Carbon Free Computing from VIA
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.28.06
After an earlier post on low-power computing, MH commented: "I read a report a while back that 80% of the lifetime energy of a PC is in the manufacturing. If that is the case, it is more important that the chip is manufactured efficiently than running efficiently." A good point, which we were reminded of when we learned of Via's new carbon-free program. Intel and AMD get all the press, but VIA has been plugging away building efficient chips and fan-free ITX circuit boards for quite a few years. They are not the fastest chips on the block, but their new 2 GhZ chip will do what anyone other than gamers or animators might need, sucks only 20 watts, and that is only the start- They have a list of eco-initiatives that should make them dear to any treehugger's heart.
These include:
Carbon-Free Computing: Via has calculated the electrical load over the lifetime of the chip and is buying offsets for the whole thing, investing in Reforestation, Alternative Energy and conservation.
Clean Computing: "VIA Technologies, Inc. is striving for environmentally friendly computing with the use of non-hazardous materials in the production of its market leading chipsets, processors, and full range of companion chips.....In traditional manufacturing processes, lead is used in the bump that attaches the silicon core to the inside of the package and to facilitate integration onto the motherboard through tiny solder balls on the underside of the package. VIA's lead-free manufacturing technologies do not require a lead bump and the solder balls now consist of a Tin, Silver and Copper composite."
Energy Efficient Computing"VIA heralded a new era in power-efficient computing through the introduction of the VIA C7-M and VIA C7 processors that have a maximum power consumption of 20W at 2.0GHz with average power consumption of just 1W, and deliver uncompromised performance in productivity applications."
Quiet ComputingWe love this- fan noise drives us nuts. "VIA's highly efficient processor platforms target the issue of PC noise at the source because they require minimal noisy forced air-cooling and can result in quieter overall PC systems especially when combined with smaller, quieter power supplies."
Solar Computing- "Increasingly governments and NGOs are looking towards alternate energy sources to power computers that enable communication and connectivity in emerging market regions where electricity supply is either not available or unreliable. However, many organizations have found that the amount of power consumed during normal PC use is too great to enable operation through alternate energy sources. VIA, through its energy-efficient processor platforms that help to reduce power consumption by over four times, is taking a leadership role to make possible complete computing solutions that are powered solely by solar energy."
We have not paid much attention to Via chips because they are harder to find and historically were less powerful than the big guys. After learning about their clean computing initiatives, we will look for them in our next computer. We bet Mac's could run on them too. ::Via Technologies
I came across Via while looking into carPCs a couple of years ago (...don't worry, I don't even have a car now...) and they were very popular because for that application you want to run the PC with the engine off for as long as possible whilst still being able to start the engine.
That got me into realising that you don't need ever more energy hungry PCs. A lot of the guys into that were actually underclocking! It's great to see that Via are looking not just at their end product but their manufacturing as well. Perhaps they realise that the solar-computing market could be much bigger than the carPC market!
And perhaps it could focus consumers on their actual computing need, instead of perpetuating the GHz wars just to keep up with the Joneses...
Aside: I get my VIA EPIA boards locally, but for the low-power peripherals and power supplies I've been ordering from Logic Supply. They carry things like the PicoPSU 60W DC-DC Power Converter and very low power (albeit smaller size) LCD Panels.
Very Impressive! An excellent post!
My Dell is a power hog and sounds like vacuum cleaner. I'm sick of the noise, the huge size and incredibly ugly box.
My computer has been nothing but grief for some time now so I am looking to replace it with something small. low power and quiet. Via is worth looking into!
I was also looking at the Mac Mini for it's silence, low current draw and compact good looks. It's pretty sweet but I'm used to using PCs, so the Via is checking into.
I'm sorry to say, but these chips will never run on Macs. They just overhauled their entire lineup (forcing every software developer to overhaul as well) to intel chips. Apple would go out of business if they switched chips again anytime in the near future.
these are all x86 processors so no change on apple's part would be needed... just drivers from via for the motherboard.
Josh is right: any kind of x86 (intel, AMD, Via etc) chip could easily be made to run on a Mac, if Apple desired to do so.
And the new "Universal" Mac software will run on the x86 as well as the previous PowerPC platform. Pretty cool.
With the addition of the 1.8GHz C7-D processor, Via is nearly in the realm of being useful in non-specialty situations - but isn't quite there.
I'm just getting to the point of pondering the replacement of the 2.4GHz deskptop PC I built in 2002. I would love to spend my money with Via and buy peace of mind with my replacement processor and motherboard - but not at half the speed and all the price of the competition.
Even though it's not a viable platform for anything I need at the moment, I applaud Via for stepping up and being the first processor manufacturer to really care (or pretend to care).
Great post. Interesting stuff, and I think that the point that "this chip will do what most people want except for gamers, etc" is very important.
CPUs are getting to be like car engines, there's a pointless horsepower race going on.
Has anyone seen the C7-D 1.8ghz processor for sale anywhere yet? Just wondering if anyone knew of any suppliers who can get this new cpu yet (US or otherwise).
Anonymous: While many people consider the increase of speed and performace as a pointless horsepower race, it isn't necessarily so.
Plenty of people need more powerful computers to keep pace with the increasing demands of their jobs or entertainment.
Right now, I am running MS Outlook, Excel, Word, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, Firefox, Enigma (running a few web-based applications), a java-based Oracle environment, Winamp, and Google talk. I'm also browsing several multi-gigabyte image directories on the network. Soon I may be editng HD video. Running all of these applications concurrently (and spanning three displays) takes quite a bit of horsepower. The less time I spend waiting on my machine, the less time I have to spend waiting to work. That's a good thing.
When I upgrade my machines, I don't want to reduce performace. And yet, I don't game very much anymore.
Adding more and more horsepower to my mother's computer doesn't make sense, she simply browses the web and sends a few dozen emails per year. But just because it doesn't make sense for her, or you, does not make performance increases pointless and wasteful.
Who gets to draw the line between useful and egregrious? Would that person get to tell me that I would be better off using a my old 286 PC?
This doesn't mean that there is no place for greener processors and other computer components - it just means that it doesn't make sense for everyone until price and performance nears that of it's conventional (non-green) competitors.
Nonetheless, a Via powered PC would be great for someone with relatively light computing needs.
Brilliant ideia! I hope the other manufactors take the same initiative up. I've always tought that there is too much energy been underused by "typewriters" utilizing a P4 or such. I wonder, how much CO2 one single chip emmits.
Thanks for looking into this further for me. I like what they are doing with the low wattage chips and the clean computing.
But, there is no information here about how much energy it takes to actually make their chips. Their carbon free computing just offsets the carbon used to provide the electricity to run the chips, not to produce them. I would assume with their attention to other green issues that they manufacture their chips in a way that is less energy intensive than AMD or Intel, but their is nothing on their site that actually shows that.
If you are able to find any lifetime energy usage studies for PCs or chips that includes the manufacturing of them, I would love to see it.
LA: I knew you would say that- this didn't really answer your questiion but I thought it interesting.