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How energy-efficient are old Amigas? I get the appeal of "limited computing" because it forces you to be smart about using the resources. But it becomes silly w

How energy-efficient are old Amigas? I get the appeal of "limited computing" because it forces you to be smart about using the resources. But it becomes silly when an Amiga and crt draws more power than a modern server.

mark_round 3y ago
I have mine connected to a modern flat-panel display as I use an Indivision adapter, and there are other solutions which is fortunate as CRTs are getting very rare (and fragile!) now. Would still love one for the retro appeal, but I just can't justify it! The power draw from the base system is pretty small, I just checked the power meter my A1200 is plugged into, and powering it on jumped the draw from around 1.6A at 240V to around 1.77A.
_ea1k 3y ago
I bet it'd be rare to see more than 150W. Maybe not efficient compared to a modern laptop, but probably very efficient compared to most modern servers or desktops under load. Of course, a CRT is much worse, but using an LCD shouldn't be difficult.
- BearhatBeer 3y ago
  CRTs don't use tons of power, biggest draw is right when you turn it on. After that they sip.
daneel_w 3y ago
My A1200 power supply (Commodore original) is rated for a maximum consumption of 35 watts, which includes headroom for putting both an accelerator board with CPU+FPU+RAM and a 2.5" HDD inside the computer.
vidarh 3y ago
Given most of them didn't have or need fans, I'd imagine they'd come out ok if you only ditch the CRT.
robinsonb5 3y ago
Efficient is the wrong word here, because the amount of computing work they can do for a given amount of electrical energy is pretty tiny compared with anything modern. They're pretty light in terms of energy usage though, and because of the elegant simplicity of the system you don't notice how underpowered they are until you ask them to do something CPU intensive. (Think several minutes to draw fractals that even 20-year-old PCs can draw in realtime.)
snvzz 3y ago
A1200 with 68030 accel board draws some 15w, measured. In contrast, my Ryzen 5800x3d based PC idles at 70w.

mark_round 3y ago

I have mine connected to a modern flat-panel display as I use an Indivision adapter, and there are other solutions which is fortunate as CRTs are getting very rare (and fragile!) now. Would still love one for the retro appeal, but I just can't justify it! The power draw from the base system is pretty small, I just checked the power meter my A1200 is plugged into, and powering it on jumped the draw from around 1.6A at 240V to around 1.77A.

_ea1k 3y ago

I bet it'd be rare to see more than 150W. Maybe not efficient compared to a modern laptop, but probably very efficient compared to most modern servers or desktops under load. Of course, a CRT is much worse, but using an LCD shouldn't be difficult.

BearhatBeer 3y ago
CRTs don't use tons of power, biggest draw is right when you turn it on. After that they sip.

daneel_w 3y ago

My A1200 power supply (Commodore original) is rated for a maximum consumption of 35 watts, which includes headroom for putting both an accelerator board with CPU+FPU+RAM and a 2.5" HDD inside the computer.

vidarh 3y ago

Given most of them didn't have or need fans, I'd imagine they'd come out ok if you only ditch the CRT.

robinsonb5 3y ago

Efficient is the wrong word here, because the amount of computing work they can do for a given amount of electrical energy is pretty tiny compared with anything modern. They're pretty light in terms of energy usage though, and because of the elegant simplicity of the system you don't notice how underpowered they are until you ask them to do something CPU intensive. (Think several minutes to draw fractals that even 20-year-old PCs can draw in realtime.)

snvzz 3y ago

A1200 with 68030 accel board draws some 15w, measured. In contrast, my Ryzen 5800x3d based PC idles at 70w.