this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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as with everything "it depends" on many aspects. In the US it's relatively cheap in many places (~0.12-0.15 USD per kwh), and high-end cards running at high settings can suck ~300w. Averaging 3hrs a day could cost ~36-45 cents a day just on the GPU alone for high-end settings. Not a huge deal, but in places where electricity is 2-3x the price it could be more of an issue (or at surge times for folks in Texas).
But with the new atx3.0 and 600w power cables, we could see double those costs for high end cards in the next few years, and putting full pc power at ~900+ watts.
Efficiency does affect more than just electricity costs. less efficient chips also means more heat and more massive coolers. Many of the higher end cards today have thick, heavy coolers that we now have anti-sag braces. It also potentially means more noise for fan coolers or requiring more expensive coolers and more electronics to regulate that power in stages.
Yeah, I guess electricity is pretty cheap in my corner of Europe (like a quarter that), so I don't really notice.
Good points. I guess the average customer for their new cards is probably willing to put up with said issues to get the latest and greatest performance, or that's what the CEO is counting on