[ubuntu-uk] Power management on the desktop

[Chris Rowson]

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of setting up a Intel P4 based desktop PC at home, which
will run Ubuntu and may spend long periods of time doing nothing or
very little.

I'm aware that CPU frequency scaling can be implemented on certain
laptop processors, but wondered what power management stuff is
available to me on the desktop.

I want to be able to connect to file shares on the computer (which
will be part of a wireless network) so I don't want it to totally
power down and become un-responsive.

What sort of things can I do with Ubuntu to reduce the amount of
electricity I use on this desktop, and what kind of power savings
would I expect to see? Are there fine-grained methods I can use to
power down certain unused hardware after a certain amount of
inactivity etc?

Thanks in advance!

Chris