power consumption

[veehexx]

i dont seem to be able to find the answer here - does anyone know the 6981's power consumption... be it at the wall, or the card itself?

[veehexx]

since i've see a few posts asking for this info, but no-one has been able to help, i've measured power draw at the wall, and heres my findings.

hardware is an Intel core2duo E6550 (65w TDP), Asus 210 (nvidia) passive GPU, TBS 6981, and Hauppauge HVR1100. all are half height cards.
MythTV 0.24.1 (mythbuntu 10.10) was used, and is configured to use VDPAU.

all values are taken from an EMF-based power consumption meter, and is power draw for the entire computer. i believe accuracy of the meter is 5watts.

mythtv idle, all hardware: 215watts
mythtv live TV SD, all hardware: 240w
mythtv live TV 1080i HD, all hardware: 240w

so, based off those figures, the TBS card takes around 25w when in use.
obviously these are full system figures, so CPU, chipset and GPU is likely taking a few watts more than their idle draw.

i wonder why the card needs external power?