• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Will electricity prices influence your next gpu purchase?

Hedge

Hedge

Hedge

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,410
Location
Somewhere in the middle.
With energy prices looking to get even worse I'm thinking I'd rather not bother with a power hungry gpu in future, regardless of if its particularly fast or not.

Have any of you actually worked out what a few hours of gaming is costing you on 3090s etc?

I guess in some respects it might be good for industry to work smarter and not just throw more energy in to get more performance.
 
I doubt many would sacrifice performance? My last GPU was a Vega 56. If energy prices were high back then I'd have bought a 1070 instead. I wouldn't drop to a lower tier GPU.

I doubt anyone with a 4k high refresh monitor will change it to 1440p so they can save money on a lower tier GPU.
 
Echo what's been said above, doesn't worry me from a financial point of view but having basically a 600w heater (if power consumption for next gen rumours are to believed) would make my computer room too hot most of the year. It's like that a bit now with this heat and a 3080.
 
Heat, noise probably do matter for everyone.

In theory in the winter time any excess heat should serve as a heater (although a full Pasivhause probably gets too hot with 600W).

The rumours of 500W+ for next gen and remembering how spiky the loads were already for this gen, does scare me. Unless they fix the spikes, a 500W+ card might need a 1200W PSU just because of the spikes.
 
Finners said:
Echo what's been said above, doesn't worry me from a financial point of view but having basically a 600w heater (if power consumption for next gen rumours are to believed) would make my computer room too hot most of the year. It's like that a bit now with this heat and a 3080.
Click to expand...

I'll third this, an extra 100 / 200 watts will only amount to a couple £ a week extra for gaming half the day every day, even at these current prices, but having a 600 watt heater sitting 2 feet a away from you is not nice at any time of the year, never mind 35c heat.
 
Wucked said:
Not in isolation, but with spiralling prices on nearly everything…
Click to expand...
Given that I was lucky enough to get a 3080 FE at MSRP I am reluctant to upgrade so soon even if the 40/7000 series is much faster (as is rumoured), it almost feels decadent given the cost of living crisis (but I am an enthusiast so can I resist temptation?).

Also, the 3080 is already too hot and power hungry, my PC case (P600S with good airflow) and room get very hot and it's sweltering in the summer. I was half thinking of trying to get a PS5 Digital instead, or even an Xbox Series X (which is in good stock now).
 
Last edited:
In order for me to even consider 40xx (or RDNA3) it'd need to provide superior performance (including RT), efficiency and thermals for at least half the cost of the previous generation.

I'm not expecting to be upgrading until 60xx/RDNA5 :D
 
I hadn't really thought much about the heat aspect. I do remember having my pc under my desk and roasting my legs mind.

Has anyone worked out the actual cost of say, 3 hours playing cyberpunk or something at full load.

I might be worrying about a cost that's actually quite insignificant
 
Hedge said:
I hadn't really thought much about the heat aspect. I do remember having my pc under my desk and roasting my legs mind.

Has anyone worked out the actual cost of say, 3 hours playing cyberpunk or something at full load.

I might be worrying about a cost that's actually quite insignificant
Click to expand...

400 watts, 3 hours a day would be £120 a year at £0.28 kwh.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom