Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac Mini (2009) power usage?
- Thread starter klas
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes.
I have a very basic plug in energy monitor.. I wont testify to it being 100% accurate and I think the instructions gave it +/- 1.5W but I have used it for basic tests, and cross calculated using other methods and it seems to be pretty accurate. So...
At the moment, sitting here typing this it says 12W
If I get it to play something in I tunes 13W
+Loading a 630Mb tiff image into Photoshop 22W peak
Now consuning 14W continous
+Appling filter in PS 26W peak
+Safari streaming video on BBC 33W peak 25W continuous 60%processor
+Firefox streaming another source 34Wpeak 26W continuous 80% peak processor
+iphoto 34W peak 26W continous
Processor settled to 54% use.
Not run out of memory yet. Only have 2GB but it seems to be using it well, although things are stating to slow a little..Dock less brisk. Tab switching a bit slow. Very impressed.
My old PC Dual P3 700 512Mb ram used to burn 60W idle in XP.. Oh how I dont miss it!
I'm afraid I dont have a calibrated clamp meter in my tool box, other wise I would use that to back this up.
Oh and If I set it to "sleep" 2W
Wheaty
I have a very basic plug in energy monitor.. I wont testify to it being 100% accurate and I think the instructions gave it +/- 1.5W but I have used it for basic tests, and cross calculated using other methods and it seems to be pretty accurate. So...
At the moment, sitting here typing this it says 12W
If I get it to play something in I tunes 13W
+Loading a 630Mb tiff image into Photoshop 22W peak
Now consuning 14W continous
+Appling filter in PS 26W peak
+Safari streaming video on BBC 33W peak 25W continuous 60%processor
+Firefox streaming another source 34Wpeak 26W continuous 80% peak processor
+iphoto 34W peak 26W continous
Processor settled to 54% use.
Not run out of memory yet. Only have 2GB but it seems to be using it well, although things are stating to slow a little..Dock less brisk. Tab switching a bit slow. Very impressed.
My old PC Dual P3 700 512Mb ram used to burn 60W idle in XP.. Oh how I dont miss it!
I'm afraid I dont have a calibrated clamp meter in my tool box, other wise I would use that to back this up.
Oh and If I set it to "sleep" 2W
Wheaty
Hardly worth turning it off then is it! Maybe we should have a 'how many days of uptime' competition!
I'm running 4GB of RAM, it is so fast, even when running XP in VMware Fusion.
In some ways your right.. 2W not alot of power is it?
However as a Electricain and an energy concious one, every watt adds up.
If you add all the stand by items up around your home, even at a 1W each add this up over 24hrs a day 365 days a year you have a noticable diference on your electricity bill.
Also many "stand by" modes use almost as much power as an appliance switched on
. (particularly DVD's TV's, Stereos)So, My verdict, Mac Mini Stand by.. Fantastic! But consider using it responsibly.
In some ways your right.. 2W not alot of power is it?
However as a Electricain and an energy concious one, every watt adds up.
If you add all the stand by items up around your home, even at a 1W each add this up over 24hrs a day 365 days a year you have a noticable diference on your electricity bill.
Also many "stand by" modes use almost as much power as an appliance switched on
So, My verdict, Mac Mini Stand by.. Fantastic! But consider using it responsibly.
I don't want to think what my Time Capsule, Airport Express and Sky Box use, I never turn them off either...