{"id":498555,"date":"2022-10-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming\/"},"modified":"2022-10-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T21:00:00","slug":"do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"#Do High-End GPUs Waste Power When You\u2019re Not Gaming?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a257142036b8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a257142036b8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming\/#%E2%80%9CDo_High-End_GPUs_Waste_Power_When_Youre_Not_Gaming%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Do High-End GPUs Waste Power When You\u2019re Not Gaming?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming\/#Idle_Power_Is_Nearly_Equivalent_Across_GPUs\" >Idle Power Is Nearly Equivalent Across GPUs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming\/#Power_Use_Under_Load_Is_a_Different_Story\" >Power Use Under Load Is a Different Story<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CDo_High-End_GPUs_Waste_Power_When_Youre_Not_Gaming%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Do High-End GPUs Waste Power When You\u2019re Not Gaming?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-833547 size-full\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GPUPowerWaste1.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A GPU in a case colorfully lit by RGB lighting.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/close-inside-desktop-pc-gaming-cooling-1272801592\" data-credittext=\"FeelGoodLuck\/Shutterstock.com\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/close-inside-desktop-pc-gaming-cooling-1272801592\">FeelGoodLuck\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You bought a beefy GPU to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>\u2014or perhaps create AI-generated artwork\u2014and when it\u2019s running full bore, it uses a lot of energy. But what about for boring day-to-day stuff? Is it wasteful?<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Idle_Power_Is_Nearly_Equivalent_Across_GPUs\"><\/span>Idle Power Is Nearly Equivalent Across GPUs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whenever new GPUs are released, there is always chatter about how much power they consume, and curious PC builders want to know if they\u2019ll need a new PSU to support new (and almost always higher) power demands.<\/p>\n<p>It would be easy to assume that those new beefier GPUs are just all-around power-hungry. In fact, a thought like \u201cI spend almost all my time working on spreadsheets and documents for work and hardly any time gaming, so I\u2019m probably wasting a ton of electricity with this thing\u201d might cross your mind.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, that\u2019s not the case. Despite the significant difference between the peak capabilities of different generations of graphic cards, there is little variation between the idle or near-idle loads.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of peak processing horsepower and capabilities, there is a huge difference between cards like the GTX 1060 and the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/ZOTAC-Graphics-IceStorm-Advanced-ZT-A30800J-10PLHR\/dp\/B099ZCG8T5\/?tag=lsmedia-11008-20\">RTX 3080<\/a>. But their idle power consumption varies by a nearly trivial amount. A GTX 1060 uses about 5W of power while idle, and an RTX 3080 uses about 15W of power while idle.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not the exact same power consumption, but it\u2019s a fairly trivial difference. You\u2019re not exactly destroying the environment or risking a power bill you can\u2019t afford to pay with that variation in idle power consumption. At 12 cents per kWh and using your computer for 8 hours per day, the difference in idle power consumption between the two cards works out to ~$0.29 per month.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to dig into power consumption data for different cards, you can poke around the internet and search for specific cards. A handy shortcut to a lot of digging and comparison, however, is to check out the power consumption stats in the thorough card reviews over at TechPowerUp\u2014like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techpowerup.com\/review\/asus-geforce-rtx-3080-noctua-oc\/35.html\">this review of the ASUS RTX 3080 Noctua OC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For each card they review, they stress test it thoroughly and give you power breakdown data for idle, multimonitor, gaming, and maximum power consumption. You might not want to geek out that much over power consumption data, but if you do, it\u2019s there. Just search for your card or a similar model and dig in.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of geeking out over power consumption, if you want to test your PC\u2019s total power consumption idle and under load (or any other device for that matter), check out our guide to monitoring power use.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Power_Use_Under_Load_Is_a_Different_Story\"><\/span>Power Use Under Load Is a Different Story<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Naturally, the power consumption under load is different for newer and more powerful cards, which is exactly why you often have to upgrade your PSU to keep up with the demands of a new GPU.<\/p>\n<p>Under load, while playing a demanding game or doing some rendering work, the aforementioned GTX 1060 might hit 125W of power consumption.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, an RTX 3080 could easily hit 345W while playing demanding games. That\u2019s a 220W difference, which is no trivial amount, to be sure.<\/p>\n<p>However, it still doesn\u2019t have as much of an impact on your power bill as you might assume. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re gaming for four hours a night, playing games that really peg your GPU. Again, using 12 cents per kWh as our reference point, you\u2019d spend $1.80 monthly on the GTX 1060\u2019s power consumption and $4.97 monthly on the GTX 3080\u2019s power consumption.<\/p>\n<p>So assuming every second of your gameplay was practically redlining the GPU (which it likely isn\u2019t), you\u2019d only spend $3.17 more a month for the same amount of gaming.<\/p>\n<p>And who knows, perhaps upgrading your GPU will even save you money! There\u2019s a bit of a running joke in the PC gaming community that right around the time you upgrade your build, you\u2019ll find yourself too busy to enjoy it\u2014a bit of an upgrade curse, if you will. So throw that beefy new GPU in there with the confidence that you\u2019ll probably get too busy with school, work, kids, or all of the above to run up your power bill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/833507\/do-high-end-gpus-waste-power-when-youre-not-gaming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Do High-End GPUs Waste Power When You\u2019re Not Gaming?&#8221; FeelGoodLuck\/Shutterstock.com You bought a beefy GPU to game\u2014or perhaps create AI-generated artwork\u2014and when it\u2019s running full bore, it uses a lot of energy. But what about for boring day-to-day stuff? Is it wasteful? Idle Power Is Nearly Equivalent Across GPUs Whenever new GPUs are released, there&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":498556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/GPUPowerWaste1.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}