Posted on 22 July 2010. Tags: h57, home server, htpc, Intel, LGA1156, mitx, motherboard
Although Intel’s Atom CPUs have made a splash in the mini ITX space, many users prefer the small form factor yet want more computing power than the Atom can muster. In response to this need, motherboard manufacturers have started to build standard socket motherboards in small form factors such as mITX.
Over the past decade, features such as video, audio, and network interfaces have moved from occupying expansion slots to being integrated directly on the motherboards. For many users onboard video, audio, and LAN obviate the need for add-on cards in a system. With all of this basic functionality onboard, smaller motherboards have become possible, such as mini ITX. Read the full story
Posted in Non-drive Components
Posted on 23 May 2010. Tags: baseboard, BMC, cpu utilization, h55, h57, heatsink fan, intel core i3-530, intel ssd, intel stock, intel xeon, intel xeon x3440, management controller, motherboard review, picopsu, power consumption, real server, server hardware, SSD, Supermicro, Supermicro x8sil-f, wall socket, watt power, webgui, x25, x8sil-f, X8SIL-F v1.02
To update to my review of the Supermicro X8SIL-F, I took some Kill-A-Watt power consumption numbers with the Supermicro X8SIL-F to answer a few questions regarding power consumption with real server hardware compared to consumer-level hardware. Below I am focusing on idle power consumption as with the Intel Core i3-530, Xeon X3440, and other LGA 1156 CPUs the CPU utilization while running a NAS application will be very low. After a bit of testing I found the i3-530 again leading the pack in idle power consumption and the Xeon X3440 turning in very respectable idle power consumption numbers.
Posted in Low Power Servers, Motherboards, Server CPUs
Posted on 19 February 2010. Tags: Atom, Benchmark, clarkdale, Core i3, Core i5, energy saving, h55, h57, heat dissipation, home servers, hsf, htpc, hyperthreading, i3-530, i5-650, intel atom, intel pro, Low Power, matx motherboard, n330, NVIDIA, package solution, power consumption, Review, video encoding, WHS, Windows Home Server
Intel’s Clarkdale and H55/ H57 platforms are quite intriguing for several reasons. First, the performance is fairly good starting at 2.93ghz, and with hyperthreading, it is possible to get closer to a quad core performance in some tasks where multiple cores do well, such as video encoding. A second aspect is that Intel moved the IGP to an on package solution and really cut the power consumption/ heat dissipation of the platform. Finally, the cost of an i3-530 or i5-650 CPU plus a motherboard is often in the $200 or less range, making them quite affordable.
Two great uses for the chips are home servers and HTPC’s. Low power consumption and low heat generation ultimately enable lower acoustic signatures, as well as lower TCO through lower electric draw.
Core i5-650, Gigabyte H55M-UD2H, Dual Intel Pro/1000 GT PCI NICs
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Posted in Low Power Servers, Server CPUs
