Hi All,
The powers that be don’t realize that there is no difference between an gaming PC and the computers we need to do design and CAD. This may affect us all.
A much more nuanced discussion of this issue here:
My take on it: Miners scapegoated gamers–because they can’t get the last few GPUs.
Anybody know how much CGI contributes to the California economy? - Oh wait that’ll mostly be rackmounts. Don’t you run a rack, Brenda? You’ll be OK.
I found this post while getting on here to check the holomark scores because I just built a new rig after waiting over a year to get a new rtx card! Not only was it hard to find the parts that I wanted, the prices have gone up across the board. I picked up the same RAM about a year and a half ago for $100 on newegg and they were going for $150 (on sale!). The mobo (B550) costs the same as the higher tier’s MSRP (x570). I read there’s going to be a shortage in storage (SSD’s) so it might be wise to buy one (or more) and keep them on hand while the prices haven’t skyrocketed yet. There’s a sale running for a 1TB Samsung 980 (pcie 3.0) for $109 on Amazon/Newegg/BestBuy.
specs:
ryzen 5800x
32gb ram @3600mhz
b550-i (itx)
rtx 3060 (evga)
samsung nvme 980 (OS) + sata SSDs for storage
A good video report on the not-so-new regulations of PC energy consumption.“Banned” Gaming PC Misinformation & Irresponsible Reporting (CEC PSU Energy Requirements) - YouTube
"The latest PC gaming controversy stemmed from a misrepresentation or misinterpretation of power efficiency requirements for some systems. "
“The recently enacted CEC energy efficiency requirements apply to a few states (although we’re still waiting to see how 5 of them adopt it), and the headlines were about “gaming PCs” getting “banned” just for having high power consumption. That’s not accurate. In this video, we’ll explain 2% load CEC requirements, short-term idle and long-term idle requirements, the loopholes in the laws that OEMs will probably abuse, and give you more of a level-headed look at how it all works. We’ll also talk about DIY gaming PCs vs. pre-built gaming PC requirements, PSU requirements as a whole, and who this impacts.”
Sounds like a super cool sff system! I’m building one too right now - what case are you using?
NZXT H210 - White model. It fits a standard sized air cooler. I’m using the Noctua NH-U12S. However, the top fan on the case didn’t fit a standard 120mm x 25mm so I bought a Noctua 120mm x 15mm thick fan instead. The temps were fine without a top case fan so I could have done without but I need an excuse to buy another Noctua fan haha.
BTW, the NVME SSD I mentioned above (Samsung 980) has an additional %15 off on Newegg so the deal just got sweeter. I grabbed another 500GB drive to keep one in stock.
Ha! I could have sent you my spare Noctua 15mm fan. Your build sounds great! This is the current state of mine:
I have a SFFTime P-ATX V2 case (in white) literally in the mail, somewhere between here and Croatia. Mobo is a Gigabyte X570S Aero G, running a Ryzen 9 3900X. GPU is a Zotac 3070. I’m putting together a sorta franken-cooler - the pump is CoolerMaster, the radiator is XSPC, the fan is currently also CoolerMaster, but I have a feeling once I take pics of the final build I’ll swap it out for the Noctua NF-A12X25 I have waiting in the wings just in case. I’m going to be undervolting the CPU, so I’m not too worried about temps, but just in case… I’ve been prioritizing low noise over raw power on this build - the mobo is passively cooled, and all my components have a zero fan mode. I’ve been keeping tabs on the Samsung NVME’s too - I have a 500 gig one already, but looking to get a 1 or 2 TB eventually.
You’re a true DIY’er. I would never dare to hack a liquid cooler together. That’s a nice case! I had my eyes on a Skyreach mini when I wanted to build my first SFF build but the DC-DC PSU requirement drove me away from it. I ended up getting a Cougar QBX case. When that PC upgrade is due, I’m going to get the Cooler Master NR200 instead. BTW, I’m loving your all white build. Here are pics of mine. This new PC replaced an ATX one so now that I’ve got some more vertical space, I’m going to add another IKEA LACK table on top.
Steve puts me to sleep. Jay sums it up and cracks some jokes while he’s at it 
All credit (or blame!) for the white color scheme goes to the Great GPU Shortage! Took me so long to get that card, I had TONS of time to find color matching stuff. Now I’m just waiting for this power supply that Cooler Master announced to finally show up for sale:
Which means…I have a Corsair 750 SFX power supply I’ll need to offload lol. The franken-cooler was inspired by an Optimum Tech video, where he very correctly points out it’s the least economical way to cool your CPU. Again, so much time trying to get the graphics card led me to do totally irrational things.
I looked at the NR200 too - sweet case! That and the Meshilicious one as well. For me the novelty of putting an ATX mobo in a 10L case was just too much to pass up, but it also means that if I ever decide to put this stuff in a different case I’ll likely have to buy an ITX or DTX motherboard. I hear ya on those DC-DC PSU’s - for me that’s where things get a bit toooooo custom. I did actually play around with the idea of using one on my build - I was thinking I might be about to fit a 240mm AIO in the case if I got SUPER creative with the power supply, but I think the P-ATX V2 is just slightly too small to pull that off, and I’d have to undervolt EVERYTHING to get it to come in around 400W max.
They are both great. The Steve vs Jay ultimate pc tech support that Linus did was a fun watch.
Oddly, my computer is rackmout, but what case a computer is shouldn’t be an issue.
Not all people who: use Rhino, do PhotoShop, edit Video, studio audio production, run science software like: Paraview, FEM, FEA, CFD can build their own computers.
Well that is unfortunate. Politicians, don’t know what is required to support the innovation they so highly prize. Vote them out.
Ha, you can’t if you don’t live in their state
Who would really want to live in their state of confusion anyway? 
well i would assume that having expertise in all these fields should logically mean that somebody is sure also smart enough to plug together a few components to make a computer run. it seems like the least one should be able to do sitting on computers that much…
anyway the title is also pretty deceiving, if this would be youtube or any other public channel i would have to call it click bait 
I’ve recently read that the new RTX 40xx series will have increased power consumption in comparison to its predecessor. In order to reach 2.3 to 2.5 GHz clock speed, which will give a significant boost to GPU performance. So we likely see higher energy demands for high-end systems in the near future.
If you ask me, these restrictions seem to go in the right and wrong direction at the same time.
The initial problem in my opinion is not having overpowered consumer products in the first place, but its brain-dead daily-misuse. If we talk about the daily commuter which switched from a 80hp car to a 300hp, it doesn’t really help if you prohibit cars for having only 200 hp. Instead, everybody should think on how to reduce commuting and/or to switch to an energy- and cost-efficient vehicle. In the end, that’s the real win-win.
That’s the same with a computer. Not every CAD system needs 700+W with the latest build.
Many people claim the need for latest high-end systems in order to do CAD work. This is simply not true (for most use-cases). Instead, for many offices, it makes more sense to have a couple of high-powered pcs for special work and lighter systems for daily business. If your CAD system is having performance issues, I would rather ask what it’s causing this and not just blindly upgrade. Maybe it’s just the second 4k monitor running on 90hz, which is required to follow your favorite YouTube tech channel? Or the 300 hidden layers of extra data? Or the unnecessary level of refraction within your rendering?
The title of this thread is misleading at best…
My understanding of this topic is based on which the two well researched videos linked above. The regulations coming into effect do not limit the maximum power of any systems. Rather they limit the amount of power consumed when a system is idle, and that limit increases with increasing “content” in the system and open expansion slots, etc. The significant effect it will have is manufacturers and larger system integrators will need to use better, higher efficiency power supplies.
It seems Dell was slow in upgrading the power supplies in some of their systems and so could not ship some of their systems to certain states until they build them with more efficient power supplies.