Power consumption
We carry out the measurement of power
consumption by the Extech Power Analyzer 380803. This device is connected
before the PSU and then it measures how much power the whole system (without
the monitor) draws, including the power loss happening inside the PSU case. We
boot the system in the idle mode and wait until it stops accessing the hard
disk. Then in order to load the CPU, we use LinX, which work simultaneously
with the MSI Kombustor, to create a complex heavy load.
the
Extech Power Analyzer
As the Turbo Core technology lowers the
processor frequency to the level under the nominal value at high loads, the
real power consumption of the system cannot be measured exactly. Therefore, we
decide to accept a compromise and disable the parameter of CPB Mode in the
mainboard’ BIOS. This is quite important allowance, which might affect strongly
the system’s behaviors, but we still rely on the observed results and believe
that they are trust-worthy. The problem is that the LinX utility loads the CPU
tremendously heavily, even more than what you can predict from a normal program.
As the result, despite the disabled CPB Mode’s parameter, the power consumption
level under the extremely high loads due to LinX turns out the be same as what
we observed in the practical application launched with the activated Turbo Core
technology. The same principle is applied when we choose the utility for
creating the complex system workload. When we choose a program to be in charge
of the personal heavily loading system, we assure that the same power need
would be created as real application would produce in daily usage. The results
showed on the next diagram are sorted in the ascending order for the power
consumption level.
Carrying
out the measurement of power consumption by the Extech Power Analyzer 380803
We criticize the ASUS F2A85-V PRO due to
its moderate power consumption level compared to that of the mainboard of
Gigabyte, but ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 exceeds ASUS obviously in this aspect.
ASRock advertises the Digi Power adjustments for power consumption with the 8+2
power phases as one of the main advantages of this device, but it seems to be a
disaster for the Socket FM2 processor as is indirectly determined by the power
consumption level results in the overclocked mode.
The
power consumption level of ASRock’s mainboard is still very high even in the
idle mode and low loads
The power consumption level of ASRock’s
mainboard is still very high even in the idle mode and low loads, but it still
does not exceed that of the ASUS. At high loads, ASRock’s mainboard consume
less power than that of ASUS, approaching closer the level of the energy-saving
mainboard from Gigabyte. Therefore, the advanced power system of ASRock’s
mainboard is just efficient under high loads, but Gigabyte’s always needs less
power. We guess that ASRock’s voltage adjustment does not fulfill its mission
in the nominal mode or it is not balance enough. There is no surprise to know
that its heatsink mounted on its components is always hot.
These mainboards’ standby power draw levels
are also a good aspect to be considered in the comparison. Our tool is able to
record these parameters, but we cannot announce such information in the last
review. In such mode, the power consumption levels are usually 1.5 or 2 W, not
too much, but the ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 needs around 5W even when you connect
to the power source. This figure is still not very high and such parameter has
never drawn many attentions from us, yet it is still higher than normal. ASRock
is one of the first movers that implement the ErP/EuP standards that regulate
the limit of power consumption draw in the idle mode, but ASRock FM2A85X
Extreme6 does not even provide any option to activate that technology.
