We should probably note right off the bat that a “green gaming PC” is a sort of contradiction in terms, akin to the world’s “smallest giant panda.” But that doesn’t mean Maingear’s aim with the Pulse is completely bonkers: essentially it’s a low-power machine that still aims to provide a good gaming experience. Short of going the nettop route and note quite going ridiculously green, there’s a middle ground where you’re using advanced but low-power components, creating something that won’t dim your lights when you turn it on, yet can play Call of Duty 4.
The specs are modest: A low-end 45nm Core 2 Duo or Quad and a GeForce 9800 GT ECO running on an ION chipset, altogether drawing about 165W. You’ve got plenty of room for RAM (up to 8GB), and a regular hard drive (if you want greener, you can go with SSD). It’s got 7.1 audio and a nice shorty-tower case, plus it doesn’t break the bank, starting at $799.
I’d go further and get some passive cooling in there — with no spinning drives and no fans it’d be quiet as a mouse as well as a power saver.
With a quad core Q400s and a 9600 GT ECO, the Pulse draws 125 watts while under load. With a 9800 GT 1GB, that raises to about 142 watts. ;)
Boy is my face red. Yes, the power consumption does vary widely with components… but 125 watts with Q400s? nice.
This is certain interesting. Our home town has only 1300W power supplied from the government. We usually can only use 1 to 2 PCs altogether (waste up to 1000W and the rest for fans, and other electronics (without Air Conditioner of course). :)
It’s lame but that’s how we survive through the day in a small country.
hope that PC case was made out of recycled cans…You can build the same thing for under $400.