Article on rig power consumption

[Erakhan]

I read this and found it quite interesting. It references the hidden-cost of gaming (trivial amount really) of all various machines running in terms of energy consumption. Nor would a gamer really change their mind based on how much power it draws. With everyone running multiple machines, what do you estimate you pay in electricity? Then think about what Prepared and Sam must be paying as well, it must be a few hundred a year,right?


Link to Cnet article
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10280974-1.html

I dual-box on my iMac with no issues except some lag in certain major cities.

Also, doesn't $3,600 for the Digital Storms rig seems crazy expensive?!

[DrChaos]

this part kinda has me confused...

"As a $3,600 configuration, though, this system represents the middle ground for performance gaming nicely. It didn't set any performance records, but it can play most current games at decent image quality settings on a 24-inch LCD at full resolution"

with 3600.00, I could buy 6 computers capable of loading 3 wows each with NO lag in ANY city. and still have money left over for a few months of game time easily. The computer im on right now will load 5 game clients and have zero lag. I only paid 600.00 and 69.00 was shipping costs. I would love to get my hands on 3600.00 I could blow with no recourse.

[chaosultimamage]

The $3600 figure is based on the assumption that you are BUYING a computer, NOT BUILDING.

As stupid as it is to purchase a computer like that, since if you're into this kind of thing, you should know a bit about the hardware, some people genuinely cannot build one (or there parents are rich and / or would rather do that than the kid breaking something).

My rig, when built at the first of 2008, cost me $1200. I've got a rig that could compete with or beat the machine in the article on my Newegg wishlist that costs less than my current machine cost me last year.

I agree that I would love 3600 to throw around. ^^

[DrChaos]

true, but i didnt build this computer (600.00). If i have to go from the ground up then I would get prolly 7 / 8 computers out of 3600.

[Tonuss]

with 3600.00, I could buy 6 computers capable of loading 3 wows each with NO lag in ANY city. and still have money left over for a few months of game time easily. The computer im on right now will load 5 game clients and have zero lag. I only paid 600.00 and 69.00 was shipping costs. I would love to get my hands on 3600.00 I could blow with no recourse.They were probably thinking of current FPS shooters when they spoke about performance, whereas they mentioned WoW because of the monthly fee (so that they could compare it to what you may be spending on electricity).

At the same time, have system prices really gotten so bad that $3600 is considered "middle ground" for gaming? I'm sure you could build a $7500 'super system' for gaming by getting the most expensive stuff and having it water-cooled, but you should be able to run most games at 1680 x 1050 @ 30FPS or better with a $2000 system. Or possibly less if you build it yourself. For WoW, especially for systems designed for "follower" accounts, you can easily build a $500-600 system to do the job.

[Multibocks]

I hate system standby so mine is running full blast all the time. I'll plant a few trees for the carbon offset :D

[Ughmahedhurtz]

The $3600 figure is based on the assumption that you are BUYING a computer, NOT BUILDING. I'm not sure what your point is. You can STILL get 3 freaking quad-core Dell desktops with 4GB RAM, 24" LCDs and ATI RadeonHD's for less than that. And those'll run 4 WoWs EACH.

Completely pre-built, no muss, no fuss, no build experience required. ;)

[DrChaos]

The $3600 figure is based on the assumption that you are BUYING a computer, NOT BUILDING. I'm not sure what your point is. You can STILL get 3 freaking quad-core Dell desktops with 4GB RAM, 24" LCDs and ATI RadeonHD's for less than that. And those'll run 4 WoWs EACH.

Completely pre-built, no muss, no fuss, no build experience required. ;)

[DrChaos]

The $3600 figure is based on the assumption that you are BUYING a computer, NOT BUILDING. I'm not sure what your point is. You can STILL get 3 freaking quad-core Dell desktops with 4GB RAM, 24" LCDs and ATI RadeonHD's for less than that. And those'll run 4 WoWs EACH.

Completely pre-built, no muss, no fuss, no build experience required. ;)



/agree

[Catamer]

Why are we talking about it here, who the hell wants a "green" machine anyway.
I want the biggest, fastest, hottest PC you can make and then I want to put tail fins on it.

oh yeah.. I have 3.

[Gadzooks]

Purely anecdotal, but I saw a substantial decrease in my power bill when I retired my G5 and 24" Cinema and 4 external hard drives and all the trimmings, and switched to a 24" iMac. It was at least a $20 savings a month. (I also stopped using the plasma tv unless I was watching a movie - a 17" lcd is fine for the news and whatever).

Here in CA, power ain't cheap. Lower bills is good.

Also, I never noticed how much *noise* the old system made, until I turned it all off!

[Moorea]

for 3600 you could definitively build or get a top end pc; on the other hand I don't think you could build 7 good mb computer for that. Yesterday I almost pulled the trigger on a config in my newegg shopping basket and it was over 1.5k - for i7, 12gb ram, nvidia 275 - good case and psu - I ended up giving up and getting a pre built gateway with 9gb of ram (crappy compared to what I had put in newegg) and only a nvidida gtx 260 which I think should be enough even for 5 boxing for 1279 as it seems it would cost me as much/more to build it myself and there is a risk I would mess up something - that's not counting the 3d vision setup I also ordered (can't wait to try wow solo in 3d)

[Tonuss]

Hot rod PCs are great until your home office turns into a home sauna.My LCDs are responsible for global warming. :x

[Yamio]

I once spent $2500 on a pc, but that was years ago. Now I feel anything above $600-800 bucks is too much.

The older I get the cheaper I get. A couple more years and I'll be George Castanza cheap.