PCs are TOO Powerful… and it’s a problem

[Plouffe]

Who's afraid of the CEC? We did some digging to figure out just who or what will be affected by the new California Energy Commission's regulations and built an energy compliant PC to show you that it's nothing to fear. Or... is it?

 

Buy Intel Core i9-11900K CPU
On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/RRhT8c
On Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/af8Q9vO
On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/eAll

 

Buy G.Skill Trident Z Royal Gold 16GB (2x8GB) Kit 
On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/lsXd
On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/YFnMTtn

 

Buy GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Master
On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/vGF1j73
On Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/BfrHDEQ
On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/wzFtv9

 

Buy MSI MPG CORELIQUID K360 CPU Cooler
On Amazon (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/bZC8
On Best Buy (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/OB7DUv8
On Newegg (PAID LINK): https://geni.us/AXkrCy

 

Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

 

 

 

[Red :)]

link borked

[WhitetailAni]

Quote

Buy Intel Core i9-11900K CPU

Why an 11900K? It's probably the most power-hungry consumer CPU in existence right now.

That's the opposite of conserving power.

 

EDIT: LTT didn't build it, Digital Storm did.

Still a silly choice though.

[Plouffe]

Fixed! Sorry about that.

[Red :)]

1 minute ago, FakeKGB said:

Why an 11900K? It's probably the most power-hungry consumer CPU in existence right now.

That's the opposite of conserving power.

there should be a note added to this that this was written before the video link got fixed

[lightnb]

Step One: Implement a regulation that doesn't really have any direct effect, but establishes the precedent that they can regulate it.

 

Step Two: Once people accept that a thing can be regulated and cede that right to some commission, then the commission begins increasing the restrictions.

 

[Guest theATF]

Just made an account to comment on this video....
I think the PC enthusiast community as a whole should approach this with a high level of skepticism and push back.

Especially since introduction & expansion of regulation like this might have some unintended consequences like:

- Increased costs to ensure compliance with what appears to be a somewhat complex rating system for organizations making custom builds, with those costs passed on to the consumer

- Negative impact on the environment, where 'older' hardware that might still be usable and go on being used could lean towards being discontinued early or 'recycled' (something like Apple and 'faulty' motherboards)

- Bad precedent, by implanting the idea that the government can / should regulate what parts can go in your PC (I know it is not aimed at boutique or DIY builds, but that could always come later).
Will be interesting to see if big manufacturers will start employing the standard everywhere to save on having different processes per state.

[poochyena]

37 minutes ago, lightnb said:

Step Two: Once people accept that a thing can be regulated

bruh, nearly everything has been regulated for as long as we've had governments

23 minutes ago, theATF said:

- Increased costs to ensure compliance with what appears to be a somewhat complex rating system for organizations making custom builds, with those costs passed on to the consumer

not a bad thing

24 minutes ago, theATF said:

- Negative impact on the environment, where 'older' hardware that might still be usable and go on being used could lean towards being discontinued early or 'recycled' (something like Apple and 'faulty' motherboards)

The regulation applies to new computers, not old ones

24 minutes ago, theATF said:

- Bad precedent, by implanting the idea that the government can / should regulate what parts can go in your PC (I know it is not aimed at boutique or DIY builds, but that could always come later).

nearly everything has been regulated for as long as we've had governments, so this comment makes absolutely no sense.

[MultiGamerClub]

Interesting video.. Seeing that badonkadonk EK pc.. jesus..

[Nystemy]

This regulation is mainly aiming at smaller workstations, thin clients, and other similar devices that sits around idling all day long every day... And to be fair, there is literally millions of such PCs everywhere, they exist in offices all over.

 

And to be fair, to a degree, most DIY builds would fairly easily pass the score regardless, not that DIY computers are covered to start with.

 

I myself think that it is a somewhat decent approach. But it could have been a bit better to be fair.

And to be honest, there is literally tons of other products that is targeted as well by this regulations, PCs isn't the main target by far, it is just one on a long list of places where power wasting can be reduced.

 

All though, the "Expandability Score" is both logical, but also seems like a potential issue too... Though, I wouldn't mind seeing prebuilds with better expandability to be fair, would keep them running for a good bit longer.

 

Thanks for making this video clear, concise, and actually easy to follow. Hopefully people will watch more than just the first 5 seconds of it. Or just give up by the time the intro starts rolling.

[Luscious]

Let's talk about the real elephant in the room here - power theft. How else do you explain the existence of mining farms being set up in places like barns and other agricultural locations where PC's are simply out of place, out of sight, and beyond the reach of any code enforcement inspection. Even warehouses in dense industrial zones where high voltage lines are everywhere are a prime candidate for this kind of thing to occur, more so if the "amount" goes completely unnoticed.

 

In California in particular though, we also have illegal grow farms popping up all over the place. These don't just take electricity to run but dip into the water supply as well, which everybody knows is already at historic lows in the region. Never mind they can be a serious fire risk and many have lit up taking buildings down. Legalizing the use of weed is one thing, but doing that without first setting restrictions on who and how can GROW the damn thing gets thrown out the window. This here is a great example of the utter stupidity and lack of sight today's lawmakers have - the same lawmakers who are blinded by $$$.

 

The water supply issues could be fixed with desalinization plants set up along the coast and tied into water lines including the aqueduct. A more ambitious project would be to set up lines to DIVERT water from flood prone rivers to regions where water is scarce. Yeah, you could TRUCK water from a coastal desal plant up to some empty reservoir in the interim too, but then you have emissions concerns, traffic congestion and the fact that it would take a constant 24/7 flow of trucks for many months to make even a dent in the water level at some places. A pipeline can move water much quicker and in much higher volume, and with solar/wind installs in place to power the pumps required, could be done with current tech.

 

Finally, let's talk solar. Many homes already have it, and home owners that don't need to WAKE UP!!! Good quality PV panels can last 20 years and when kept clean will maintain their efficiency well. So many people forget to clean their roof panels and think solar is a ripoff after 2-3 years - just get into an abandoned car that's been parked on the street for 6 months and try looking out the windshield. Yeah, it's like that. Even a modest 5kW setup can help offset the power requirements of a DIY rig, especially if you need a quad GPU behemoth or run things like a HTPC, home server, streaming rig or just have 2-3 PC's in the home. More powerful 20+kW installs that cover the entire roof or use adjacent structures will have no issues powering an entire home, more so if you include batteries to store excess energy. At that point, going completely OFF GRID would take you out of the supply strain and free up electricity. Being energy independent will be HUGE in the future.

 

Does the building where LMG reside have solar on the roof??? If not you guys might want to discuss this with the property owner and power utility if it is possible. It's one thing to talk about change, and another when you go make it happen!

[TechGod]

I’m shocked by people STILL fear mongering about this in these comments.  

[JacksonpYT]

Do these new regulations only apply to prebuilt's, or can I still build a computer that will destroy the environment(Hypothetical)? Also to which states does it apply to(nevermind decided to finish the vid )

[tkitch]

3 hours ago, JacksonpYT said:

Do these new regulations only apply to prebuilt's, or can I still build a computer that will destroy the environment(Hypothetical)? Also to which states does it apply to(nevermind decided to finish the vid )

finish the vid?  It listed the states pretty damned early.

 

ANyways:  one thing that IS getting hit is monitors:
 

 

GSync monitors have a phantom 15W draw when asleep, for no apparent reason?  That shit will add up.  It's things like this they're killing.

[Dragonwinged]

This is actually on par with California law. A whole lot of loopholes that make things more complicated, and in the end will only hurt consumers and average people. Remeber these are the same legislators that created a study just to find out that literally everything has a chance to cause cancer. Whoever actually doesn't buy stuff because california put their "might cause Cancer" label on it probably is too scared of mortality to live their life.

 

I'd like to reply to a few things Luscious said. I agree that we should culturally move towards energy independence at a household level. The result would be tearing down and reclaiming all of this long powerlines and towers to hold them up. However, Solar power can't run a household consistently. Other than solar, all other generators usually run by turning a wheel. This includes your car engines, as well as wind energy, and mostly burning fuel to boil water to create hot steam updrafts that turn wheels, hence the phrase "energy is just a bunch of scientists arguing what's the best way to boil water."  Coal, oil, natural gas, trash furnace, geothermal, and even nuclear energy are all sources that simply boil water to produce energy.  I'm actually going to request peter janicki if his omniprocessor could be shrunken down to a size that could be used to power a single household. You can build a diy steam generator at home right now, just be aware of all the delicate and dangerous components you're working with. Plus it would be a good way to get rid of your paper trash if you have a lot of that.

 

As for the water issues California has, here's a fun fact I learned. California dumps trillions of gallons of fresh water into the ocean eveey year to maybe save an endangered fish called the Smelt, which has trouble swimming. I said "Maybe" because the activist groups have admitted that maybe their drop in numbers might be because of their natural predators, who likely can swim far better than they can. So your water shortage is 100% artificial, due to poor policy.

 

[poochyena]

36 minutes ago, Dragonwinged said:

Whoever actually doesn't buy stuff because california put their "might cause Cancer" label on it probably is too scared of mortality to live their life.

really? I've stopped buying a product because of that label. Sorry I don't want to drink something mixed with lead? Promoting ignorance is just evil. People should have a right to know whats in the products they buy and the potential dangers it can cause.

 

48 minutes ago, Dragonwinged said:

So your water shortage is 100% artificial, due to poor policy.

you won't find a single unbias news source that will say their water issues is due to endangered fish protections.

[Stahlmann]

So what i can tell from the information in the video: The regulation basically complicates things by a whole lot without really accomplishing lower power consumtion overall?

[TechGod]

5 hours ago, Dragonwinged said:

This is actually on par with California law. A whole lot of loopholes that make things more complicated, and in the end will only hurt consumers and average people. Remeber these are the same legislators that created a study just to find out that literally everything has a chance to cause cancer. Whoever actually doesn't buy stuff because california put their "might cause Cancer" label on it probably is too scared of mortality to live their life.

 

I'd like to reply to a few things Luscious said. I agree that we should culturally move towards energy independence at a household level. The result would be tearing down and reclaiming all of this long powerlines and towers to hold them up. However, Solar power can't run a household consistently. Other than solar, all other generators usually run by turning a wheel. This includes your car engines, as well as wind energy, and mostly burning fuel to boil water to create hot steam updrafts that turn wheels, hence the phrase "energy is just a bunch of scientists arguing what's the best way to boil water."  Coal, oil, natural gas, trash furnace, geothermal, and even nuclear energy are all sources that simply boil water to produce energy.  I'm actually going to request peter janicki if his omniprocessor could be shrunken down to a size that could be used to power a single household. You can build a diy steam generator at home right now, just be aware of all the delicate and dangerous components you're working with. Plus it would be a good way to get rid of your paper trash if you have a lot of that.

 

As for the water issues California has, here's a fun fact I learned. California dumps trillions of gallons of fresh water into the ocean eveey year to maybe save an endangered fish called the Smelt, which has trouble swimming. I said "Maybe" because the activist groups have admitted that maybe their drop in numbers might be because of their natural predators, who likely can swim far better than they can. So your water shortage is 100% artificial, due to poor policy.

 

This sounds like an incredibly deranged rant. 

[rom4ster]

No one really cares about PCs, do monitors. 

[MultiGamerClub]

Until norway inputs restrictions on mining rigs.. or my pc idling at 68w.. Hopefully it never happens.

[Blademaster91]

On 8/18/2021 at 12:48 PM, poochyena said:

not a bad thing

How are higher costs for the consumer a good thing?

On 8/18/2021 at 12:48 PM, poochyena said:

nearly everything has been regulated for as long as we've had governments, so this comment makes absolutely no sense.

The government shouldn't be preventing you from buying a gaming PC or a high refresh rate monitor, regulations like these are a slippery slope towards something even worse, like governments could put a "gaming PC" tax on any powerful PC or component.

[poochyena]

2 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

How are higher costs for the consumer a good thing?

encourages people to buy less, leading to less waste. Slower PC upgrade cycles are better for the environment.

4 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

The government shouldn't be preventing you from buying a gaming PC or a high refresh rate monitor

They aren't. You can buy a gaming PC right now.

5 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

regulations like these are a slippery slope towards something even worse, like governments could put a "gaming PC" tax on any powerful PC or component.

They could have done that 20 years ago too. How is this a "slippery slope"? Slippery slope is when one thing can lead to another. These new power regulations don't do anything to lead to gaming PC tax.

[Daethz]

It's hard not to get political on this topic.

But overregulation is a real problem. This set of regulations seems rather ridiculous and seems to hurt budget pc buyers the most without actually doing much of anything to "fix" the "problem".

They'd be better off banning lightning ports and forcing the entire industry to adopt usbc first to prevent landfill trash.

Also any usb that's below 15w charging should also get banned in my opinion, saving a dollar on manufacturing to create billions of pounds of cheap usb cables... hmm..

 

But if they are seriously targeting consumers with regulations because they cant or don't want to improve the electricity grid, they are doing governing wrong.

[Daethz]

10 minutes ago, The Unknown Voice said:

Like leaving the highway lights on 24/7 for months....Current draw during the day.

 

This would be the perfect opportunity for them to add little solar panels on top of every single street light in the entire country