Kai Dowin :
US$10 per CPU a year means that we could save US$800 a year. However, calculate this against the cost of changing platforms, the necessary logistic and manpower to do so and it becomes quite irrelevant. Specially if you consider that US$800/year is a small fraction of what we spend in, lets say, free coffee. Not that isn't good to consume less energy, it's just not so big.
ISO would disagree, energy efficiency is a big thing.
This is of course a point applicable when you are buying/upgrading a system. $10 annually was just an example - accounting PC is like $5 but a render PC (10+ h/d) eats $130-$300 extra on the CPU side alone. We have saved thousands of dollars on electricity each year just by making
good decisions. And that money could be
spent elsewhere - for example on faster workstations (or free coffee). Also, it is not just consumed electricity but the radiated heat that you then need to dissipate using AC, therefore using additional power.
Kai Dowin :
Let's look into a household than. US$10 a year? One year has 8760 hours. Someone can make US$10 working nearly 1h30m in most states, receiving a minimum wage. I know that it adds to the overall cost of the platform, but it's quite a small issue.
When you are deciding on a budget PC with a $110 CPU it is not a small issue anymore. By that logic, you can work for a week and buy a great gaming PC instead of a budget gaming PC and have superior experience. Yet, a lot of people have crappy gaming PCs because they have set a budget for themselves.
Kai Dowin :
And despite I agreeing with your line of thought, you must take into account that a immediate cost of US$40 is one thing, US$40 diluted in four years is another.
True. Unfortunately, (as mentioned in my post) energy prices are increasing faster than inflation devaluates currency.
The point is: if you save some money - however small amount - you can either buy something else that you need/want or buy something more efficient with higher performance.
I, of course, understand that not everybody needs or wants to save money, but this post is obviously not aimed at those people. I personally just like using less energy for various reasons (pollution, independency on grid, etc.).