Am I the only one that would prefer cooler, quieter CPUs rather than 8-way monstrosities with big fans and creating lots of heat?
I have 2 systems running in my room, a 2-core desktop, and a 2 CPU quad-core system that I run virtualization on. This system replaced about 4 other towers that I had running, each doing various things like running web server, dns, etc, but basically just sitting idle and sucking up electricity.
I want to upgrade to a newer desktop, but I really don't want this thing to generate more heat, use more electricity and have a loud fan. Before, I wanted to upgrade my video card but couldn't find a reasonable graphics card that didn't have a fan.
CPU power consumption hasn't been increasing at all for years. The high-end desktop chips all top out at 125-130W TDP, with the slightly more reasonable chips topping out at 95W TDP, and the mainstream desktop chips have a TDP of 65W or lower. Compare this with the Pentium 4 desktop chips, which mostly ranged from 84W TDP to 115W TDP, and had hardly any power management features.
The extra cores don't increase power consumption, because the clock speed they run at is dependent on how many cores you are currently using, and cores you aren't using are almost entirely turned off.
Idle power consumption of a high-end gaming system these days is only about 80W, even though peak power consumption can be on the order of a kW if you use multiple graphics cards.
If you think current chips are monstrosities that put out lots of heat and fan noise, you're probably running with a lot of power management features disabled.
Hmm, maybe instead of 2 system you can now have one 8 core system that runs virtualization and your desktop? Now you have one power supply, less fans, ...
There is nothing inherently loud or power consuming about 8-way monstrosities. Do you remember Pentium IV or even Alpha (One of those things could heat up a room plenty well in the winter).
Unfortunately, you can't hide the loud, hot running monstrosity that you use for the heavy work under a staircase in the basement if you use it as a desktop.
That said, the Bulldozer chips have relatively power-efficient cores, and it will shut off power to cores that you aren't using. If your system isn't particularly loaded, there's no reason for it to burn enormous amounts of electricity.
The ever-marching progression of fire-breathing monstrosities brings you lower-performance chips that do more and more for less and less power. If you are interested in low power, I find you are best served by eyeing the low-mid end of the previous generation.
I have 2 systems running in my room, a 2-core desktop, and a 2 CPU quad-core system that I run virtualization on. This system replaced about 4 other towers that I had running, each doing various things like running web server, dns, etc, but basically just sitting idle and sucking up electricity.
I want to upgrade to a newer desktop, but I really don't want this thing to generate more heat, use more electricity and have a loud fan. Before, I wanted to upgrade my video card but couldn't find a reasonable graphics card that didn't have a fan.