Low Power Champ: Dothan VS Sempron/X2 VS E4300 VS E6300?

[silentphoenix]

Im looking to upgrade my younger sisters PC to make it an uber low power rig.

The main thing I'm after is that its fast enough for generally office, web browsing, DVD, DIVX and unrealtournament (the classic ). It will most likely be hooked up to a 17'' TFT (LG1710B - DVI/RGB) or I may get her a 19/20'' widescreen...

Ive successfull build my youngest sister a Sempron 3gig paired with a Asus 6150/430 matx mobo (the onboard GFX is absolutely fine for 1440x900 for UT, and Asus Q-fan is uber cool) and a gig of DDR2 667 RAM. Only fans ive got are the PSU which is silent, and the CPU which is usually running min speed through Q-fan all housed in a Aopen mATX slim case.

For this new build I was hoping to go completely passive on the CPU with the only fan in the PSU.

My question is, should I go for a:

* Dothan (lowest power consumption?, but hard to come across cheap boards and CPUs... best speed/power consumption ratio?)
* Sempron (worked well before with a 6150 mobo... wondering how the sempron X2 3600 will fair)
* C2D 4300 (lower power cons. than 6300, but will it be possible to underclock and get it to run on 30W? How much for a mobo that it is a good underclocker?)
* C2D 6300 (as above, but uses more power at stock... how underclockable are these?)

As its stands, the Sempron seems to be the most economical choice with a CPU + mobo combo costing in the region of £70... but what say you?

[Metier9]

This is a fanless PSU

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=510107

a bit pricey though.. 80 squids

[silentphoenix]

This is a fanless PSU

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=510107

a bit pricey though.. 80 squids

Yeah - i thought about something like that (either the one shown or the FSP Zen if its still around), but I would have been too afraid of having no fans at all in the system.

I was planning to block off all exhausts to the case, bar the PSU, so only that deals with air flow (and hence the only fan in the system). Im geussing that the PSU wont be dealing with much extra heat passing through as im hoping the rig wont produce more than 60W all in.

So it was a choice between a £80 fanless PSU and £10 fan, or just a £30 Seasonic 300 watter .

In all fairness, i am planning to get a fanless PSU for my next build, but that wont be in a while since ive already spent too much on my WC and LiLi case..

[this_is_gav]

Uber low power? Price up how much Core Duo's (not the C2D) and Pentium Ms and appropriate motherboard. I've got a CD in my HTPC, but it was a bit pricy at the time (£200 for board and CPU from the Hexus.classifieds)

Extreme low power? Find a little VIA C3 or something - it'll not play any games though - I'd imagine Solitaire would be a bit too extreme

[silentphoenix]

going via C3 would be a bit to low power

Ive tried to have a quick lok for the C2 non duos but not sure of their names - cant find c2solo or just c2 on ebuyer or scan. Closest things are the S478 Core Duo T2XXXX which are in the £100+ category with mobo's costing around £80-90 .

Im also trying to find a decent site that list realistic TDPs for processors but not having any luck atm .

[this_is_gav]

I wasn't aware Core Duo solo's (the desktops) were out. You weren't referring to my post were you, as I was meaning the Core Duo - the primarily notebook dual-core chip that came after the Pentium Ms?

[silentphoenix]

I wasn't aware Core Duo solo's (the desktops) were out. You weren't referring to my post were you, as I was meaning the Core Duo - the primarily notebook dual-core chip that came after the Pentium Ms?

Woops - i thought you were talking about core solos (no wonder i couldn't find any ). I did see the 'mobile' core duos, but did realise they released significantly lower power consumption ones till now (before the mobile core chip had a TDP of 35ish watts, and how they've got them down a fair bit:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/...131142311.html

Looks perfect (well as long as i dont look into its cost )

EDIT - maybe a B" stepping E6300 maybe worth a look - they can work at 0.8V.. nice

EDIT 2.. WTH.. i thought that the mobile CPUs were suppose to have lower TDP.. or am i misinterpretting these graphs:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...px?i=2808&p=14

EDIT 3 - well in response to EDIT 2, the L7200 and L7500 are going to be released soon with a TDP of 17W, and i geuss 60W for the power consumption of the entire laptop isnt too bad...

[Metier9]

Damn you going all no holes bared on power levels lol