Mmm.. efficient power supplies

..geeky entry alert..

Feeling green or just want to lose some computer noise and extra room heat?

I just upgraded an old ATX power supply in Karen's computer to an 80PLUS rated one. Using a kill-a-watt watt meter this dropped the computers power consumption from 104W down to 86W when idle in win2k and from 121W down to 101W when under heavy disk+cpu load. ~20% better efficiency. very nice! highly recommended. Most generic power supplies are in the 50-70% efficiency range. 80+ ones are >= 80% efficient at 20, 50 and 100% load.

I used an Enhance ENP-5140GH but just search google for "80plus power supply" or see 80plus.org and you'll turn up other models (the SeaSonics are also popular among my friends). Its a very quiet PS as well; the fan is the large 120mm variety mounted on the bottom inside of the unit rather than the 80 or 92mm ones commonly mounted on the back.

I've got an ENP-5150GH to install in my server next week which should make an ever greater difference.

[copied from my other blog, written+posted there on 2006-09-28]

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