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I'm looking to build myself a home ZFS fileserver with ECC memory.

The e3-1220L v3 has a TDP of 15 watts, compared to the e3-1230v3 with a TDP of 80 watts. These chips are, Of-course, both Haswell 22nm process. Performance wise the latter leaves the former for dead, while the former is deliberately targeted at low power tasks.

My question is - when idle - will there be significantly different power draw between the 2 cpu's? To frame the question another way - ignoring PSU inefficiencies - will there be a noticeable difference in overall power draw, assuming the tasks are not CPU bound?

Notes:

Here is a comparison of the CPU's at Intel Ark. The key differences are the number of cores (2 vs 4) and the Processor base frequency specified as 1.1GHz vs 3.3GHz (and associated turbo frequencies).

davidgo
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2 Answers2

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There will not be a significant difference in idle power usage - might even be identical. Get the „real“ CPU. The low TDP variants are for use cases when your cooling capabilities are severely constrained.

Gerald
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The two processors have the same Haswell microarchitecture and idle at essentially the same power level. The low-power processor is there for server workloads that demand the lowest possible power consumption and do not require high performance. A typical use case for the E3-1220L v3 would be a ultra-compact, low-power NAS or web server where very small size, minimal fan noise, and low energy usage are required.

In your case, it's unlikely you're that constrained in terms of power usage or cooling. Go with the faster processor.

bwDraco
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