5 ms·

All that the rules say (yes, I read them) is that a workstation with 32G RAM (formula is 10 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB) must not exceed ~ 11W in sleep mode and a desktop

by mritun 5y ago

All that the rules say (yes, I read them) is that a workstation with 32G RAM (formula is 10 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB) must not exceed ~ 11W in sleep mode and a desktop with 32G RAM must not exceed 6W in sleep mode (5 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB). Basically, these desktops probably have very ancient/buggy motherboards with broken ACPI. Good riddance. Fun fact: Desktops/workstations shipped without an operating system at purchasers request are exempt from the rule. So technically, if they don’t insist on shipping with OEM Windows, then the PC can be shipped just fine. In any case, hopefully this rule will nudge them to use half-decent motherboards that maybe better supported under non-Windows operating systems.

nyanpasu64 5y ago
What distinguishes a workstation from a desktop?
- HKH2 5y ago
  Do I have to call my desktop a funstation now?
  - 411111111111111 5y ago
    They're often called Battle-Station. Somehow I feel a fun station to be slightly more naughty, but I guess that's just my mind ;)
  - emodendroket 5y ago
    That was where they got "PlayStation."
- bufferoverflow 5y ago
  I once bought a workstation for a great price, wanted to make a good gaming PC. I discovered that the case didn't fit dedicated GPUs, except the short form factor ones. I ended up cutting some metal bays out with a metal saw to fit my GPU in. Workstations are also often sold with ECC RAM.
- ThrowawayR2 5y ago
  Usually workstations have a chipset that supports server CPUs and ECC RAM and ordinary desktops don't.
- mritun 5y ago
  Manufacturer’s classification. 10W or 11W - it’s not a high bar really. If a computer can’t manage to stay below that, it’s ancient.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
gruez 5y ago
>All that the rules say (yes, I read them) is that a workstation with 32G RAM (formula is 10 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB) must not exceed ~ 11W in sleep mode and a desktop with 32G RAM must not exceed 6W in sleep mode (5 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB). That's it? The rules only mandate maximum power consumption for sleep mode? Some comments linked to the actual regulations[1], and they seem to contain tables with per-year maximums per device[2]. Can you comment on this? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27955212 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27955212 [2] https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Link/Document/Blob/Icabb0f7e8dfc11e79567ad00d20c13c4.png?targetType=admin-codes&originationContext=document&vr=3.0&rs=cblt1.0&transitionType=DocumentImage&uniqueId=968c2d00-feda-4a9b-879f-24bbea002e4b&contextData=(sc.Default)&bhcp=1 https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Link/Document/Blob/Icabb0f7...
- MetroWind 5y ago
  What's the definition of "measured annual energy consumption"?
  - jsmith45 5y ago
    It is based on the Energy Star energy consumption criteria. The formula is: 365*24/(1000)*weighted_average_power_consumption (the division appears to be due to using unitless formulas, and wanting a result value in kWH). The weighted average power consumption is based on measured power draw in the following states: "off", "sleep", "Long_idle", and "short_idle". Most desktops under the California rules will use the "conventional" weighting factors of (45%, 5%, 15%, 35%) for the respective power modes in that average. Short idle is basically what you expect. Screen is still on, drives are still spun up. Long Idle allows basic power saving features to have kicked in (like spinning down hard drives), and assumes the screen has gone blank, but that the computer is still in ACPI G0/S0, not in some form of sleep mode.
jfrunyon 5y ago
Huh? That's not even remotely true, go read it again (and not just one of the table images this time). All it requires of sleep mode is that it be configured to go to ACPI S3 within 30 minutes of inactivity. If it does not go to S3, then your quoted formulas are almost accurate, except all of the formulas subtract a base amount of memory; a workstation with 32G of RAM must not exceed 10W because the formula is (10 + 0.03 * (RAM - 32 > 0 ? RAM - 32 : 0)). Also, there's another formula for notebooks, and that one takes into account whether there's a dGPU. But all of that is irrelevant because there's also a separate requirement, namely, all computers manufactured >=2019 shall "Comply with Table V-7" which has a yearly maximum power consumption (with base values and very complex "adders").

by mritun 5y ago

nyanpasu64 5y ago

What distinguishes a workstation from a desktop?

HKH2 5y ago
Do I have to call my desktop a funstation now?
- 411111111111111 5y ago
  They're often called Battle-Station. Somehow I feel a fun station to be slightly more naughty, but I guess that's just my mind ;)
- emodendroket 5y ago
  That was where they got "PlayStation."
bufferoverflow 5y ago
I once bought a workstation for a great price, wanted to make a good gaming PC. I discovered that the case didn't fit dedicated GPUs, except the short form factor ones. I ended up cutting some metal bays out with a metal saw to fit my GPU in. Workstations are also often sold with ECC RAM.
ThrowawayR2 5y ago
Usually workstations have a chipset that supports server CPUs and ECC RAM and ordinary desktops don't.
mritun 5y ago
Manufacturer’s classification. 10W or 11W - it’s not a high bar really. If a computer can’t manage to stay below that, it’s ancient.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

gruez 5y ago

>All that the rules say (yes, I read them) is that a workstation with 32G RAM (formula is 10 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB) must not exceed ~ 11W in sleep mode and a desktop with 32G RAM must not exceed 6W in sleep mode (5 + 0.03 * RAM_GiB). That's it? The rules only mandate maximum power consumption for sleep mode? Some comments linked to the actual regulations[1], and they seem to contain tables with per-year maximums per device[2]. Can you comment on this? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27955212 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27955212 [2] https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Link/Document/Blob/Icabb0f7e8dfc11e79567ad00d20c13c4.png?targetType=admin-codes&originationContext=document&vr=3.0&rs=cblt1.0&transitionType=DocumentImage&uniqueId=968c2d00-feda-4a9b-879f-24bbea002e4b&contextData=(sc.Default)&bhcp=1 https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Link/Document/Blob/Icabb0f7...

MetroWind 5y ago
What's the definition of "measured annual energy consumption"?
- jsmith45 5y ago
  It is based on the Energy Star energy consumption criteria. The formula is: 365*24/(1000)*weighted_average_power_consumption (the division appears to be due to using unitless formulas, and wanting a result value in kWH). The weighted average power consumption is based on measured power draw in the following states: "off", "sleep", "Long_idle", and "short_idle". Most desktops under the California rules will use the "conventional" weighting factors of (45%, 5%, 15%, 35%) for the respective power modes in that average. Short idle is basically what you expect. Screen is still on, drives are still spun up. Long Idle allows basic power saving features to have kicked in (like spinning down hard drives), and assumes the screen has gone blank, but that the computer is still in ACPI G0/S0, not in some form of sleep mode.

jfrunyon 5y ago

Huh? That's not even remotely true, go read it again (and not just one of the table images this time). All it requires of sleep mode is that it be configured to go to ACPI S3 within 30 minutes of inactivity. If it does not go to S3, then your quoted formulas are almost accurate, except all of the formulas subtract a base amount of memory; a workstation with 32G of RAM must not exceed 10W because the formula is (10 + 0.03 * (RAM - 32 > 0 ? RAM - 32 : 0)). Also, there's another formula for notebooks, and that one takes into account whether there's a dGPU. But all of that is irrelevant because there's also a separate requirement, namely, all computers manufactured >=2019 shall "Comply with Table V-7" which has a yearly maximum power consumption (with base values and very complex "adders").