Need advice about my future low power small server

[The_MaTy]

Hello LTT Forum,
 

I was wondering if there is any way that I can build low power system, that would be running only VM, containers.

I would like to use i5 8600K (Once ZEN 4 will be out, I am planning to buy a new Ryzen, so this processor will not be in use anymore. I have no idea how to make this processor a low power one. I read about underclocking and undervolting but I am afraid of doing this and I would appreciate any help with this.
What would be minimal power draw of this system? I would love to see it under 20w, but I have no idea if is this possible.

Thank you in advance for the future advices

[Electronics Wizardy]

The CPU will go to very low power states when its not under load, so under 20w idle should be doable assuming there is isn't to many other parts in the system.

 

Whats the rest of the build? Things like hdds and high end boards like to use more power. 

[The_MaTy]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The CPU will go to very low power states when its not under load, so under 20w idle should be doable assuming there is isn't to many other parts in the system.

 

Whats the rest of the build? Things like hdds and high end boards like to use more power. 

planning only to use one or two m.2 ssds

[Electronics Wizardy]

6 minutes ago, The_MaTy said:

planning only to use one or two m.2 ssds

Then you should be able to hit 20w esaily. Id keep clocks stock, make sure all the power saving modes are on. You can try undervolting, but it probably wnt' save too much power.

[The_MaTy]

10 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Then you should be able to hit 20w esaily. Id keep clocks stock, make sure all the power saving modes are on. You can try undervolting, but it probably wnt' save too much power.

so underclocking would not help to reduce power draw?

[Somerandomtechyboi]

You wanna set a static freq at cpu efficiency peak so test the highest freq you can get stable at 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3v vcore just to identify the diminishing returns zone, itll most likely be between 1.2-1.3v, you wanna run the cpu as fast as possible just below the diminishing returns zone

 

And no you wont "damage" your cpu unless you set 2v vcore or something stupid like that, and intel 14nm spec is 1.52v anyways

[Electronics Wizardy]

10 minutes ago, The_MaTy said:

so underclocking would not help to reduce power draw?

Probably not much, as the cpu will already underclock and turn off cores when the load is low. But you can test how much you can save by looking at the cpus reported power usage.