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Lowering power consumption on Opteron (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 days ago by grue@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I have a Proxmox server running two Opteron 6272 CPUs on an Asus KGPE-D16 (chosen because it was the fastest computer that supported Libreboot, although I haven't gotten around to installing it). Using normal BIOS settings, it's drawing just under 100W at idle, measured via smart plug reported in Home Assistant. With aggressive efficiency settings (PowerCap to P-state 4 and disabling CPU 2 entirely) it idles at 70W. It's a server, not a gaming PC, so it doesn't appear to have any options for underclocking or adjusting voltage.

Anybody know of any other ways (maybe software-based) to get the power draw down further?

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[-] tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 2 points 4 days ago

What other hardware does it have? HDDs draw a lot, GPU of course, but also each active network interface etc.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

It has an HBA, 3 hard drives, and 3 SSDs. I was going to add a couple more hard drives (just to try to get some more use out of old ones I had lying around), but 0.5TB ones might not have enough capacity to be worth their power draw.

[-] tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 2 points 4 days ago

If you don't mind the downtime, I'd turn it off, disconnect hba and all but the boot disk and boot up to see how much power they take. HBA can take a lot. You could also consider spinning down your HDD if they don't need them that often

[-] poVoq@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 days ago

Small 2.5" HDDs are quite power efficient, but yes 500mb is kind of the limit where I also start questioning it it is worth to run them.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

My drives are 3.5" 💀

[-] Moonrise2473@feddit.it 1 points 4 days ago

my HBA takes 20W at idle

this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
21 points (100.0% liked)

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