With all the helpful comments shared in this thread, I'm starting to realize that this approach is likely the only viable solution.
Previously when doing my research, I was naive enough that when people said "...30W at idle", it was specifically for their GPU, and not for their whole system. So now things makes a lot more sense.
Planning build: Power efficient headless steam machine, and later upgrade for AI tasks
Background
I'm planning on building a secondary server that can process more intense tasks than my current basic home server. Tasks such as light gaming (think "remote Steam Deck"), and later allowed to be upgraded with a Nvidia graphics card to handle AI tasks, such as LLM and SD.
The problem
While I have no problem picking parts to build this as a "desktop computer", I'm completely lost when trying to make it power efficient for idle load (if it's even possible with a power-hungry Nvidia card). I'd appreciate some guidance even if it's not a full parts list suggestion!
Watching Wolfgang's videos has unfortunately not translated knowledge into practice for me yet. At least I know TDP isn't an absolute determining factor anymore.
Planning the build
Due to a limited budget, the idea is split the build in 2 phases.
Phase 1 (gaming):
- Budget: $1000 (ideally below ~$800):
- Use for l