Green Daily

When it comes to green technology, the chips that run all those PCs at your place of business and in your home are generally not thought of as "being green." In the recent past, this was true -- PC processors were huge wasters of energy, from using 40 watts or more (just for laptop processors) to generating a huge amount of waste heat, central processing units (CPUs) were not really designed to save energy. Times, though, are changing.

Intel's newer dual-core CPUs operate with a huge drop in wasted heat energy as well as using quite a bit less power while not really losing performance. Since PC users never want a performance downgrade with that newer PC, the challenge for Intel and other companies has been to up the performance ante while simultaneously reducing energy waste and power consumption. Ever hear of the Core 2 Duo chip? That's a great example of the above premise in current CPU manufacturing techniques.

Intel is not the only one into making green PC chips, though. VIA, a Taiwanese chip company, markets its C7-D processor for entry-level desktop and laptop computers -- and that chip can consumer as low as two watts of power in many states of operation. That's way less than the smallest light bulb or curling iron found anywhere in your home. Soon, the standard PC may be one of the greenest and most versatile products found anywhere -- and that's a good thing.