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I find this claim a little hard to believe. Data centers routinely replace ~3 year old computers because the number of old computers they would need to keep ru
by benlivengood 5y ago
I find this claim a little hard to believe. Data centers routinely replace ~3 year old computers because the number of old computers they would need to keep running and cooling exceeds the cost of new more efficient hardware. The price of new hardware includes all the energy costs of producing it. Obviously the environmental externalities of energy aren't fully priced in, but that is also the case for data center energy.
What might be a more useful comparison is a $20 5W raspberry pi vs. a 2009 100W (at best) desktop computer where a month of continuous desktop operation costs more in energy than the new raspberry pi and ~1 year of usage.
- usr1106 5y agoIt depends on scale. In my home I need heating 8 months of the year despite having a couple of computers. Data centers need cooling.