Mac OS [9|X] has very fine grain control over the CPU speed. This is utilized on laptops for enhanced battery life, and on desktops for lower power use and heat generation. For a real example, the digital thermometer sitting on top of my G4 cube shows about 84 F while it idles. When I launch dnetc to start cracking RC5 keys, the air temp above the grill (no fan on this machine) rises to 97 F within about 5 minutes. Since I'm plugging the Mac, I might as well also point out that the latest 773MHz G4s use 17 Watts max load. I'm often dissapointed that Apple doesn't do more to tout the energy efficiency of their hardware. -pmb At 11:26 PM -0500 1/16/01, Alex wrote:
Yes, but is it *really* measurable?
I mean, are we talking a difference of more than a watt (in a machine that already pulls 80 to 120 watts)?
1% difference in power consumption could be related to someone passing wind in the building on the same power grid.
So, a busy Linux server generates more heat and uses more power than an idle Linux server.
I think FreeBSD does the same; I don't know about other OSs. -- Chris Adams <cmadams@hiwaay.net> Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.
-- Ring around the Internet, | Peter Bierman <pmb@sfgoth.com> Packet with a bit not set | http://www.sfgoth.com/pmb/ SYN ACK SYN ACK, |"Nobody realizes that some people expend We all go down. -A. Stern | tremendous energy merely to be normal."-Al Camus