PC running costs

Werewolf said:
It's not so much the drives as the maximum the CPU and GPU can/will pull. A modern GPU can pull 200-400 watts on it's own under full load.

I don't think i've gone under 500watts for a PSU in any build for 20+ years, and I'm running an 800 or 1000watt one at the moment (I can't remember the model), because whilst I know I'm not going to use that much it allows some headroom, and most PSU's are happier running at below maximum output as much as possible.
Remember modern PSU's basically only draw as much as you are actually needing as long as it's below their rated output.
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Yes, but he said he's not having a discrete GPU, and only a 65w TDP CPU, 600W is massive overkill for that
 
Werewolf said:
It's not so much the drives as the maximum the CPU and GPU can/will pull. A modern GPU can pull 200-400 watts on it's own under full load.

I don't think i've gone under 500watts for a PSU in any build for 20+ years, and I'm running an 800 or 1000watt one at the moment (I can't remember the model), because whilst I know I'm not going to use that much it allows some headroom, and most PSU's are happier running at below maximum output as much as possible.
Remember modern PSU's basically only draw as much as you are actually needing as long as it's below their rated output.
Click to expand...

I keep an eye on it with my house battery inverter, I have an AMD 5800x, 7900xt GPU, 2 screens, 850w Corsair PSU.

Computer uses surprisingly less than you might think.

It also vastly depends on the game you are playing, I play a lot of PUBG, and even with it running at 144fps my entire PC is only pulling about 300w from the wall.

I don't play it anymore but cities skylines 2 for example it would be pulling nearer 500w, but that is the most I've seen, most games it's more around the 300w whilst gaming.

I have a HTPC downstairs which has integrated graphics on the CPU, I want to say it's an AMD 5600g?

Anyway, that thing pulls hardly anything, 50w tops whilst it's streaming YouTube or whatever. I wanted to put a smaller PSU in, but the way it worked out whilst building it there was a good deal on a good 600w PSU which despite being complete overkill just made sense given id be basically paying more for a smaller worse branded one at the time.
 
BUDFORCE said:
I keep an eye on it with my house battery inverter, I have an AMD 5800x, 7900xt GPU, 2 screens, 850w Corsair PSU.

Computer uses surprisingly less than you might think.

It also vastly depends on the game you are playing, I play a lot of PUBG, and even with it running at 144fps my entire PC is only pulling about 300w from the wall.

I don't play it anymore but cities skylines 2 for example it would be pulling nearer 500w, but that is the most I've seen, most games it's more around the 300w whilst gaming.

I have a HTPC downstairs which has integrated graphics on the CPU, I want to say it's an AMD 5600g?

Anyway, that thing pulls hardly anything, 50w tops whilst it's streaming YouTube or whatever. I wanted to put a smaller PSU in, but the way it worked out whilst building it there was a good deal on a good 600w PSU which despite being complete overkill just made sense given id be basically paying more for a smaller worse branded one at the time.
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Nice
 
From memory my PC idle power consumption is around 30w. This basically doesn't change when in use, maybe going up to 50w or so if watching 4k youtube. It jumps up if gaming or doing some other high load activity like video encoding.
 
If you are gaming all day long on a 4090 etc then you're consuming hundreds of watts vs the 30W or less it would consume idling and being used for normal desktop stuff. So not much tbh.

Just don't use the "max performance" power profile on windows, it's utterly pointless using it as you gain no extra performance but use a lot more power even when idle as the CPU etc won't throttle down when idle to then consume single digit watts.
 
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I keep my PC on 24/7. Most mornings, I come down and the smart meter is reading 90p. If I have some gaming sessions, I normally end the day at about £1.60-£2.20 or so (and that includes everything else that goes on in the house). If I don't game, it's closer to around £1.40 for the day. I've noticed this has definitely jumped up in recent months. It used to be rare for me to go over £2 for any given day.
 
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