Green Computing

I have been using computers for the last 22 years, so I know a thing or two about them. Here is my own guide to green computing.

• If you have a single core 90nm P4 Prescott or an Athlon XP, now might be a good time to replace your processor/computer.
• Choose a green operating system that is low on CPU usage and has good power management features. For servers, Red hat Linux is an excellent choice.
• If you are just an occasional gamer who does not mind playing games at lower quality settings, chose a computer with integrated graphics. At the time of this writing the best integrated graphics chipset is AMD's 780G.
• Chose a computer with an energy efficient processor, this costs only 10-20$ more.
• If your CRT monitor is 5yrs old, now is a good time to replace it with a lower power LCD. However, resist the temptation to oversize your LCD, unless your work demands it. For most people a 17-19" LCD should be fine.
  
• Chose a medium end dual core CPU or a low end quad core CPU. Unless you run scientific software, or games, these processors should be more than adequate for years to come.
  
• Set the power management on your computer to max. Have the shut down of the monitor occur only after 5-10min of no usage.
• If you can wait to buy a new computer, wait until early next year. By then all CPUs from Intel and AMD should be built using a more power efficient 45nm process. Furthermore DD3 should be cheaper, but more importantly should consume less power than DD2.
• Get a laptop instead of a desktop if your work does not require a lot of horse power.
• Chose software that is low on CPU utilization. This would require some trial and error, as currently there is no standard that tells you how many CPU cycles each program consumes on each processor model or the total average energy in watts per task(for example a virus scan or watching a movie.)
• If you have multiple servers, go for virtualization and server consolidation. Additionally, make sure that the platform you purchase will have socket/memory type longevity.
• Chose computer RAM that has a low voltage rating.
• If money is not an issue, go for a high efficiency power supply.
• Buy computers and LCD panels with an energy star compliant rating.
• Choose a chipset or graphics card that can do HD(HD and Blu ray) decoding. GPUs are more efficient at HD video decoding than CPUs. Nvidia and AMD offer very efficient decoding in this regard.