Skylake i5-6600 Power Consumption Tests

Another machine with a few different parts but somewhat similar to the previous Skylake power consumption test I did.

System specs: i5-6600, Asus B150M-A, 2x8GB DDR4, 1x240GB Intel 535 SSD, 1xWD Blue 1TB, 1xLiteOn DVD-RW, Antec TPC 550W, Coolermaster Silencio 352. Power measurements were made from the wall (240V AC) with a PowerMate Lite.

Machine State	Consumption (W)	VA	PFC
Off	1.5 W	16.2	0.092
Idle	30 W	45.9	0.65
Prime 95 (Large FFTs, 4 threads)	108 W	115	0.939

The above values are typical. Peak recorded draw was 119.5W. Maximum temperature hit was 80°C. During Prime95 the core frequency fluctuated between 3389 MHz and 3491 MHz.

Not sure why the power usage was so much more than the 6500 system. I guess the combination of faster CPU, different motherboard, extra RAM, fan and SATA drives (even though they were at idle) and warmer "silent" case all contributed to the increase.

Skylake i5 Power Consumption Tests

Put together a new machine today, and ran a quick power consumption test to see what to expect from the total draw.

System specs: i5-6500, Asrock H170M-ITX/ac, 2x4GB DDR4, 1x240GB SSD, Corsair CX-430, Coolermaster Elite 110. Power measurements were made from the wall (240V AC) with a PowerMate Lite.

Machine State	Consumption (W)	VA	PFC
Off	0.75 W	33.5	0.02
Idle	17 W	42	0.4
Prime 95 (Large FFTs, 4 threads)	71 W	86	0.825

In Prime95 the power fluctuated a little, the above entry is a typical value. Peak recorded draw was 73.5W. Maximum temperature hit was 58°C. HwMon recorded individual cores at 3.6GHz, but under Prime95 load they all stuck around 3.3GHz.

You could happily run this machine on a 90-100W power supply. The smallest commonly available PSUs retail tend to bottom out at 350W, which is massive overkill in a system without a dedicated GPU.

_{(Also, the PFC of the CX-430 — ouch!)}

Power Usage from Random Things Around the House

I recently got a PowerMate Lite power meter, which by reputation is an accurate device for measuring power usage. Here are some results from random equipment around the house.

Item	While off	At Idle	Activity
Desktop i5-3470 + GTX 650TI	<1W	52W	125W (gaming); 92W (transcoding media)
Toshiba Satellite Pro A300 (laptop)	-	26W	35W (minecraft)
Samsung NP350VSC (laptop)	0.7W	15W	33W (minecraft)
Nexus 7 Tablet charger	0.1W (nothing plugged into charger cable)	5.3–7W (screen off); 9W (screen on)	-
HTPC (G1620 + GT 610)	<1W	56W (peak at boot); 41W idle	42W (video playback)
Remington DC1800D (1800W hairdryer)	0.05W	-	1700W
CubieTruck	-	7W (peak at boot); 3W idle	4–4.5W (playing video)
House lamp (Osram Energy Saving 13W Globe)	0W	-	12.95–13.05W (small fluctuations)
House lamp (Mirabella 28W Halogen)	0W	-	32.0–32.1W (small fluctuations)