Russell Sherwood Sunday, September 18, 2022
This article is inspired by an interesting discussion took place about Energy use in WCCF Facebook Group, This came out of the Energy price hikes taking and predicted to take place in the UK. Most of these are obvious, but some are not quite so!
- Turn off your monitor and External speakers. If you are utilizing your machine for long analysis – turn it off!
- Set your PC to sleep after a specific time if you run overnight – If you are lucky enough to have Economy 7 and set a PC to review positions overnight – if you know it will finish at a specific time then set your PC to shut down after that point. The same goes if you use a laptop, ensure it is charged overnight and run down in the day.
- Utilize Automation – A significant change I made a few years ago was to write Automation processes. Chessbase does have a basic functionality, and even this will allow more analysis time to be squeezed into the same time.
- Check if the Engine has a green mode – a Few do, this lowers energy consumption by a few percent.
- Clean out the Fans on the PC – Simple one this – make sure the fans inside your PC and the vents are clear of dust.
- Make sure there is space around the PC – Make sure your PC has room for the Air to circulate, this will keep the PC cooler and reduce the need for Fans to work.
- Consider Natural Cooling – Little bit odd this – a few years ago I had an old PC in the attic as part of my cluster. During the winter, this room was rather cooler…..it is worth saying that the room whilst cold was dry.
- Reutilize analysis (Learning books/ AQ) – If you are structured in your analysis, then often you can avoid using energy by already having considered the analysis of certain positions.
- Consider the relative costs of local vs online analysis – there are a number of online clusters available – with the price of energy different in different parts of the world it is worth considering if online cluster support can be purchased cheaper.
- Are you using the right Equipment for the Job? Is a Laptop or high-end PC right for the task in hand?
and thats a wrap! If you dont want to reduce your CC then these tips should help make a change in the right direction!
CorrespondenceChessWCCF
