low power computer

[troyboy162]

low power consumption means the atom cpu right now. ive heard they are considered to be similar to an old P4 2ghz in terms of horsepower. as long as your mom is not ripping dvds for a living they will work ok. these are best for computers that remain on 24/7 where the saving will add up.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=Intel%20Atom

the thing that throws the above off is that newer mobos and any intel wolfdale cored cpus idle at stupid low watts. i just went this "caged lion" route myself for a 24/7 'puter.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...lfdale_11.html

its a cool time for computer these days. 300 bucks can make something great for the average user. gaming still costs a arm and a leg though lol

[mastacox]

low power consumption means the atom cpu right now. ive heard they are considered to be similar to an old P4 2ghz in terms of horsepower. as long as your mom is not ripping dvds for a living they will work ok. these are best for computers that remain on 24/7 where the saving will add up.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=Intel%20Atom

Intel Atom is definitely the lowest power consumption CPU you can buy, but I think if you crunched the numbers you would see that a "low power consumption" computer in the end won't save you much on your eletric bill (it might save you what it would cost to keep a 30W light bulb on 24/7). To each his own though, my CPU in my new computer probably draws as much power at full load as an entire Atom-equipped computer (but it also edits video a LOT faster, so less time at full-bore).

its a cool time for computer these days. 300 bucks can make something great for the average user. gaming still costs a arm and a leg though lol

It's all relative. In 2000 I bought a top-of-the-line gaming computer from Compaq which cost about $4500. Here we are nine years later I just built a computer that destroys current games and video editing for around $650 (not including case, power supply, or hard drives which I already had). For $800 you can build a VERY sweet gaming machine. That's progress

http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.ph...6&topic=7862.0

[garrett]

this may be obvious but i've made myself get into the habit of turning off my computer when i'm done using it (use to leave it on all day and just turn it off when going to sleep), even if i think i'll be back on within half an hour. my room is uncomfortably warmer than the hallway or other rooms when my computer has been running for a while.

[Seanz0rz]

yeah ours rarely stays on unless it is being used.

atom CPU's are out of the question as they lack the muscle to really do anything other than basic operations.

[boogyman]

atom CPU's are out of the question as they lack the muscle to really do anything other than basic operations.

That's not necessarily true. An atom will do any of the tasks you listed in your requirements above. Granted, it may not do them as quickly as a core i7 or core 2 quad, but they're still a decent cpu nonetheless. Unless they're used to a full-bore system, the average user won't notice a huge difference.

That being said, the system Nick listed is a pretty decent system for low cost. You could even skimp on the case a little more and probably save another $20-30. The integrated graphics on that board will do anything your mom needs and more.

CASE: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ($59.95)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042
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CPU: E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz ($65.99)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072)
--
RAM: G.SKILL 2GB(2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 [PC2 6400] ($29.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098
--
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-G41M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX ($59.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128388
--
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified ($53.49)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008
--
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s ($57.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136358
---
DVD Burner: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL etc (25.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151175

[Seanz0rz]

atom CPU's are out of the question as they lack the muscle to really do anything other than basic operations.

That's not necessarily true. An atom will do any of the tasks you listed in your requirements above. Granted, it may not do them as quickly as a core i7 or core 2 quad, but they're still a decent cpu nonetheless. Unless they're used to a full-bore system, the average user won't notice a huge difference.

ive used plenty of atom equipped net books and even a system setup to something similar to what im after. while most tasks were fine, the encoding of video files was, well, tremendiously slow. quite a bit slower than her current p4 2.53 and 512 ram machine. i want something that will run win 7 well, as xp is much past the end of its useful life.

i think ill end up ordering something much like nick posted.

ill keep you guys updated on what i end up with, thanks for the input!!!

[mastacox]

Asking for "the lowest power possible" and wanting to be able to "run Windows 7 well and re-encode video" are conflicting statements.

That being said, a dual-core or quad-core processor with a 45nm fab process is your best bet for low power consumption and plenty of horsepower to get things done. With Windows 7, I highly recommend at least 2gb of RAM if not more (I'm running 8gb with Windows 7 64-bit and love it). Your biggest savings power-wise will probably be in a low-end graphics card that doesn't suck power, low power consumption hard drives, and turn off the computer when not in use.

[Seanz0rz]

i dont think they are conflicting statements. i want lowest power while also completing those tasks. i dont need a octa-core i7 with quad SLI, 16 gb of ram and a petabyte of storage.

im looking for something that doesnt use a 700 watt power supply like my current rig, or a 1100 watt like my future machine.

[mastacox]

i dont think they are conflicting statements. i want lowest power while also completing those tasks.

It seems to me that with the qualifying requirement "you want to re-encode video at a decent rate" means you want a low-power draw dual or quad-core processor. The Intel Pentium E5200 is a good choice at 65 watts power draw, and only $65 to boot.