the register Dell won't ship energy-hungry PCs to some US states due to power regulations

[UltraMega]

Quote

Such concern about energy efficiency appears to be appropriate given the findings of a 2015 Semiconductor Industry Association report [PDF] that, given a benchmark system of 10-14 Joules/per bit transition, "computing will not be sustainable by 2040, when the energy required for computing will exceed the estimated world’s energy production."

Dell won't ship energy-hungry PCs to California and five other US states due to power regulations • The Register

WWW.THEREGISTER.COM

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Energy efficiency rules appears to be limiting the availability of gaming rigs

 

I'm not really sure if this is news or not because the information and regulations mentioned is not new, but Dell's reaction might be. IMO it seems like Dell has a misunderstanding of the regulation and they could ship these PCs if they wanted to. Perhaps they're trying to make a political statement. 

 

In any case, it's an interesting topic. The idea that by 2040 computers will use more energy than the human race generates if nothing changes is definitely discussion worthy. 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by UltraMega

[Diffident]

These are Alienware models.

 

Looking at the requirement, there's a loophole.

 

Quote

Title 20, Section 1605.3(v)(5)

If the model is shipped at the purchaser’s request with either a limited capability operating system or without an operating system, or if the model is not capable of having an operating system, the model is not required to comply with the power management requirements of Section 1605.3(v)(5)(B).

 

They can sell the system without a preinstalled OS.

[pio]

The system they're refusing to sell is mostly the west coast states, and its a Ryzen 5800 with a Geforce RTX 3060.  How is THAT a "power hungry" machine?  The thing can run on a 350w PSU (a really good one), its more efficient than PC's were 20 years ago.  I really think its a political statement moreso than anything, I'll leave it at that.  I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed that PC's have gotten less and less power hungry, which is exactly the opposite of what they appear to be claiming in the article.  Unless....they're claiming more people are buying PC's, which that's just not true at all....more people use smart phones over a PC these days.

I dunno, maybe I'm missing something.  I know 3 of the 5 states involved (for sure) are making it law very soon to outlaw gasoline vehicles and only electric vehicles will be sold starting in 2022.  Electric vehicles (while neat) aren't exactly easy on the power grid......I wonder if this is related.

Edited July 27, 2021 by pioneerisloud

[UltraMega]

1 hour ago, pioneerisloud said:

The system they're refusing to sell is mostly the west coast states, and its a Ryzen 5800 with a Geforce RTX 3060.  How is THAT a "power hungry" machine?  The thing can run on a 350w PSU (a really good one), its more efficient than PC's were 20 years ago.  I really think its a political statement moreso than anything, I'll leave it at that.  I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed that PC's have gotten less and less power hungry, which is exactly the opposite of what they appear to be claiming in the article.  Unless....they're claiming more people are buying PC's, which that's just not true at all....more people use smart phones over a PC these days.

I dunno, maybe I'm missing something.  I know 3 of the 5 states involved (for sure) are making it law very soon to outlaw gasoline vehicles and only electric vehicles will be sold starting in 2022.  Electric vehicles (while neat) aren't exactly easy on the power grid......I wonder if this is related.

That's my take as well, if only because it seems like Dell is the only company reacting to this regulation as an issue. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by UltraMega

[pio]

2 hours ago, UltraMega said:

That's my take as well, if only because it seems like Dell is the only company reacting to this regulation as an issue. 

I saw elsewhere (phone surfing so no links sorry) that hp and acer were in on it too. And apparently the ban might also apply to 3d printers. Kind of an odd thing to ban considering the times. Idk, weird stuff all over those 5 states anyway. 

[UltraMega]

I'm quoting this from a comment I found somewhere else about this issue. "it seems that it is not based on power when in use, the regulation limits the power the system draws when not being used in idle/ sleep states. Basically to meet regulations it looks like a system shouldn’t be drawing much power when not in use"

Edited July 28, 2021 by UltraMega

[UltraMega]

I saw other site that posted this article and made the headline "I live in a state where it's legal to buy weed but not high end PC gaming parts"...

 

The news these days is ridiculous. 

[schuck6566]

He explains what's actually going on pretty well here.... 

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by schuck6566