Low-power computing: a tech guide

Charles McLellan ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 26 Mar 2008

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Go to section: Introduction What we tested How we tested Power consumption Workload test run time Workload test power consumption Conclusion

This chart shows the total power consumed during our workload test, and therefore provides an indication of the systems that deliver the best combination of performance and power consumption — at least with the mix of tasks we selected. So although the Aleutia E1 is a relatively low-power system, its poor performance means that it takes so long to complete the test that it ends up consuming more power overall than the Lenovo ThinkCentre A61e, which is the most power-hungry of the eight systems on test.

At the other end of the scale, the ASUS Eee and Intel Classmate — both very similarly specified 900MHz notebooks — emerge as the most power-efficient systems, consuming around a quarter of the power racked up by the Aleutia E1. The OLPC XO, although the most power-frugal design on test, was penalised by its slower speed, especially when playing back video, and emerged on a par with the mini-desktop Inveneo Computing Station rather than its notebook brethren.

As mentioned earlier, the NComputing products are very dependent on the host PC/monitor/terminal loading combination, and it's probably fair to say that the figures reported here could be improved upon with a different configuration. Also, a simpler workload test with less emphasis on video playback would show the Aleutia E1 and OLPC XO in a better light.

Go to section: Introduction What we tested How we tested Power consumption Workload test run time Workload test power consumption Conclusion

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