Computer Update

[circuitmonkey]

Hi all,

Just want to say a quick thanks to the help you lot have provided in the past, always top notch, that said I'm looking for advice again.

I was planning on building a second machine to replace my ageing Synology 106j NAS and pull double duties as a media player.
However, now I'm thinking that seeing as I'm running my system in my sig 24/7 and have already dropped in the 1TB drive that I bought for this new machine, updated to win 7 pro and using the media centre with xbox 360 as an extender, the planned new build is a bit superfluous.

So my question is as follows, how can I make my system a bit less power hungry so I don't feel bad running it 24/7?

Following is a run down of my system with offending items highlighted. Suggestions on more appropriate components would be greatly appreciated:

Q6700 @ 3.5Ghz <- (could be solved by automatic underclocking? is this software or hardware/mobo based? really don't want to have to replace this if possible)
MSI P35 Neo <- (something with fancy green credentials?)
8GB DDR2 RAM @ 800Mhz
320GB HDD
1TB HDD Samsung Eco Green F2
9800GX2 <- (really a bit overkill for RTCW:ET, although need something with decent CUDA performance, 9600GSO? GT240? open to suggestions here)
DVDRW
Coolermasters Extreme Power 650W Plus <- (something 80plus? power would have to reflect new GPU choice)
Coolermaster Elite 330 <- (loved this case, but looking for something else, bottom psu mount, good airflow, not to expensive, like this price of the NZXT offerings: BETA EVO, GAMMA, open to suggestions though)

Needless to say when rebuild is done I'll be doing a massive listing in the classifieds

[Pob255]

Well start of by removeing the overclock from the cpu, you'll not need that power for just a media center / NAS
turn on ESIT (intel speed stepping thing) you can also try dropping the cpu voltage slightly.

yes remove that 9800gx2 and give it to me a 9600gso or one of the "eco" cards would probably be good
I'm not much up on the cards past the 9series for low power, although the gt240 looks good (I think it's the same card just on a smaller architecture and lower power)

[circuitmonkey]

Well the overclock is actually used on a daily basis for my research, but your right I should really check if eist is enabled.