Low Power comparison Ivy bridge 3550T vs AMD x3 455

[SirEvan]

My Web/Email/File server currently has the following specs:

AMD Rana x3 455 95W processor

Asrock 880GXH-USB3 motherboard

16GB Kingston Hyper-X KHX1600C9D3 RAM

32GB Corsair C300 SSD (windows)

8x2 TB Samsung HD204UI drives

Dell PERC 6/I RAID Controller

Intel EXPI9301 Gigabit card

With the above hardware, My system uses between 100-110 Watts Idle, around 130-150 under load. I've been looking at the 3450S, 3550T and other new Ivy Bridge chips, and I'm wondering how much lower my #'s will be with switching to an Ivy bridge? Im constantly trying to lower the power usage of the server, so as long as it's reasonably priced, anything is a welcome improvement. Any thoughts?

[Vice]

I think it would probably take around 15 years of running the server 24.7 to break even on the upgrade cost to the 3550T from the power savings. If not longer.

The difference here is 95 Watts vs 75 Watts for the 3550S. And this is when the CPU's are running full tilt 100% load. Their power consumption will be almost identical (within 2-3 watts of each other) at idle which is what your server will be doing most of its time.

[SirEvan]

I think it would probably take around 15 years of running the server 24.7 to break even on the upgrade cost to the 3550T from the power savings. If not longer.

The difference here is 95 Watts vs 75 Watts for the 3550S. And this is when the CPU's are running full tilt 100% load. Their power consumption will be almost identical (within 2-3 watts of each other) at idle which is what your server will be doing most of its time.

Thanks. I was looking at the 3550 or 3450t's, they aren't out yet, but they're supposed to be 45W, which is half the TDP of the Rana chip. If it's 2-3 W difference, then you're right, but if it's around 15-20 or so, that might make a difference over time.

[Vice]

If the top end TDP is 45 Watts and you regularly load up your server with intensive CPU tasks then you'll see a benefit. But if your server just sits idle then you'll not see a difference in the power consumption. All these chips are really low power at idle under 10 watts.

Performance wise though obviously you'll double your servers Integer and Floating Point by going with a new Ivy Bridge chip with a lower TDP. That may be more beneficial to you if you use it for anything intensive.