Best methods for instant on, low power consumption.

I am running XBMC on my HTPC installed on Win7 Ultimate.
a 530Watt PSU running a 3.06 Intel duo core chip that is not overclocked because I dont want it to suck more volts.. and I am not asking much from it since its just playing movies and lite gaming.

I usually come home at the same time. I would like my HTPC to be up and running waiting for me. I dont want to have to turn on the system wait for everything to boot up, etc. Turning on the TV is not a big deal.. Thats completely understandable.

How can I accomplish this? Will my power bill take a huge hit?

Bonus question: I have 4 fans running inside the box, since it was previously my gaming pc. Can I just run it with the stock cpu and gpu fans only... no extra fans? It would be a bit quieter. But I am worried that if I am not home and its on all day.. might be risky.

Motherboards usually have some sort of wake-on-alarm setting to wake up the computer at a specified time. Look into the BIOS and see if there's a setting there.

List your system specs and we'll be better able to advise you on thermal management...

Why not use sleep mode?

Janus67 said:

Why not use sleep mode?

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I was considering this... I eliminated allot of services from starting up, I think this wont work.

Sleep will work regardless of service config. It relies on low power states that need to not be disabled in bios. That is your best option.

Or you could do wake on LAN, and send the wake up packet from your smart phone. That could work but depends on proper driver support with your nic, bios, and also could be problematic doing it over the WAN due to dynamic IP with your ISP.

Other option is wake on rtc, but not all mobos or BIOSes support it. Wake on rtc will wake up the machine when its off at a specific time based on the real time clock.

I would just use sleep in your situation.

Personally, I run all the power savings options, set the display to turn off after inactivity, and I turn off the tv when I'm not using it. I run a few apps that always need to be on, so its running 24/7.

I use XBMX on Win7 as well and control it with an RC6 remote (no keyboard or mouse in my living room). Power button on the remote puts the HTPC in sleep more, press again and it wakes up just like any other A/V equipment. You can do the same without a remote too by setting your power button for sleep instead of power off.

But as I understand your first post, you want your PC to be up and running when you get home. Then I think your only option is find that setting in BIOS (if your motherboard has it) to wake the computer at a specified time. Wake-on-RTC as IMOG said.

Cheers!

I.M.O.G. said:

Sleep will work regardless of service config. It relies on low power states that need to not be disabled in bios. That is your best option.

Or you could do wake on LAN, and send the wake up packet from your smart phone. That could work but depends on proper driver support with your nic, bios, and also could be problematic doing it over the WAN due to dynamic IP with your ISP.

Other option is wake on rtc, but not all mobos or BIOSes support it. Wake on rtc will wake up the machine when its off at a specific time based on the real time clock.

I would just use sleep in your situation.

Personally, I run all the power savings options, set the display to turn off after inactivity, and I turn off the tv when I'm not using it. I run a few apps that always need to be on, so its running 24/7.

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I do the same (power savings options, turn off display, and turn off the tv when not using it). I use plex for streaming media and have my video recording application going and such so it is on 24/7.

I use sleep mode on all my pc's during the day and only shut them down at night.

Have you thought about using a ssd drive for your os? With a UEFI mb you get approx 30-45sec boot times.

Xbmc starts instantly. I love using a ssd for the os and htpc programs.

Robmoo said:

Have you thought about using a ssd drive for your os? With a UEFI mb you get approx 30-45sec boot times.

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+1

ssd + sleep mode enabled You're htpc will only use a trickle of energy...you can even undervolt the cpu for additional power savings.

I sleep mine when I'm not using it, and use the yatse app on my phone to send a WOL to wake it up when I want to turn it on. Use the same app to put into sleep (or hibernate if you want). Also with my SSD if I ever need to reboot, it's less than 20 seconds from the time I hit the button to the time I'm back at the home screen.

I also have it shut off the display after 10 minutes, and my TV shuts off after 15 minutes of no display just in case I fall asleep watching something.

Robmoo said:

I use sleep mode on all my pc's during the day and only shut them down at night.

Have you thought about using a ssd drive for your os? With a UEFI mb you get approx 30-45sec boot times.

Xbmc starts instantly. I love using a ssd for the os and htpc programs.

Click to expand...

+1 on the SSD I even think 30sec is a bit high I have 10sec from hitting button to desktop