Low power office computer?

[Isaac Zachary]

TDP is also not a universal standard. The way Intel and AMD measure their TDP is totally different.

Also, as far as PSU efficiency is concerned on tower and desktop PC's is that there is a new PSU to MB standard, called EPS. It has 10pins and is completely 12V. This is to replace the old 24pin ATX PSU to MB standard.

These are much more efficient, especially at idle, since it's more efficient to convert to just one voltage and then let the MB convert to any other needed voltage.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I think Linux is closer to Windows than is the Mac OS.

IIRC some Linux distributions are made with a layout which resembles some older versions of Windows. No wonder the transition from Windows to Ubuntu at some public services in my country is going seamlessly.

[freebeard]

Did I say that?

Probably I was thinking of the keyboard layout with the Control, Alt/Option and Windows/Command keys. They switch functionality and it messes with my motor memory.

On a deeper level it's more complex. On a hardware level, Windows and Linux are 'open'. On the OS level Mac OS and Linux are similar, a user interface layered on top of an open source kernel.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Did I say that?

Weren't you saying that?

Probably I was thinking of the keyboard layout with the Control, Alt/Option and Windows/Command keys. They switch functionality and it messes with my motor memory.

Now you're being more specific.

On a deeper level it's more complex. On a hardware level, Windows and Linux are 'open'. On the OS level Mac OS and Linux are similar, a user interface layered on top of an open source kernel.

Sure it's not every Linux distribution that would be user-friendly enough for most Windows users.

[Piotrsko]

Freebeard of all people should know that remapping the keyboard is possible to accommodate the thinking impaired.

[samwichse]

Originally Posted by Daox

I compiled a list of CPUs that I think would be some okay fits. R20 and R15 are Cinebench benchmarks for single and multi-core. I am really liking the idea of the J4000/5000 series Celerons and Pentiums. The idea of the Asrock ITX boards with integrated processor is quite appealing. She does have a 3.5" HDD for photo storage that has to fit up to it.

Ryzen 3400ge:
R20 MT: 1,750
R20 ST: 400
R15 MT: 760
R15 ST: 170
TDP: 35W

https://www.amazon.com/Microtella-Le...dp/B0831P1R1S/

[Daox]

I got the computer with the i5-3570K from Redpoint5 just the other day. Big thanks to Redpoint for the generosity! It arrived mostly intact, with only a little bit of shipping roughage, but nothing that can't be quickly solved. The system will need a quick cleaning up (dust), but looks to be put together with nice quality products for the most part. That was a very pleasant surprise. This is much better IMO than a HP or Dell. After I get that taken care of we'll measure the power draw and see what we can do lower that power consumption.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Daox

I got the computer with the i5-3570K from Redpoint5 just the other day. Big thanks to Redpoint for the generosity! It arrived mostly intact, with only a little bit of shipping roughage, but nothing that can't be quickly solved. The system will need a quick cleaning up (dust), but looks to be put together with nice quality products for the most part. That was a very pleasant surprise. This is much better IMO than a HP or Dell. After I get that taken care of we'll measure the power draw and see what we can do lower that power consumption.

Nice! What I love about these is they last forever! Sure, you might need a new hard drive down the road, and might want to eventually throw in a modest graphics card, but unless Microsoft changes Windows drastically in the near future, which isn't likely to happen, you should be set for many years to come.

That being said my recent electric bill showed I'm using about twice what I used to. I think part of it is leaving the computer I have now on and not getting everyone to put it in sleep mode when not in use. It's a water cooled gaming rig with a first gen Core i7 and dual Nvidia Geforce graphics cards on an Asus Maximus Extreme IV motherboard that someone was throwing away. All it needed was a new hard drive, although it still has its perfectly working 500gb SSD.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

All it needed was a new hard drive, although it still has its perfectly working 500gb SSD.

Forget hard drives, nowadays it's better to use an SSD as they have no moving parts, which by the way would increase the need for heat rejection.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Forget hard drives, nowadays it's better to use an SSD as they have no moving parts, which by the way would increase the need for heat rejection.

Not exactly true. Hard drives can actually be more reliable, or at least have a better cost to reliability relationship.

SSD's are all ticking time bombs in their own right. I've had far more SSD's die than hard drives, and I've worked on a fair share of computers and electronics. SSD's are actually rated to receive only so may writes. That's because every time you write to them you are actually damaging them.

This is why it's best to 1) be generous with your RAM. Whenever a computer runs out of RAM it starts treating the storage drives as RAM (so avoid the M1 Mac's for this reason). 2) be generous with your SSD size as well. Modern tech will spread the writes out all over the SSD meaning fewer writes in the same spots over time. 3) Get an SSD with onboard cache. Not only with certain files that need to be written and read often will do so faster, the onboard cache, like RAM, will take the brunt of the reads and writes preserving the actual SSD. And 4) use a hard drive for whatever you don't need to run fast. This will place less stress on your much more expensive SSD and can still outlast the expensive SSD.