Program for California Energy Commission¹(CEC) Friendly Motherboards

The motherboards in this table have an Expandability Score ≤690 & have been tested by Intel to meet Intel’s motherboard DC idle power requirements to be classified as CEC Friendly.

Download details on CEC Friendly Motherboard Program requirements including idle power consumption targets.

• CEC Computer Standard requires a Typical Energy Consumption (TEC) based limit for all computers sold into the State of California with a manufacturing date on or after January 1, 2019.
  • This TEC limit is for Complete Systems, and there are no specific guidelines for individual components in the computer from the CEC Computer Program.
• Intel has developed Power Budgets for Desktop Computers based on the Expandability Score to come up with the program for CEC Friendly Motherboard Program.
  • The purpose of the program for CEC Friendly Motherboard Program is to help promote and educate LOEMs with energy efficient motherboard selections that when used in a computer system along with other energy efficient components is more likely to comply with the CEC computers TEC Limits.
  • Motherboards are one of the main power consuming components in a computer, and the CEC Computer Category system is based on the Expandability Score of the computer, which is almost completely derived from the motherboard expansion interfaces and inter-connects. Therefore, the motherboard attributes become the basis for the category allocation for the computer configuration and the TEC limits that scale with the expandability score which is a function of motherboard expandability attributes.
  • Participants of the program for CEC Friendly Motherboard Program will have motherboards tested in accordance with Intel-drafted testing document. (available upon request.) The test will only focus on motherboard power consumption values measured in DC Watts. The tested values will be compared with Intel developed power budgets. If the motherboard meets the DC Power values, it would be listed as a CEC Friendly Motherboard as part of the Intel program. Inclusion of a motherboard on the approved list itself does not guarantee that the computer configuration the motherboard is part of, will ultimately comply with the CEC Computers standard.
  • Conversely, a given computer configuration could still meet the CEC program requirements, even if the motherboard is not part of the Intel program or does not meet the Intel-developed power budget, if the system manufacturer has made the proper tradeoffs for other components selection. Examples include a lower power storage device like an SSD or a low load efficient power supply.
  • There are other components in the system that may not meet the appropriate power budget for the computer configuration to comply with the CEC standard. Every component in the computer is important to meet system level TEC Targets.
  • The program for CEC Friendly Motherboards is currently focused on CEC’s Tier I criteria. CEC criteria will change on July 1, 2021 when Tier II criteria goes into effect. This program as currently defined could not be used for Tier II criteria. Intel would announce its plan for a Tier II program in the future.
• Additional background and limitations:
  • This program is not endorsed by the California Energy Commission.
  • This program is only available and validated for Intel® 300 Series chipset based motherboards.
  • No pre-release, non-production quality motherboards may be delivered to Intel as part of Intel’s CEC Friendly Motherboard Program.
  • To sell computers into the state of CA, even when a motherboard from the CEC Friendly Motherboard list is used in a computer, the system integrator is responsible for conducting the computer compliance test at the system level, and register the compliant system with the CEC program. http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/