HP Blackbird 002: Back in Black
by Jarred Walton on September 12, 2007 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Power Requirements
So just how much power does this system require when in use? There's obviously a reason power supply companies are releasing 1000W and larger designs. Not everyone needs that much power for a personal computer, but the peak power draw of the Blackbird 002 is easily enough to cause many 700W power supplies to fail.
We have summarized the power requirements in the following table. Idle power was measured with the system sitting at the desktop after being inactive for at least 10 minutes with the screensaver disabled. 100% CPU load was achieved by running Folding@Home SMP. Roughly the same power readings were recorded when running Cinebench R10, although Cinebench tended to show larger fluctuation than Folding@Home. For the gaming test, we wanted to make sure we were using a title that could make good use of the CrossFire graphics cards, so we selected S.T.A.L.K.E.R. We found an area with a lot of anomalies that tended to generate a higher power draw than average, although very likely there are other games that would require even more power. Finally, for our true torture test we load up both Folding@Home SMP as well as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
As we hinted in the introduction, even at idle this system requires quite a bit of power. 370W is more than many personal computers use even in worst-case conditions. It brings back fond memories of NetBurst.... Once you start to push harder by running CPU/GPU intensive applications, things get even uglier. Our peak power usage is roughly twice what we measured at idle, and without a well ventilated office (preferably with air-conditioning) having this system running in your house can certainly result in uncomfortably warm temperatures. On the other hand, winter is just around the corner, so in another few months we might appreciate having a system like this near our feet a bit more.
As a final comment, quad-core processors are already known for requiring a lot of power. HP runs the CPU at 1.5875V, and that combined with the higher clock frequency means that the CPU is probably using nearly 200W all on its own. Overclocks like this definitely aren't going to be achievable with stock cooling, and even with some of the best air coolers you will still want to make sure you have a well ventilated case.
So just how much power does this system require when in use? There's obviously a reason power supply companies are releasing 1000W and larger designs. Not everyone needs that much power for a personal computer, but the peak power draw of the Blackbird 002 is easily enough to cause many 700W power supplies to fail.
We have summarized the power requirements in the following table. Idle power was measured with the system sitting at the desktop after being inactive for at least 10 minutes with the screensaver disabled. 100% CPU load was achieved by running Folding@Home SMP. Roughly the same power readings were recorded when running Cinebench R10, although Cinebench tended to show larger fluctuation than Folding@Home. For the gaming test, we wanted to make sure we were using a title that could make good use of the CrossFire graphics cards, so we selected S.T.A.L.K.E.R. We found an area with a lot of anomalies that tended to generate a higher power draw than average, although very likely there are other games that would require even more power. Finally, for our true torture test we load up both Folding@Home SMP as well as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
| Power Draw Performance Comparison | |||
| HP Blackbird 002 | HP Blackbird "Q6650" | %Increase from Overclock |
|
| Idle Power | 370 | 317 | 16.72% |
| 100% CPU | 489 | 375 | 30.40% |
| Gaming (STALKER) | 661 | 564 | 17.20% |
| 100% CPU+GPU | 740 | 608 | 21.71% |
As we hinted in the introduction, even at idle this system requires quite a bit of power. 370W is more than many personal computers use even in worst-case conditions. It brings back fond memories of NetBurst.... Once you start to push harder by running CPU/GPU intensive applications, things get even uglier. Our peak power usage is roughly twice what we measured at idle, and without a well ventilated office (preferably with air-conditioning) having this system running in your house can certainly result in uncomfortably warm temperatures. On the other hand, winter is just around the corner, so in another few months we might appreciate having a system like this near our feet a bit more.
As a final comment, quad-core processors are already known for requiring a lot of power. HP runs the CPU at 1.5875V, and that combined with the higher clock frequency means that the CPU is probably using nearly 200W all on its own. Overclocks like this definitely aren't going to be achievable with stock cooling, and even with some of the best air coolers you will still want to make sure you have a well ventilated case.
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0roo0roo - Sunday, September 16, 2007 - link
"eh, different strokes for different folks. falcon is more of the old type of boutique of mostly standard store bought items tweaked a bit that simply can't compete with this level of craftsmanship. the new case with its quality is quite nice, no shaving off metal thickness to save money there! just solid sweet aluminum. theres no way you could design a case like that yourself easily, let alone for that price. you'll just end up with a standard pc, save a little money but it won't match what hp is selling.
not all bad, if some brat tries to steal it they'll probably get a hernia while trying to run away lol:) as for the price, boutique computers cost a lot, just check out voodoopc or any other, they are high end stuff for people that want a high end pc that is top of the line and comes with tech support. not everyone enjoys the hassel of ordering 15 boxes of components through the mail then trying to slap it together and hope you don't have to rma anything.