A gaming PC is a powerful piece of machinery. It requires a lot of energy to run all those high-end games and graphics. But how much power does it use? And is it more or less than a standard desktop computer? This article will answer all your questions about watts and gaming PCs!
How Many Watts Does A Gaming Pc Use?
A gaming PC generally uses more power than a regular desktop computer. The reason is that gaming PCs have more powerful CPUs, graphics cards, and other components that require more energy to run. Most gaming PCs use between 400 and 800 watts of power. However, some high-end gaming PCs can use up to 1,200 watts or more. So if you’re looking to buy a gaming PC, be sure to check the power requirements before you make your purchase.
What Factors Affect How Many Watts A Gaming Pc Uses?
Power Supply
The essential pieces in your gaming rig are the power supply and your CPU. Most importantly, you need to know how much energy this costs, both in dollars and watts. The wattage rating on a power supply is usually near its top end because it will provide enough clean power for all the components plugged into it, including overclocking. If you have a 1000W PSU but only ever use 500W on average, this means you’re paying for extra capacity that isn’t being used – which wastes electricity. [?]
CPUs “Burn” Watts
In contrast to GPUs, CPUs do not have a maximum amount of power they can draw from a system’s motherboard – they just convert that voltage into computing power. As a result, CPUs draw exactly as many watts as they need to perform their tasks – which is why you’ll often see temperature readings of around 80°C on high-end components! [?]
GPUs Use Power For Computing
Graphics processing units (GPUs) are the most power-hungry components in your PC. A modern high-end graphics card can easily use 200W or more when performing demanding tasks like gaming. 100W may not seem significant compared to the 500W power supply, but it’s essential to be aware that top cards can chew through this wattage quickly. Of course, GPUs are also much better at handling workloads where many calculations are performed simultaneously, meaning that lower-power CPUs can struggle to keep up with some modern graphics cards.
Power Factor Correction
Most power supplies on the market are “linear” – this means they send a constant amount of electricity along the cables down to your components, regardless of their needs. This wastes money and increases pollution because it creates excess heat, so most servers have switched to using more efficient switch mode (or switching) power supplies. However, PCs haven’t adopted these designs for several reasons: First, current-driven (switch mode) power supplies would result in lower-quality audio output; second, they’re expensive; third, most CPUs don’t support them; fourth, they’re tricky to design correctly.
Balancing Components
No matter how many watts your PC uses, you can generally rest assured that it’s using the minimum amount possible. The only components which might be a cause for concern are the CPU and GPU since they alone require wattages over 100W at all times. However, if your components are assembled according to their power needs, you can put them together without too much worry.
How To Reduce The Amount Of Wattage Your Gaming Pc Uses
1. Choose an Energy Star computer.
Choosing an Energy Star certified PC is the best method for saving energy with computers because they are explicitly designed to meet several stringent energy efficiency requirements set by power supply manufacturers and computer case manufacturers; therefore, all other features aside, they will generally consume less wattage than other models while providing the same performance.
2. Upgrade to a GPU with an “Energy-Star” label for power efficiency
The Energy-Star mark means that the graphics adapter meets specific standards for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. Suppose your adapter does not have this design, more power than newer models that feature improved efficiencies compared to adapters without the Energy-Star logo on them. If you use an older video card, you should consider upgrading if your computer emits more than 75 watts of power.
3. Look for Radeon cards with low wattage.
Some ATI Radeon cards can allow you to select lower wattages when connected through a portion; it likely uses significantly less wattage than using the maximum power allocation. An upgrade to a GPU that features energy-star labeling results in lower average wattages consumed by the system as a whole, mainly if an older graphics card is being used. In addition to ensuring that adapters with this feature are always connected through an operation, it can help reduce average computational costs and increase savings. It should be noted. However, low-wattage Radeon cards will allow users to turn down their maximum allocation through software and therefore may lead to increased savings even further than those offered by cards with this labeling feature.
4. Decrease the clock speed of your CPU for power efficiency
CPUs have a maximum allowable clock speed that users or manufacturers can adjust. The adjustable range varies depending on the CPU type, but some CPUs have a more limited range than others. If you want to achieve higher computational efficiency and reduce wattage use, you should decrease the amount of energy used by your CPU and other components featuring adjustable clocks speeds. This requires rebooting into BIOS (and potentially resetting CMOS) every time you run specific applications that require increased processing speeds, though it is still possible to revert if necessary. You might also consider underclocking GPUs to lower wattages further; however, this can increase latency when playing games.
5. Manage your screen brightness to save energy
If you are using a laptop, make sure that the power plan in Windows is set for maximum battery life rather than maximum performance. By doing this, you can reduce average CPU use by increasing battery life instead of shortening it by decreasing the amount of time the CPU stays at its peak operating frequency. You should also decrease your display’s brightness or enable dark mode to have similar effects. Suppose you use an older computer monitor with a cathode ray tube (CRT) screen. In that case, you might consider upgrading to one with an LED backlight if possible because they consume significantly less wattage than ones without them. If you use a CRT monitor, you should also consider replacing it with an LCD monitor.
6. Disable your display’s screensaver to save energy
Video cards use the most wattage of any hardware component in a computer once they are turned on, so if your screen saver is running when not active, it will use significantly more power than it otherwise would. Using a screensaver can also decrease processing speed by using more CPU resources that could be better utilized for computational processes (though this depends mainly on how old your system is and what types of applications you are running). You might want to disable this feature as long as your screen locker functions appropriately, even if you have one enabled for security purposes.
7. Turn off your computer when not using it (or put it on standby)
When you are finished using your PC into standby mode can save significant energy usage if configured correctly. You might also consider turning off your system instead; however, this requires more time to boot back up and may result in lost progress in most video games.
8. Use an external keyboard and mouse to save energy.
Using an external keyboard and mouse will most likely use less wattage than a built-in one because fewer components require power to operate. This is not necessarily the case for older keyboards with LED backlighting. However, it still generally holds if you use a wireless keyboard or a newer model without any backlighting features. Even though many laptops now come with touchpads, USB mice may be more efficient in some cases because they can be easily disabled when not needed (some laptops come with both TrackPoint and touchpad devices that can only support one at a time). You might also consider disabling your internal pointing devices and other built-in peripherals, but this will likely not be necessary for older computers or newer models with USB 3.0 or higher ports.
9. Add multiple video cards instead of overclocking one single card for better performance.
10. Take advantage of sleep modes when possible.
11. Make sure you don’t have any unnecessary plugged in
12. Keep your computer at room temperature or cooler
Examples of gaming PCs that don’t use a lot of wattages
The following list contains five unique names of processors that don’t use too many wattages while offering optimal performance in comparison with other models:
1. AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition [125W]
2. Intel Core i5-4670K [88W]
3. AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6 Core [95W]
4. AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition [125W]
5. Intel Pentium G3220 Haswell [54W]
FAQ’S
How do you think gaming PCs will evolve in terms of energy usage?
Gaming PCs will continue to require more and more energy as games become more complex and graphics-intensive. The need for faster processors and more powerful graphics cards will put even more significant strain on the power supply, necessitating increasingly large and expensive cases with better ventilation and cooling systems.
Do you think gaming laptops will ever overtake desktops in terms of wattage?
It’s difficult to say for sure, but it seems likely that gaming laptops will eventually overtake desktops in terms of wattage. This is because laptops are becoming increasingly potent while desktops remain largely the same. Additionally, many people are now choosing to game on their laptops rather than their desktops, so the market for gaming laptops will only continue to grow.
Are there any ways to completely cut the wattage of a gaming PC?
There is no doubt that gaming laptops are becoming more and more powerful, but it’s hard to say whether they will ever overtake desktops in terms of wattage. Desktop computers typically have more powerful GPUs and CPUs, so they require more wattage. However, as gaming laptops become more powerful, they may eventually catch up to desktops in terms of wattage.
