter

narmour
1.7ghz

Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 616
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I have a HTPC/Home Server/Gaming rig in my front room which is the beacon for everything gaming and storage to all the other PC's connected to my network. This system of mine has been online for about 9 months and has only been off once - which was at Christmas.

As a home owner I have bills to pay and I have power hungry systems in my house but they are only ever on when I need to use them.

I think my 24/7 system is contributing to an increase in my electricity bills. The build is as follows -

Asus M4A89GTD Pro motherboard
AMD Phenom II x4 955 CPU
GTX 560 EVGA SC
G.Skill RipjawsX 4x2gb
2x 2TB HDD
1x150gb primary drive.
1x bluray drive
Corsair CX600
Antec KUHLER H20.

Now I plan on getting an SSD to use as my primary drive, and potentially replace the motherboard, CPU, and GPU if it means a much lesser power draw.

Budget isn't really an issue - energy is and I can't have a decrease in performance to the current set-up.

Would love some build suggestions and thoughts on what camp is the best to choose in this scenario??
Edited by narmour - 7/30/12 at 10:39am

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 3930k	asus rampage iv	xfx 5870	corsair vengeance 8gb
RAM	RAM	RAM	Hard Drive
corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair force 3 120gb
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
corsair force 3 120gb	western digital 640gb	maxtor 150gb	samsung dvd rw
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair h100	Windows 7 ultimate	asus 22'	samsung syncmaster 24'
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
filco majestouch	corsair hx 1050	cooler master haf x	r.a.t 7
Audio
onboard
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 2600k	Asus Maximus iv gene-	gtx275	g.skill ripjaws
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	OS
OCZ Agility 3 60gb	Samsung Optical drive	Corsair H40	Windows 7 Ultimate
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
Asus 1080p	Keysonic Slim Aluminium Keyboard	Corsair CX600	NZXT H2
Mouse	Mouse Pad
RAT 7 contagion	Razer Scarab 2.0
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 955	Asus M4A89GTD	EVGA GTX 560 Superclocked	G.Skill Ripjaws
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
Western Digital 250gb	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Samsung Optical drive
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Antec Khuler	Windows 7 Ultimate	LG 1080p 42' HDTV	Accuratus Wireless Keyboard w/trackball
Power	Case
Corsair CX600	Sharkoon T9
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 3930k	asus rampage iv	xfx 5870	corsair vengeance 8gb
RAM	RAM	RAM	Hard Drive
corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair force 3 120gb
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
corsair force 3 120gb	western digital 640gb	maxtor 150gb	samsung dvd rw
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair h100	Windows 7 ultimate	asus 22'	samsung syncmaster 24'
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
filco majestouch	corsair hx 1050	cooler master haf x	r.a.t 7
Audio
onboard
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 2600k	Asus Maximus iv gene-	gtx275	g.skill ripjaws
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	OS
OCZ Agility 3 60gb	Samsung Optical drive	Corsair H40	Windows 7 Ultimate
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
Asus 1080p	Keysonic Slim Aluminium Keyboard	Corsair CX600	NZXT H2
Mouse	Mouse Pad
RAT 7 contagion	Razer Scarab 2.0
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 955	Asus M4A89GTD	EVGA GTX 560 Superclocked	G.Skill Ripjaws
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
Western Digital 250gb	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Samsung Optical drive
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Antec Khuler	Windows 7 Ultimate	LG 1080p 42' HDTV	Accuratus Wireless Keyboard w/trackball
Power	Case
Corsair CX600	Sharkoon T9
View all

hide details

post #2 of 6

7/30/12 at 10:52am

thepoopscooper
*cough* Stock *cough*

Joined: Jan 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 2,321
Rep: 153 (Unique: 136)
Trader Rating: 3
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if you want some really low power usage you could go with this really low power i3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115094
for the motherboard you could go with a cheap H61, or if you really want, a B75.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157313
you could get an 8gig kit of ram for cheap
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576006
and a low power gpu like a 7750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102969
you could also get an ssd, because they take a tiny bit of power compared to hdds.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
you could keep your case and power supply and you would be set.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD A6-3650	F1A75-M PRO	AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series	Samsung Wonder Ram
RAM	Hard Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Samsung Wonder Ram	WD Caviar Blue	Coolermaster hyper 212	CM R4 Sickleflow X3
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Artic Silver 5	Windows 7 Professional	Samsung Syncmaster SA10 18.5"	Logitech K520
Power	Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad
CM xTreme power 500w	Thermaltake Commander MSI	Logitech M310	Some generic mousepad..
Audio
Logitech Z313
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD A6-3650	F1A75-M PRO	AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series	Samsung Wonder Ram
RAM	Hard Drive	Cooling	Cooling
Samsung Wonder Ram	WD Caviar Blue	Coolermaster hyper 212	CM R4 Sickleflow X3
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Artic Silver 5	Windows 7 Professional	Samsung Syncmaster SA10 18.5"	Logitech K520
Power	Case	Mouse	Mouse Pad
CM xTreme power 500w	Thermaltake Commander MSI	Logitech M310	Some generic mousepad..
Audio
Logitech Z313
View all

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post #3 of 6

7/30/12 at 10:55am

Ironman517
I don't understand the point of brand favoritism.

Joined: Sep 2011
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 5,128
Rep: 429 (Unique: 306)
Reviews: 20
Trader Rating: 4
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You will save much more electricity if you just build a HTPC and keep your gaming computer off when you are not using it. an APU or celeron will be plenty for a HTPC + File server and are pretty low power CPUs.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	Graphics
i5-2500k @ 4.8GHz stable	ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen 3	EVGA GTX 680 (SLI)	EVGA GTX 680 (SLI)
RAM	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling
32GB (4 x 8GB) 1866Mhz Ripjaws X	256GB Crucial M4	1.5 TB HDD	XSPC Raystorm RS360
OS	Monitor	Power	Case
Windows 7 Professional	3 x Dell S2309W(Portrait) 3240x1920	Corsair AX750	Corsair 800D
Mouse	Audio	Audio	Other
SWTOR Razer Naga	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium	Samson RH600	Razer Nostromo
Other	Other	Other	Other
XSPC RS120	8 x GT AP-15s	White Sleeved Cables for Corsair AX750	2 x EK-FC680 GTX 680 Waterblocks
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3Ghz	Asus P5G41T-M LX Plus	Asus Radeon HD 7750	2x4 GB 1333Mhz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling
500GB WD Black	64 GB Crucial M4	Sony CD/DVD burner	H40 w/ GT AP-15s
OS	Power	Case
Windows 7 Home 64 bit	Corsair CX430	APEVIA X-Plorer2 Pink
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Pentium G620	Foxconn H67S ITX	Intel HD 2000	2 x 4GB 1333Mhz
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Power
256GB Crucial M4	Old Laptop CD/DVD drive	Windows 7	picoPSU-150-XT
Other	Other	Other
4 x Purple LEDs	Power button	Tranquility Xbox 360 Skin
View all

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CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	Graphics
i5-2500k @ 4.8GHz stable	ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen 3	EVGA GTX 680 (SLI)	EVGA GTX 680 (SLI)
RAM	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Cooling
32GB (4 x 8GB) 1866Mhz Ripjaws X	256GB Crucial M4	1.5 TB HDD	XSPC Raystorm RS360
OS	Monitor	Power	Case
Windows 7 Professional	3 x Dell S2309W(Portrait) 3240x1920	Corsair AX750	Corsair 800D
Mouse	Audio	Audio	Other
SWTOR Razer Naga	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium	Samson RH600	Razer Nostromo
Other	Other	Other	Other
XSPC RS120	8 x GT AP-15s	White Sleeved Cables for Corsair AX750	2 x EK-FC680 GTX 680 Waterblocks
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3Ghz	Asus P5G41T-M LX Plus	Asus Radeon HD 7750	2x4 GB 1333Mhz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling
500GB WD Black	64 GB Crucial M4	Sony CD/DVD burner	H40 w/ GT AP-15s
OS	Power	Case
Windows 7 Home 64 bit	Corsair CX430	APEVIA X-Plorer2 Pink
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Pentium G620	Foxconn H67S ITX	Intel HD 2000	2 x 4GB 1333Mhz
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Power
256GB Crucial M4	Old Laptop CD/DVD drive	Windows 7	picoPSU-150-XT
Other	Other	Other
4 x Purple LEDs	Power button	Tranquility Xbox 360 Skin
View all

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post #4 of 6

7/30/12 at 11:48am

Thread Starter

narmour
1.7ghz

Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 616
Rep: 16 (Unique: 16)
Trader Rating: 1
Select All Posts By This User

The system needs to be able to game. And I would prefer a quad-core CPU.

What about a i5 3450S - Max TDP 65w vs Phenom II 955 125w.

Samsung 128gb 830 series SSD vs 150 7200rpm mech drive.

The big problem is the graphics card because all idle power consumption on modern GPU's are pretty much the same.

AMD ZeroCore technology sounds decent so a 7xxx series card will have to be the option. But I am also curious to see whether or not LucidVirtu will be able to keep this ZeroCore Technology active if I'm doing light duties like browsing the web - so the Intel graphics can handle lesser tasks? would be a godsend if my GPU could drop to 3w while I'm simply browsing.

Going to see what kind of power draw I can avoid / decrease to maintain performance and lower power consumption.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 3930k	asus rampage iv	xfx 5870	corsair vengeance 8gb
RAM	RAM	RAM	Hard Drive
corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair force 3 120gb
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
corsair force 3 120gb	western digital 640gb	maxtor 150gb	samsung dvd rw
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair h100	Windows 7 ultimate	asus 22'	samsung syncmaster 24'
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
filco majestouch	corsair hx 1050	cooler master haf x	r.a.t 7
Audio
onboard
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 2600k	Asus Maximus iv gene-	gtx275	g.skill ripjaws
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	OS
OCZ Agility 3 60gb	Samsung Optical drive	Corsair H40	Windows 7 Ultimate
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
Asus 1080p	Keysonic Slim Aluminium Keyboard	Corsair CX600	NZXT H2
Mouse	Mouse Pad
RAT 7 contagion	Razer Scarab 2.0
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 955	Asus M4A89GTD	EVGA GTX 560 Superclocked	G.Skill Ripjaws
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
Western Digital 250gb	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Samsung Optical drive
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Antec Khuler	Windows 7 Ultimate	LG 1080p 42' HDTV	Accuratus Wireless Keyboard w/trackball
Power	Case
Corsair CX600	Sharkoon T9
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 3930k	asus rampage iv	xfx 5870	corsair vengeance 8gb
RAM	RAM	RAM	Hard Drive
corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair force 3 120gb
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
corsair force 3 120gb	western digital 640gb	maxtor 150gb	samsung dvd rw
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair h100	Windows 7 ultimate	asus 22'	samsung syncmaster 24'
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
filco majestouch	corsair hx 1050	cooler master haf x	r.a.t 7
Audio
onboard
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 2600k	Asus Maximus iv gene-	gtx275	g.skill ripjaws
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	OS
OCZ Agility 3 60gb	Samsung Optical drive	Corsair H40	Windows 7 Ultimate
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
Asus 1080p	Keysonic Slim Aluminium Keyboard	Corsair CX600	NZXT H2
Mouse	Mouse Pad
RAT 7 contagion	Razer Scarab 2.0
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 955	Asus M4A89GTD	EVGA GTX 560 Superclocked	G.Skill Ripjaws
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
Western Digital 250gb	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Samsung Optical drive
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Antec Khuler	Windows 7 Ultimate	LG 1080p 42' HDTV	Accuratus Wireless Keyboard w/trackball
Power	Case
Corsair CX600	Sharkoon T9
View all

hide details

post #5 of 6

8/8/12 at 8:12am

InhumanSkills

Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 34
Rep: 0 (Unique: 0)
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I'm looking into doing something similar right now. If you want more processing power minus some graphics check out the Xeon E3-2130 V2. If you have your mind set on using the server also for gaming then get any i5/i7 with the built in graphics, and a decent GTX 500-600 series.

SSD's are fairly energy efficient 1.5W idle and 3W Active, which compared to Mech Drives is 3-6W not a big impact here.

Personal opinion is SSD, I love them to death. I own a Crucial C300, and two OCZ Vertex 3's, I have them in my laptop and desktop and I think it's one of the best investments ive ever made. Everything runs 300% faster lol.

If you want there are some Mech drives out there with a 4Gb or so SSD partition which is for the most used programs. I heard they run pretty good.

I personally am setting up a seperate server just for Storage/Minecraft Server, so I will have the Xeon 2130 V2, mobo, ram, and disks aswell as a boot SSD. I don't plan on using more than 175W which is close to just your processor. The entire build is gonna cost me around $600-700.
Including case and about 8-16Gb of RAM.

If you are happy with your current rig, gaming wise, I would say keep it and build a dedicated server. It's going to be not only cheaper, but also more efficient than trying to build a rig that can do both at once.

I have a Phenom x4 3.4Ghz 135W CPU in my desktop. That thing is massively powerhungry and I would not consider leaving it on 24/7. I just use it for gaming and surfing the web.

Bottom line is you can't have a decent gaming rig that is also (relative to a dedicated server without peripherals and gpu) energy efficient.

post #6 of 6

8/17/12 at 4:45am

Thread Starter

narmour
1.7ghz

Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 616
Rep: 16 (Unique: 16)
Trader Rating: 1
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Quote:

Originally Posted by InhumanSkills

I'm looking into doing something similar right now. If you want more processing power minus some graphics check out the Xeon E3-2130 V2. If you have your mind set on using the server also for gaming then get any i5/i7 with the built in graphics, and a decent GTX 500-600 series.
SSD's are fairly energy efficient 1.5W idle and 3W Active, which compared to Mech Drives is 3-6W not a big impact here.
Personal opinion is SSD, I love them to death. I own a Crucial C300, and two OCZ Vertex 3's, I have them in my laptop and desktop and I think it's one of the best investments ive ever made. Everything runs 300% faster lol.
If you want there are some Mech drives out there with a 4Gb or so SSD partition which is for the most used programs. I heard they run pretty good.
I personally am setting up a seperate server just for Storage/Minecraft Server, so I will have the Xeon 2130 V2, mobo, ram, and disks aswell as a boot SSD. I don't plan on using more than 175W which is close to just your processor. The entire build is gonna cost me around $600-700.
Including case and about 8-16Gb of RAM.
If you are happy with your current rig, gaming wise, I would say keep it and build a dedicated server. It's going to be not only cheaper, but also more efficient than trying to build a rig that can do both at once.
I have a Phenom x4 3.4Ghz 135W CPU in my desktop. That thing is massively powerhungry and I would not consider leaving it on 24/7. I just use it for gaming and surfing the web.
Bottom line is you can't have a decent gaming rig that is also (relative to a dedicated server without peripherals and gpu) energy efficient.

Cheers for your input. Seems to be in line with what others have said. I thought maybe I could juggle both and have it in one system. I will build a separate server and keep the current system as a gaming one.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 3930k	asus rampage iv	xfx 5870	corsair vengeance 8gb
RAM	RAM	RAM	Hard Drive
corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair force 3 120gb
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
corsair force 3 120gb	western digital 640gb	maxtor 150gb	samsung dvd rw
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair h100	Windows 7 ultimate	asus 22'	samsung syncmaster 24'
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
filco majestouch	corsair hx 1050	cooler master haf x	r.a.t 7
Audio
onboard
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 2600k	Asus Maximus iv gene-	gtx275	g.skill ripjaws
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	OS
OCZ Agility 3 60gb	Samsung Optical drive	Corsair H40	Windows 7 Ultimate
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
Asus 1080p	Keysonic Slim Aluminium Keyboard	Corsair CX600	NZXT H2
Mouse	Mouse Pad
RAT 7 contagion	Razer Scarab 2.0
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 955	Asus M4A89GTD	EVGA GTX 560 Superclocked	G.Skill Ripjaws
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
Western Digital 250gb	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Samsung Optical drive
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Antec Khuler	Windows 7 Ultimate	LG 1080p 42' HDTV	Accuratus Wireless Keyboard w/trackball
Power	Case
Corsair CX600	Sharkoon T9
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 3930k	asus rampage iv	xfx 5870	corsair vengeance 8gb
RAM	RAM	RAM	Hard Drive
corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair vengeance 8gb	corsair force 3 120gb
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
corsair force 3 120gb	western digital 640gb	maxtor 150gb	samsung dvd rw
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair h100	Windows 7 ultimate	asus 22'	samsung syncmaster 24'
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
filco majestouch	corsair hx 1050	cooler master haf x	r.a.t 7
Audio
onboard
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
i7 2600k	Asus Maximus iv gene-	gtx275	g.skill ripjaws
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling	OS
OCZ Agility 3 60gb	Samsung Optical drive	Corsair H40	Windows 7 Ultimate
Monitor	Keyboard	Power	Case
Asus 1080p	Keysonic Slim Aluminium Keyboard	Corsair CX600	NZXT H2
Mouse	Mouse Pad
RAT 7 contagion	Razer Scarab 2.0
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD Phenom II x4 955	Asus M4A89GTD	EVGA GTX 560 Superclocked	G.Skill Ripjaws
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
Western Digital 250gb	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Samsung Optical drive
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Keyboard
Antec Khuler	Windows 7 Ultimate	LG 1080p 42' HDTV	Accuratus Wireless Keyboard w/trackball
Power	Case
Corsair CX600	Sharkoon T9
View all

hide details

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