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With the updated Energy Star specification set to go into effect this summer, Hewlett Packard announced on Monday that three of its business-class PCs are now available in Energy Star 4.0 configurations four months ahead of the July deadline.

According to HP, the Compaq dc5700, dc5750, and the dc7700 desktop PCs can all be configured to meet the new hardware standards of Energy Star 4.0, the EPA's more stringent, energy-efficient specification.

HP will also be offering optional 80 Plus efficient power supplies [according to Nancy Bowman, North American product marketing manager for HP, which are a part of the new Energy Star regulations.

When configured with the other Energy Star 4.0 hardware requirements, 80 Plus—an electric utility-funded incentive program to integrate more energy-efficient power supplies into desktop computers and servers—can reduce total system power consumption as much as 52 percent, according to HP.

HP's Compaq dc5700 and dc7700 business desktops will come with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 80-Gbyte hard drives, and 1 GB of memory. Both will ship with Microsoft Windows XP Pro and will be priced starting at $899 and $959, respectively.

Bowman said the dc5750 will be available with AMD Athlon processors and will also be Energy Star 4.0 compatible. Featuring an 80-Gbyte hard drive, it will also come with Microsoft Windows XP Pro, and start at $609.

"We want customers to know that HP is ahead of game when it comes to energy efficiency," said Bowman. "We're doing this now so that customers can have worry-free computing experience—so they know when the new specification goes into effect, they won't have to worry about whether their computer is in compliance."

Under the EPA's revised Energy Star specifications, energy-efficient PCs, notebooks, workstations, and game consoles will all have to meet new power supply efficiency and "idle power" consumption requirements.

Eventually, there will be two tiers of compliance, according to the EPA. Tier 1 requirements, which are designed to distinguish the top 25 percent of all PCs as measured by energy consumption, will require that they use a power supply that converts at least 80 percent of incoming electricity for actual use by the PC, said Ernesta Jones, an EPA spokesperson.

The tier-1 specification also includes requirements for when a system is in idle mode, or fully on, but not running any applications. For example, to qualify for the program, a basic desktop PC must consume 50 watts or less when in idle mode, according to Jones.

Those PCs or laptops with multi-core processors and high-end graphics processors will get a little more wattage allowance, but not much. For example, a basic notebook must consume 14 watts or less of power at idle, while a notebook with a GPU has to consume less than 22 watts of power.

Beyond complying with the new eligibility criteria, there will also be stipulations on testing, how and where the Energy Star logo is used and placed, and a commitment by companies to further promote energy efficiency and the Energy Star program.