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G5 using too much power...

Our electrical bills where getting top high, so i decided to check the power consumption of our different electrical devices using a small utility you plug in between the equipment and the power outlet, which will show you how many Watts are being drawn at any given moment.

On my dual 1.8 G5 (2003 model) I noticed that the power consumption was very high.

In sleep mode it was about 40W and when turned off it was still 32W!!!

According to Apple's specifications the numbers should be closer to 10W for sleep and 2W for off.

The only way I can get lower than 32W consumption is to pull the plug!

I found a usegroup entry with a guy with similar data, but there was no solution to the problem.

click here

Does anybody have any suggestions? - or can you maybe measure your own G5's to see what yours are using?

I also found that when the machine is ON, with no processor hungry programs running, it uses around 200W - which on a yearly basis adds up to almost 2000 KWh if I leave it on all the time.

I was under the impression that Apples machines where energy friendly???

I really don't feel like powering the machine down AND pulling the plug everytime I'm not using it, so I hope someone can come up with an answer.

cheers
Peter

Posted on Oct 3, 2005 11:12 AM

37 replies

VAIO

Level 4

1,215 points

Oct 5, 2005 8:53 AM in response to VAIO

and here:

Howard Jenkins, "Sleep or shutdown ?", 09:43am Aug 29, 2005 CDT

and here:

MontereyMatt, "Turn off Mac during thunderstorm?", 03:52pm Jul 3, 2005 CDT

and here:

Lorelei Armstrong, "Shut Down" #4, 02:00pm Sep 30, 2005 CDT

Oct 5, 2005 12:14 PM in response to VAIO

Thanks Vaio for the links regarding shutting down or not. However, as one person has stated "I think it finally comes down to your use and preference" the debate still seems to continue for me. I'll stick to my normal routine and at least feel I am doing my bit for the environment (and my electric bill!)

Cheers Houston

Oct 5, 2005 1:25 PM in response to Peter Schaufuss

Since you are referring to my usegroup entry I'ld like to add that the problem persists. Several updates/upgrades solved the problem with the fan activity but didn't reduce the energy consumption.

First of all: I made sure that the measurements are correct. Comparing it with the measured consumption of other devices and using other measuring devices.

Since I am still annoyed by the problem I played around with several versions of the OS, installed on an external hard disc and starting from this. It didn't change anything. Then I played with the hardware, that is I reduced the RAM to the minimum the Mac was delivered with. Adding/removing a second hard disc had also no effect.

The only thing which is really strange is the following: Putting the Mac to "sleep" the machine consume about 38-40 W with no external devices attached (that is no printer, scanner ... attached via USB/Firewire ...). BUT switching on the router attached to the ethernet port reduced the overall consumption by about 8 W and taking into account the consumption of the router the Mac consumed about 15-18 W less!

My feeling is therefore that it is a hardware and/or firmware related problem.

Cheers,

Eckhard

Oct 8, 2005 1:34 PM in response to J Luiten

Interesting(!)
My measurements on my 2x2GHz also shows 32 W when it's turned off. This is measured with a $10 W-meter.

I have been looking for my FLUKE multimeter (that I usually uses to verify my measurements with) but I can't find it at the moment - I hope to find it soon so that I can verify that the power consumption while OFF as well as on idle is actually as low as stated above

JonAllen

Level 1

15 points

Oct 15, 2005 10:14 PM in response to Rick Prather

but I have to think back to the last time a computer "wore out" on me

hmmn ... I can't think of number of G5 iMacs, quite a few jelly bean iMacs and G3 iBooks, the odd and sod back to SE, SE/30s and more than a few CRT AppleDesign monitors.

I think the reference to the new G5 iMacs might be a little unfair but the G3 iMacs, what burns them out? Is it the heat of them running, short life components or the on / off ness of it all?

Of course, a lab full of Macs running folding@home - whilst doing wonders for science - does save on central heating costs ...

Oct 16, 2005 1:27 AM in response to Thomas von Eyben

Thomas, have you found your FLUKE multimeter yet?

It would be interesting to have the measurements of both a cheap Kill-o-watt type meter and a pro FLUKE meter on the same machine, to see if it's just the meter that's the problem

Oct 16, 2005 8:55 AM in response to Peter Schaufuss

If the computer is off or sleeping, the power supply very likely isn't doing any switching at all. The current demand would be entirely static. I'm sure the Fluke is more accurate and has many more features, but I'd think any cheapish meter would give a ballpark figure that would be fairly accurate, within a watt or two at most.

G5 using too much power...