Energy Efficient

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Joined
2 Jul 2005
Posts
27
Hi could anyone point me in the right direction of a energy efficient Graphics card , i would like to be playing 1440p . As you know electricity in the UK is very volatile . Thank you
 
Might require a bit of work on your side but "Gamers Nexus" has efficiency benchmarks in their GPU and CPU vids. You might want to check them out since those are the two most power hungry parts.
For a PSU you might want to consider a titanium grade, but those are expensive and you have to calculate how long it takes for it to pay for its higher initial cost in terms of energy savings down the line.
 
This question can get very complicated, very fast, for example:
- What is your target FPS?
- Would you be willing to use V-Sync or a frame cap?
- Will you be undervolting or just using the card stock?
- What kind of games do you play?

Sometimes buying a big beast of a card and running it power limited and undervolted is more efficient than buying a midrange card and using it at stock.

If we assume stock running and no v-sync, frame cap or power limiting, then I'd go with a 5070. The 5060 Ti does use less power and has more VRAM, but the extra grunt of the 5070 is significant enough that I'd still recommend that card instead.

The 9070 is hard to find at a reasonable price, but it does well against the 5070 and uses similar levels of power.

With a frame cap or v-sync enabled, TPU's results suggest the 9070 is a lot better than the 5070, but I'd want to see more results to get a good handle on the differences.
 
Tbh you’re talking pennies a month difference between most cards. I’d be surprised if it’s even a difference of £1 per month. If you’re looking to cut your power usage then there are loads of other things you can do other than buying a more efficient graphics card.
 
Tbh you’re talking pennies a month difference between most cards. I’d be surprised if it’s even a difference of £1 per month.
If you were to game a lot, then it can be more than pennies for the longer-term ownership of the card. Though, if the difference matters that much, maybe a £500 graphics card is the wrong purchase :o

Tech testers used to include these figures with their reviews, not sure if they still do.

(price assumed: £0.27 kWh)

100 watts (e.g. 4060)
£0.11 for 4 hours
£40.15 for 1 year (with 4 hours per day)
£200.75 for 5 year (with 4 hours per day)

300 watts (e.g. 9070 XT)
£0.32 for 4 hours
£116.80 for 1 year
£584 for 5 year
 
If you were to game a lot, then it can be more than pennies for the longer-term ownership of the card. Though, if the difference matters that much, maybe a £500 graphics card is the wrong purchase :o

Tech testers used to include these figures with their reviews, not sure if they still do.

(price assumed: £0.27 kWh)

100 watts (e.g. 4060)
£0.11 for 4 hours
£40.15 for 1 year (with 4 hours per day)
£200.75 for 5 year (with 4 hours per day)

300 watts (e.g. 9070 XT)
£0.32 for 4 hours
£116.80 for 1 year
£584 for 5 year
Four hours a day, every day is quite a lot, and that's assuming you're using the full power of the card for those whole four hours too. A year it's 32p a day. People spend more than that on a shot of syrup at Starbucks 5 days a week.
 
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