HARDWARE

Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 Mainboard & AMD A10-5800K Processor Review (Part 6)

4/6/2013 3:30:39 PM

Many analysts do not pay enough attention to the power consumption of the processors, or there is just a small chapter somewhere at the end of the review mentioning about this issue. However, in my opinion, the power consumption of Socket FM2 platform is about to be the most shocking experience throughout the review. Therefore, we decided to invest seriously and attempted to determine which component of the system contributed the most to that high power consumption number. To achieve this goal, we measured the power consumption of the system in the nominal idle mode and in different loading mode, such as: only CPU, only graphics core and the combined mode. Next, we used the same measure methodology as that in overclocked mode when we just overclocked just computing core, only graphics core and the whole system overclocking. In this section, we are about to bring you collected results with necessary commentary, and further in this review, we will apply some principals to the real power consumption generally and to each component in particular, so that we can analyze the detailed results and come up with the appropriate conclusion.

We built the power consumption measurement process by using Extech Power Analyzer 380803. This device was connected to PSU before to measure the loss of whole system power (without monitor), including the leak of power happening inside the PSU. In idle mode, we start with system startup and waited until it stopped the receiving hard-disk process. Than we used LinX to open the CPU, Cinebench 11.5 to open the graphics core, and LinX and MSI operated at the same time, producing a complexly heavy loading process. We chose these separate programs because they were able to anticipate almost all levels of consuming power which the system needed for its everyday use in practical applications. All results in the graph were categorized in an ascending sequence. Let’s start with the graph showing the power consumption in idle mode.

In idle mode

In idle mode

Of course, we immediately noted that the power consumption process of the system in idle mode increased during the overclocking process, but we also believed that this was caused by the increased Vcore of the processor. Surprisingly, it was the integrated graphics core that was totally responsible for the increase of the power consumption in the idle mode. The difference between 28 and 31 W was not a surprise at all but in practice, it was considerably higher, over 10%, and keeping in mind that not every computer fully loaded all the time, and the processor was one of its power saving status. Therefore, the above increase of power consumed might be true.

Only CPU mode

Only CPU mode

We used to mention that we cannot measure the power consumption of a system when it is heavily loading, because “Turbo Core” technology lowered the frequency of the processor under the nominal parameter. Therefore, we have to look for a compromise and unable the parameters of the “Core Performance Boost” in mainboard’s BIOS. This is obviously a useful assistance, helping changing the system operation considerably. In the case that the clock frequency does not increase to over 3.8 GHz, its Vcore does not increase, and therefore the power consumption seems to be less than in reality. Disabled “Core performance boost” does not cause any effect on the level of power consumed of the system in the idle mode and it is still 28 W. However, when the processor works more, the difference becomes clearer and clearer. For example, as you can see in the graph showing the only CPU testing mode, the nominal power consumption level of the system is 65 W, while in reality, with “Turbo Core” technology, it is about 10 W higher. We cannot answer exactly how much power the system needs when it is fully loaded and when the CPU is 100% used, because in this case, the processor’s frequency decreases and that is why we need the special help. However, it will be fairer if assuming that in this case, the power consumption can be 10 or even 20 W higher.

When CPU is fully loaded

When CPU is fully loaded

Despite that fact, we believe the received result is reasonable and comparable. The problem here is LinX utility influences on the processor strongly, more than the normal applications and even under stricter conditions. As the result, even when disabling the “Core performance boost”, the measured power consumed in the burn mode created by LinX seems to be the same as the scenario that we saw when it operates its normal applications and enable “Turbo Core”. We used the same principals in selecting some utilities when we just opened a part of the CPU’s graphic and creating the complex burn mode for the whole system. We chose programs to open the system’s components based on their competition in the same power consumption level as the normal practical applications, which users usually use everyday.

We are about to come up with the final conclusion later, when we discuss operational numbers and received results in order to give the intermediate verdict. Overclocked processor’s graphics core has great effect in the idle mode, but its contribution to the power consumption of the whole system is still 10%, it even falls to 4-8%, depending on the type of the operational load. An increase in memory frequency almost has no influence on consuming power. 6% is at most, but in almost every case that it is between 1 to 3.5%. As we expected, the highest increase in power consumption happens when the A10-5800K processor is overclocked: it reaches the peak of 20-40%. The complex system overclocking boosts the power consumption surprisingly, about 50 to 75%. Now let’s see how much operation performance we receive during the overclocking process and where all of the power mainly goes to.

 

Other  
  •  Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4
  •  Crucial Ballistix Tactical LP And Sport VLP Dual-Channel DDR3 Memory Kits Review (Part 4)
  •  Crucial Ballistix Tactical LP And Sport VLP Dual-Channel DDR3 Memory Kits Review (Part 3)
  •  Crucial Ballistix Tactical LP And Sport VLP Dual-Channel DDR3 Memory Kits Review (Part 2)
  •  Crucial Ballistix Tactical LP And Sport VLP Dual-Channel DDR3 Memory Kits Review (Part 1)
  •  AMD A10 4600M CPU – The Quad Prowess
  •  A Trio From HIS: 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition, 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock And 7850 IceQ Turbo X Graphics Cards Review (Part 8)
  •  A Trio From HIS: 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition, 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock And 7850 IceQ Turbo X Graphics Cards Review (Part 7)
  •  A Trio From HIS: 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition, 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock And 7850 IceQ Turbo X Graphics Cards Review (Part 6)
  •  A Trio From HIS: 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition, 7950 IceQ X² Boost Clock And 7850 IceQ Turbo X Graphics Cards Review (Part 5)
  •  
    Top 10
    Review : Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
    Review : Canon EF11-24mm f/4L USM
    Review : Creative Sound Blaster Roar 2
    Review : Philips Fidelio M2L
    Review : Alienware 17 - Dell's Alienware laptops
    Review Smartwatch : Wellograph
    Review : Xiaomi Redmi 2
    Extending LINQ to Objects : Writing a Single Element Operator (part 2) - Building the RandomElement Operator
    Extending LINQ to Objects : Writing a Single Element Operator (part 1) - Building Our Own Last Operator
    3 Tips for Maintaining Your Cell Phone Battery (part 2) - Discharge Smart, Use Smart
    REVIEW
    - First look: Apple Watch

    - 3 Tips for Maintaining Your Cell Phone Battery (part 1)

    - 3 Tips for Maintaining Your Cell Phone Battery (part 2)
    VIDEO TUTORIAL
    - How to create your first Swimlane Diagram or Cross-Functional Flowchart Diagram by using Microsoft Visio 2010 (Part 1)

    - How to create your first Swimlane Diagram or Cross-Functional Flowchart Diagram by using Microsoft Visio 2010 (Part 2)

    - How to create your first Swimlane Diagram or Cross-Functional Flowchart Diagram by using Microsoft Visio 2010 (Part 3)
    Popular Tags
    Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel Microsoft OneNote Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Project Microsoft Visio Microsoft Word Active Directory Biztalk Exchange Server Microsoft LynC Server Microsoft Dynamic Sharepoint Sql Server Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2012 Windows 7 Windows 8 Adobe Indesign Adobe Flash Professional Dreamweaver Adobe Illustrator Adobe After Effects Adobe Photoshop Adobe Fireworks Adobe Flash Catalyst Corel Painter X CorelDRAW X5 CorelDraw 10 QuarkXPress 8 windows Phone 7 windows Phone 8