PC running costs

koolpc

koolpc

koolpc

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Have any of you ever worked out how much you spend on electricity costs for your PC?

I am asking as I am going to build myself a PC soon. Want it to be efficient. Won't be buying or using a dedicated GPU. Onboard will suffice.

Probably use the PC for about 4 hours a day. Some very light gaming with onboard GPU.

Any tips etc will be great. Be good to know what your usage costs regarding electric are.
 
my smart plugs will tell me how much electric has been drawn, never both looking at it...

I tend to have three laptops powered on, two 4x monitors.. rounter, site 2 site vpn AP, Nas, pi server running all day when working.
Yub my electric bill along with water bill has gone up since working from home but it's still cheaper than dieseal in a twin turbo AWS SUV...
 
No me neither, but I have just went with a new Titanium PSU so at least that is the most efficient going. Less electricity drawn and wasted as heat and if I am correct I think Titanium is the only tier that certifies 10% load, so good for light usage.
 
No because it's inconsequential for 4 hours a day - most PCs will idle <50w (and without a dedicated GPU, only a little more in use, unless looking at high end CPUs).

If you are happy with onboard graphics, then there's little value in building a PC, you may as well buy one of the Mini/Micro PCs from the big oem's Dell/HP/Lenovo, as they are <65w draw maximum.


Firegod said:
No me neither, but I have just went with a new Titanium PSU so at least that is the most efficient going. Less electricity drawn and wasted as heat and if I am correct I think Titanium is the only tier that certifies 10% load, so good for light usage.
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Whilst great in theory, it depends what the premium for a Titanium was over a less spec in the first place. I.e. if it was considerably more, it may take a while to recoup the efficiency savings.
 
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Armageus said:
Whilst great in theory, it depends what the premium for a Titanium was over a less spec in the first place. I.e. if it was considerably more, it may take a while to recoup the efficiency savings.
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Yeah 100%. It'll be with me for forseeable 10+ years unless something goes drastically wrong. :cry:
 
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See what power supply it has fitted. Convert the wattage to kilowatts.

Assume it’s maxed out for 24 hours at your hourly rate, and then you know it’ll be costing less than that to run.

Quick maths.
 
My position is that my budget for living costs is not that high due to minimum wage, not working many hrs a week due to health issues. With all the costs involved in 'living' I am trying to figure out my options.

I haven't had a PC in over 10 years. I use my mobile for everything. I now want to consider a PC because I will soon have my own place. Not shared houses like I have been living in for the last 8 years.

I may be going into sheltered accomodation.

I miss having a PC guys. I used to love building my own and tinkering with them. Life issues got in the way.

So, I can either build my own small PC or opt for something like a Geekom?
 
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koolpc said:
Have any of you ever worked out how much you spend on electricity costs for your PC?

I am asking as I am going to build myself a PC soon. Want it to be efficient. Won't be buying or using a dedicated GPU. Onboard will suffice.

Probably use the PC for about 4 hours a day. Some very light gaming with onboard GPU.

Any tips etc will be great. Be good to know what your usage costs regarding electric are.
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Back of an envelope maths gives a cost of around 12p per four hours for a power draw of 100w. A PC running onboard graphics will be roughly round about that. It’s so little that even if I’m out by a factor of 100%, you’re not going to sweat it.

EDIT: A Geekom mini PC will be ideal. You get a lot for your cash. They do have a wide variety so drill down into the specs to make sure you’re getting the best you can for your cash
 
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My son has a half decent PC and it’s on for multiple hours a day. This is a months worth of electricity as monitored by the smart plug.

img_0196-1776357773-1776413033.jpeg



And here’s my Mac Studio with two Apple Studio Displays.

img_0197-1776357899-1776413053.jpeg
 
I consider it for half a second then realise it's more important that the pc has the performance I need than saving a few quid.

I like my pc to be quiet so I'm already indirectly considering power usage.
 
Armageus said:
He wants a real pc, not a fictious one
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I'm more than happy to lower one of the 77kg subwoofers spiked feet onto your bare toe :D Will you scream with an imaginary scream or a real one? :D

Simple to work out PC power usage, use one of those smart meter display things, note usage with PC off, then play games for 30 minutes and see what the power usage is.
 
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