How much additional electricity would a dedicated GPU and upgraded CPU use?

elsmandino

Hi there.

Like many people, I am now working from home (and will be, at least for some of the time, for the foreseeable future).

At the moment, I am using the following desktop:

MSI B85M-E45

G1850 (Haswell Celeron) - integrated graphics

2 x4GB and 2x2GB RAM

Windows 10 Home

2xSSD

and it does all I need - my job involves merely connecting to a remote server (i.e. I do not do anything creative on the PC itself).

My son wanted to have a go at PC gaming and I have looked into my upgrade options.

I am really going to need an i5 or better and a dedicated graphics card from Ebay.

This, in itself, is not a problem but I am a bit worried about how much extra energy this is going to add to the system - even at near idle, the more powerful CPU and GPU are going to be sipping power, which is really going to add up on a system that it used 8 hours a day.

I know that this a really subjective thing to ask (especially as I have not stated which CPU and GPU I am going to get) but, very approximately, what sort of additional cost is this going to add to my bill?

In reality, I only see the gaming PC being used (and thus really using the GPU and extra cores) for 4-5 hours per week.

cx6

Depending on the GPU and CPU you could be looking at say an extra 100-200 watts (this is obviously only an estimate)

If on 10 hrs a day say, 100W extra would be an extra kilowatt hour (or unit) of electricity - say 20-25p per day? Double if 200W.

sk2402005

If you go with the newest compatible CPU option which seems to be the 4670, you may actually find it uses less as its more efficient at doing the work.

A GPU is certainly going to add a little load, but only if its working hard, typical desktop work will barely even touch the GPU.

Its only the gaming time that the system is working hard will it use much more energy.

From what you have suggested in terms of use, i would guess at less than 50p a week additional running cost.

based on 5hrs gaming, GPU @ 100w = 0.5kw x 25p/kw = 15p allowing for power supply inefficiency.

CPU maxed out = 65w/hr = about 8p

GPU idling on desktop almost no additional power.

CPU upgrade uses no additional power.

I know your not specifically asking, but even the best CPU for your board is woefully under powered for any serious gaming, unless your looking at titles from 10 years ago, my suggestion at this time, especially with the GPU shortage at the moment is to buy an xbox.

If you do get a GPU, make sure your power supply is big enough to handle it, but if its as old as your motherboard, its probably nearing end of life anyway.

Ibrahim5

There is very little real data on PC power consumption on the internet. I generally use quiet/cool components and my internet/office PC uses about 40w including amplifier and monitor. My son made a gaming PC with an i5 and quality graphics card. The power consumption was much higher but was so variable you couldn't put a figure on it. It was all over the place depending on what you were doing. Average maybe 100w. I think real world power consumption is much less than when people try to add it up from their components.

Neil_Jones

As a general rule for internet browsing for 99% of the time the computer just sits there and does nothing (nothing obvious that is,, though there are many behind the scenes things going on during idle periods but that's immaterial to most users) .  The browser does the bulk of the work (and maybe a plug-in on occasion as well) when you want to do something online and then it just goes back to sleep effectively, waiting for keyboard/mouse input.

forgotmyname

My 200watt CPU and 320watt GPU uses 70watts when browsing the internet..  They only pull max power when maxxed
out whilst gaming or pushed hard depending on the software used.

As above its going to be low down the list for gaming if it works on the game at all.  Modern games or older classics?
Dedicated cards on ebay are currently overpriced.  You may struggle to get a decent card at a sensible price.

Recently spotted a listing for a 2060 super sold for £425 bargain compared to some other prices until you think that
card cost almost £100 less than that when new several years ago.

[Deleted User]

elsmandino said:

Hi there.

Like many people, I am now working from home (and will be, at least for some of the time, for the foreseeable future).

At the moment, I am using the following desktop:

MSI B85M-E45

G1850 (Haswell Celeron) - integrated graphics

2 x4GB and 2x2GB RAM

Windows 10 Home

2xSSD

and it does all I need - my job involves merely connecting to a remote server (i.e. I do not do anything creative on the PC itself).

My son wanted to have a go at PC gaming and I have looked into my upgrade options.

I am really going to need an i5 or better and a dedicated graphics card from Ebay.

This, in itself, is not a problem but I am a bit worried about how much extra energy this is going to add to the system - even at near idle, the more powerful CPU and GPU are going to be sipping power, which is really going to add up on a system that it used 8 hours a day.

I know that this a really subjective thing to ask (especially as I have not stated which CPU and GPU I am going to get) but, very approximately, what sort of additional cost is this going to add to my bill?

In reality, I only see the gaming PC being used (and thus really using the GPU and extra cores) for 4-5 hours per week.

I don't know about you but working from home saves me 5 litres of diesel per day which costs about £7 (and more in wear and tear on the car / depreciation etc). That is about 35kWh of electricity at the price cap so you could run a 4000 watt PC for 8 hours a day before you start making a loss in monetary terms.

Really can't see what you are worrying about unless you commute to work for free?