Power consumption between different MB chipsets?

[videobruce]

Using the same (or very similar components, is there any power consumption difference between different motherboard chipsets?

Example: AMD 970 vs 990 vs 990FX.

Using the same processor and same number and types of drives and same chipset video card (apples vs apples) is there any lees draw with a 970 vs the step up 990 or 990FX? with no overclocking on processor or video card and running same O/S with the same power settings in the BIOS & the O/S.

[D1DM]

I have downloaded a table from X-bit labs, which tells me that the TDP of the chipsets you've asked about are:
970 + SB950: 19.6W
990X + SB950: 20W
990FX + SB950: 25.6W

[videobruce]

Ok, that is the power dissipation (I assume for heat sink purposes), not the current draw and it's also at 12vdc not 120vac. It's current at the AC outlet I'm interested in.

[DanceswithUnix]

Those chipsets are the same family, I believe they are in fact the same chip but some with features disabled. So I would expect any difference in your scenario to be very small. But...

In general power usage depends on what you are doing with the motherboard. How well the motherboard is designed makes a difference, and all the extra silicon they litter them with like Firewire ports that never get used, it all takes power, so the deluxe versions can chew quite a few watts more. Now if you buy a 990FX motherboard, it is very likely to have extra bits stuck on there and a more robust overclocker friendly voltage regulator (a cheap VRM can be more efficient, if less reliable) so in reality I would expect a 990FX system to draw more power.

[scaryjim]

tbh, best bet is to read some reviews of the motherboards you're interested in buying and see how they compare. Any decent review site will do power draw tests, and you'll find that power draw can vary even between motherboards with the same chipset.

OTOH, the variance caused by the motherboard is likely to be quite small - in the range of single figure watts, maybe into the teens for a particularly "bells and whilstles" board. The CPU and GPU are going to make up a much greater proportion of the power draw of the system. So essentially it's best to buy the motherboard that has the features you want, as the power draw variance is going to be fairly insignificant.

[videobruce]

Well, I will know shortly. I returned a 990FX board for a 970 board (long story). Same setup minus one IDE drive.

All these wattage figures at are 3, 5 & 12 volts, not 120, which doesn't tell me the draw at line voltage which is the only important figure.