Maingear Touts New Rig As "Planet's Greenest Gaming PC"

Maingear has just unveiled what they are calling the "planet's greenest gaming PC." Built using a small form factor and coming with Intel's new Ion graphics as the default option, this little powerhouse is built with a definite eye toward energy consumption. "Said configuration is available with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs and an 80+ certified 300-watt power supply; those who care more about frame rates than Ma Earth can opt for a GeForce 9800 GT ECO, which — despite being a discrete, power-hungry GPU — still swallows some 40 percent less power than a standard 9800 GT. You'll also find WiFi support, room for an optional Blu-ray drive and TV tuner, upwards of 8GB of RAM and room for a single 2.5-inch HDD or SSD. The whole box checks in at just 7.6- x 8.3- x 11.4-inches, and it's available for order right now starting at $799."

Re:The only green move

[conspirator57]

and if you do, keep your current machine as long as possible. the manufacturing process is the most ecologically unfriendly aspect of computer manufacture, followed by landfill at end of life. and when you do finally replace your machine, try to replace components. your case is still good and there's usually no need to demand a new one be made for you. and when you replace components, try to recycle them. even in bfe rural virginia my county accepts electronics for recycling. chances are good that your municipality does too. if not, then many big box stores are starting to as well.

Re:Next up, world's most efficient sports car

[the_humeister]

Tesla... [teslamotors.com]

300 Watts is green?

[Yvan256]

Then what the hell is the Mac mini [apple.com] at only 110W?

Sure, it's not a "gaming PC" but it does have a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and the nVidia 9400M is about the same as Ion graphics too, not to mention that the Mac mini is smaller and cheaper. And yes, you can install Windows on it if you want.

So what's special about that not-so-small Maingear "green" PC again?

Re:Green Trends

[PitaBred]

You don't get out much, do you? There are watches out there that use no electricity [wikipedia.org]. In fact, they were some of the first time-keeping devices that weren't dependent on a sunny day. There are flashlights that you just shake or crank to charge, they use capacitors instead of batteries and LED's for illumination because they use energy so much more efficiently. They're usually billed as emergency flashlights if you want to buy one. A water heater that doesn't require massive resistance coils to heat up water? Gas heaters are quite common, and if you live in a sunny enough place you can use solar heat to boost your water heater [wa.gov.au]. That's been around since, well, forever. Hell, they sell black bags you can fill with water and hang in the sun so you can take a hot shower while camping. And for alternative cooking methods, again, gas. Quite common in many places, and preferred by chefs for more even, controllable heat.