Re: Why is the ATX PSU designed to standby current?

From: Fritz Schlunder (me_at_privacy.net)
Date: 02/10/05 

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 03:48:42 -0700

"Alan Liefting" <ALiefting@ihug.co.nz> wrote in message
news:420ABCDC.4070309@ihug.co.nz...
> I am mystified as to why the ATX PSU was designed so that it draws
> standby current even while the PC is off. I am a bit of an
> environmentalist and I find it rather lax of govt agencies to allow this
> blatent waste of what collectively is a whole stack of CO2 emssions.
>
> The only advantage of the current (!!) ATX power supply design is the
> wake on LAN feature.

I would care to differ with the idea that wake on LAN is the only benefit
the ATX power supply offers. Learn how to configure your computer to use
suspend-to-ram, and try it out for awhile. Once you've gotten a taste for
it you will never want to go back.

Unfortunately not all cheap motherboards and other hardware is fully
compatible yet with suspend to ram, but hopefully your system is. When you
suspend to ram all of the contents of your memory remain intact, but all of
the power hungry equipment of your system turn off (monitor, drives, fans,
processor, etc.). Power consumption drops dramatically, but your
motherboard continuously refreshes the ram contents so they aren't lost.

As a result your computer shuts down in a matter of a couple of seconds, and
boots up in a matter of maybe around five or so seconds. This represents a
dramatic improvement over shutting down and booting up normally. Another
very major advantage is that none of your applications need to be closed.
When you turn your computer back on everything will be just as it was when
you turned off your computer, all applications fully open and ready to use.
This is a very valuable feature, well worth the extra power consumption (at
least for me). But as others have indicated, if you still don't find any of
the advantages of ATX useful, you are free to switch off your system fully
using a mechanical power switch.

No need to lobby govt agencies to move technologically backwards back to
using AT powersupplies all around. The ATX powersupply was designed with an
importance of the environment in mind.

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