SRL Archive - Technology

I've been wanting to make a computer that uses a low amount of power with a relatively good amount of power to run my bots all day. I came up with this:



Plus a $50 ssd

I will update this Friday or Monday when the parts come in and show the finished product. Thanks to all who helped and will help me :)

Update: It's somewhat finished. I ended up making half of a case (more of a shelf) to hold it, but it works. Velcro is holding the power supply and ssd in place. It is ultra quiet and has great temps when running. Here's some pics!





The temperatures:

SSD is defo much more power efficient and much faster… also more expensive

Why is power usage such a concern, just curious, haven't seen any/many people worried about that before.

From: YoHoJo
Why is power usage such a concern, just curious, haven't seen any/many people worried about that before.

I live in a cave with only a battery and 2 solar panels ;p Srsly though, I want to make a comp that won't cost to much to run everyday. Gonna make a real effort to farm some gold (not on rs) in the next few months and I need a suitable build for it that isn't my 800W gaming rig.

Also updated op to show what I am going to get as I find it. Someone please let me know if I am making a mistake!

Hmm can a computer on heavy load really end up using THAT MUCH noticeably electricity to effect the bill? :0
Also isn't it obvious/easy to make it more low power just buy lower voltage speced parts basically, and have only as many parts/expansions as needed. Or is there more to it than just that?

From: YoHoJo
Hmm can a computer on heavy load really end up using THAT MUCH noticeably electricity to effect the bill? :0
Also isn't it obvious/easy to make it more low power just buy lower voltage speced parts basically, and have only as many parts/expansions as needed. Or is there more to it than just that?

You can save a few bucks a month per machine if you buy more energy efficient parts.. but that costs you more so overall you aren't gaining too much.

From: YoHoJo
Hmm can a computer on heavy load really end up using THAT MUCH noticeably electricity to effect the bill? :0
Also isn't it obvious/easy to make it more low power just buy lower voltage speced parts basically, and have only as many parts/expansions as needed. Or is there more to it than just that?

In my area, I calculated it would cost me $8.64 monthly to run a 400w power supply during non peak hours (7pm to 7am). That's half of what it would cost to run the one I have now. I understand it's minor but I want to get the best efficiency I can get because I plan to run this almost every night. So if I could use a smaller power supply with cheaper/less power parts, then I could run it nightly and make more profit.

Reason I made a thread is simple. I don't know much about what brands are good, etc as Im only in college and know relatively little compared to some of the people here.

Lets calc this out Yoho. I run my computer 24/7… 750W psu, id say average draw of 600w… So thats .6kWhr (in one hour)
prices here are .13 usd/kWhr… If i leave it on 24 hours, thats .6kWhr*.13usd/kWhr*24hr/day = 1.872 usd/day
Now… multiply by 365days/year… Gets us 683.28 usd/year. Yeah. energy efficient computers do make a difference.

From: Turpinator
Lets calc this out Yoho. I run my computer 24/7… 750W psu, id say average draw of 600w… So thats .6kWhr (in one hour)
prices here are .13 usd/kWhr… If i leave it on 24 hours, thats .6kWhr*.13usd/kWhr*24hr/day = 1.872 usd/day
Now… multiply by 365days/year… Gets us 683.28 usd/year. Yeah. energy efficient computers do make a difference.

What are you running 24/7 that's drawing that much power the whole time? An idle machine uses a lot LESS power than that.

If you are going for electricity efficiency, you need to get a gold-rated psu. Less heat and less electricity lost.

From: Brotein
What are you running 24/7 that's drawing that much power the whole time? An idle machine uses a lot LESS power than that.

Bots perhaps? I think that was just an example but he makes a good point.

From: Wetish
If you are going for electricity efficiency, you need to get a gold-rated psu. Less heat and less electricity lost.

Newegg only had a few psu's that were gold-rated. I updated OP to show what I am thinking of right now.

E: Also, is making my own case an option? I don't really think I have enough for a case after everything is ordered.

From: Brotein
What are you running 24/7 that's drawing that much power the whole time? An idle machine uses a lot LESS power than that.

granted yes its not running full all the time, but id say on average. gfx cards + everything else (always mining on gfx, soo… yeah)

Would running a laptop be any cheaper? Like I know my i7 is supposed to only use 250W at full performance (although this probably isn't true and I don't really have any easy way of telling)

www.pcpartpicker.com
Use that to find a cheaper motherboard…that motherboard price should be around $50-$60 if you are USA.

From: cause
www.pcpartpicker.com
Use that to find a cheaper motherboard…that motherboard price should be around $50-$60 if you are USA.

Yeah, I found a cheaper one for $55 and ordered everything for under $300. Can't wait to build it. Going to add pictures to the OP as soon as it arrives. It's going to be entertaining trying to build my own case :D

From: Foundry
Yeah, I found a cheaper one for $55 and ordered everything for under $300. Can't wait to build it. Going to add pictures to the OP as soon as it arrives. It's going to be entertaining trying to build my own case :D

Nice :) Building a case would be fun! I'd love to try that!

From: cause
Nice :) Building a case would be fun! I'd love to try that!

I updated the op and as you can see I'm no carpenter :p I am gonna finish the case up sometime in the next week so it is mostly closed up and am thinking about Plexiglas for one of the sides.

From: Foundry
I updated the op and as you can see I'm no carpenter :p I am gonna finish the case up sometime in the next week so it is mostly closed up and am thinking about Plexiglas for one of the sides.

Very barebones, I love it!

Finally got one of the wattage monitors that plugs into an outlet. With the graphics card it averages at 50W and without it hovers around 25W. The readings were taken when it was running 2 bots.

Not buying any RAM?