Gaming computers are expensive. You might not know it, but they end up costing a lot more in electricity than your average desktop computer would. But how much does a gaming PC cost in electricity?
If you are running a gaming PC that consumes 400W per hour, which when calculated at the U.S. electricity price of 13.26 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on average, means you will have a cost of approximately $39 per month if your PC runs continuously for the whole month. If you have a PC that has a consumption of 600W per hour, your monthly bill will be approximately $57.
It’s difficult to determine an exact figure, as it depends on the type of PC you purchase, the configuration, and how often you use it. But you could expect to spend around $2 per day on a regular basis when the gaming PC is used 24/7. For many people, this might be an investment worth making.
Why Gaming Computers Cost More in Electricity?
When you buy a gaming PC, it has been optimized to run the newest games at their highest settings. The problem with this is that it requires a lot of power to run at those settings. This means that your electricity bill will be more expensive than if you were using a regular desktop computer.
Gaming computers have powerful CPUs and GPUs that can handle the high-res graphics and intense gameplay required for the latest titles.
A powerful CPU: The CPU is one of the most important parts in your gaming computer because it’s what handles all of the processing for your games.
You want to make sure that your CPU is as powerful as possible so that you can play your games at their max setting without any lag. It’s important to note that CPUs also use more electricity than an average desktop computer.
A strong GPU: A gaming PC needs a strong GPU to handle all of the graphics processing necessary to run games on max settings without any lag or choppiness.
This means you need a system with a good video card, which uses more power than an average desktop computer would.
How to Pick an Energy-Efficient Gaming PC
Since we’ve established that gaming rigs tend to use more electricity than other types of computers, you want to make sure that your system is energy-efficient.
This will reduce the amount of power it uses and in turn, save you money on your monthly electric bill.
There are two types of gaming computers: desktop systems and laptop systems. Desktop systems tend to use less electricity because they don’t have a battery or a screen, meaning they’re just using power while they’re plugged in.
Laptops tend to be more energy-efficient because they’re using power from their batteries when they’re not plugged in, but also using power from their AC adapter when they are plugged in. If you need mobility, then a laptop might be what you’re looking for–especially if you know you can find an outlet at work or school.
Ways to reduce the amount of electricity used by a gaming PC
If you’re looking to reduce the amount of electricity used by a gaming PC, there are a few ways that you can do this. First, it would be best to turn off your computer when it’s not in use.
You should also try to power down any other devices that draw from the same outlet as your computer. There are also some settings on each computer that will help conserve energy and lessen the load on your gaming PC. For example, by putting your screen in sleep mode or using power saving or sleep mode settings, you can save up to 25% of your energy and keep things running longer.
Some general tips for keeping your computer running longer and more efficiently
Though powerful, gaming computers use a lot of electricity. If you don’t want to be spending more than you need on your electric bill, there are some general tips you can follow to help keep your computer running longer.
- Sleep Mode: You can reduce the number of watts your computer uses by putting it into sleep or power saving mode if it’s not in use for an extended period of time.
- Monitor: Turn off your monitor if you aren’t using it to save power.
- Mouse and Keyboard: If possible, turn off the mouse and keyboard when they’re not being used to save even more power.
- Unplug Power When Not in Use: Unplugging the power when the computer is not in use will not only cut down on the amount of energy used but will also extend the life of your PC.
How does high-end gaming affect your electricity bill?
If you have a high-end gaming PC, you should be aware that it can use up to 300 watts of power. While this may not seem like a lot, you should know that the average household uses 800-1000 watts in an hour. So, if you’re using your high-end gaming PC for one hour each day, then that’s 20% of your electricity bill!
There are a few ways to reduce how much power is used by your gaming computer. If you’re playing games on a laptop then these methods might not work for you as efficiently because laptops have more energy-efficient hardware.
One way to conserve power is by putting your gaming PC in sleep mode or on power-saving settings. Another way is by turning off any external devices like your monitor when not in use and unplugging from the wall when not in use so that the system doesn’t continue pulling energy from the wall outlet.
Does gaming PC increase power bill?
A gaming PC typically costs more in electricity than a regular computer. While the cost of electricity varies from state to state, an average energy bill on a gaming PC is about $100-$150 per month. And that doesn’t include the cost of your internet service.
When you buy a desktop for productivity purposes, it will use less power than a gaming PC. But if you want to play games on it, then it will take up more power than the normal desktop would because of its specs and features.
When you calculate the cost of your utility bill with the cost of your new computer, you have to factor in how much power it uses in order to get an accurate number.
That said, if you don’t game that often or just need something for work purposes and not for leisure like gaming, then by all means go for less expensive hardware.
What You Should Know About Gaming PCs and Electricity?
A lot of people are surprised when they find out how much electricity a gaming PC can use. That’s because desktop computers, on average, only use about 50 watts of power.
But gaming PCs need way more power than that for the graphics cards and other components to run smoothly and quickly. In fact, some high-end systems can need a whopping 800 watts or more.
It’s not all bad news though! There are ways you can get a powerful system without costing you too much in electricity. For example, you could buy an efficient system with good components that doesn’t draw as much power.
You could also look into getting a hybrid tower instead of a desktop or laptop so you don’t have to pay the extra cost of having an external monitor plugged in. Another idea is to invest in an energy-efficient gaming PC so it uses less power at home.
This will save you money on your electric bills while also giving you the performance you want while gaming!
How much electricity does a gaming computer use per hour?
Gaming systems use a lot more electricity than other desktop computers. In fact, a gaming computer can use as much as 450 watts per hour, which is twice as much as your average desktop system.
Over the course of a year, you’ll be using about 3 times the electricity for your gaming computer than you would for your average desktop system.
How much power does a gaming PC use per day?
A gaming computer can use a lot of power, so it’s important to know how much your system will cost per day. We’ve done some calculations and determined that the average gaming rig will use approximately $2/day in electricity.
The cost of electricity is different depending on where you live, but $2/day is an average for most places. This may not seem like high costs, but when you multiply $2 by 365 days in a year, you end up with an annual cost of about $700 for one machine!
How much electricity does a gaming laptop use?
Desktop gaming rigs are usually cheaper in the long run than a laptop. The reason for this is that laptops use more power than desktop computers, and they don’t have the same hardware as most desktops.
So if you want to save money on your electricity bill, purchase a desktop computer instead of a laptop.
How much electricity does a gaming desktop use?
A gaming PC uses a lot of electricity. It is estimated that the average home in the United States has an annual energy cost of $1,400. Now if you are in the habit of playing games on your PC for hours at a time, you could be spending around $150 to $200 on your power bill every month because of your gaming habits.
The amount of electricity that you use per hour depends on how powerful your machine is. Older PCs have less processing power and thus consume less electricity than newer models.
If you are running software that is not fully optimized, then it will also use more electric power than necessary. The type of game also matters; some games don’t require as much processing power as others. The more high-end games you play, the more electricity your PC will need to run.
So how can we reduce the amount of power our computers are using? Well there are steps we can take to make our PCs more efficient so they’re using less electricity and costing us less money each month:
- Reduce screen brightness
- Turn off any applications you aren’t currently using
- Close any windows not being used in the background
Why you should switch to a laptop?
Laptops are a great option if you’re looking for something to do simple tasks like surfing the net, checking email, or completing homework. They’re cheaper than gaming PCs and don’t require as much electricity.
If your only goal is to play games, laptops might not be for you. But if you also want to use your computer for other purposes, like watching movies and writing papers, then laptops are a great option.
This is because laptop screens are smaller and they have less power; so they use less energy. Plus, their battery life lasts longer than a gaming PC’s battery life.
When it needs charging, laptops can just be plugged into an outlet instead of having to rely on an external power source – which means cheaper battery replacements!
So why not switch over and save money? We’ve found some ways to save money by playing with less power!
Make your PC more efficient so it doesn’t waste power
There are many ways to make your PC more efficient so it doesn’t waste power. For example, you can reduce the brightness of your screen, turn off all software applications you’re not using and close any windows that are running on the background.
This is a very easy way to save power on your gaming PC. All you have to do is lower the brightness of your screen, turn off any programs that aren’t in use and close any windows that may be open.
This will keep your computer from wasting energy by having it on when it’s not needed. It will also save you money because you’ll be able to cut back on how much electricity you use for your computer.
Reduce screen brightness
The brightness of your screen not only affects the comfort of your eyes, it also affects how much power you use. Turning down your screen brightness is a fairly easy way to save money on PC energy. Reducing brightness can reduce your energy usage by up to 80%.
Close all background programs
When you’re not using your computer, it can be tempting to run a bunch of background programs. These include Google Chrome, E-mail, Spotify and any other programs that are running in the background.
Closing these background tabs will help reduce the power usage as many of them will continue to download and update every minute.
It’s important to close these applications when you’re not using them because they continue to use power even when you’re away from your computer.
One way to limit their power usage is by reducing the brightness on your screen. If you want your game or movies to be brighter, then you can adjust the brightness settings in each program individually rather than entertaining all of them at once.
Close all windows except the one you’re using
One of the best ways to save power on your PC is to close all windows except the one you’re using. Your computer doesn’t need to render multiple screens and it will save you some electricity.
Gaming PC electricity cost calculator
Using a simple calculator, you can get a rough estimate of how much power your gaming rig will use in comparison to other types of computers. In this case, we’ll be using the calculator from PCPartPicker which includes all components needed to build your gaming rig.
With the following computer specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
- Motherboard: MSI ATX DDR4 2400 Motherboard
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 Memory Module
- Graphics Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB Founders Edition Video Card
- Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive
- Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
- Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite Case – Black
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit Edition
The computer would cost about $1,500 to create and would only cost around $50 per year in electricity costs (assuming you use it for up to 6 hours per day).
This means that your energy savings on this computer is over five years. You can save even more by using a laptop or a tablet instead of a desktop. It’s important to keep these figures in mind when deciding on what type of system you want for your home
FAQS
What can I do to reduce my electricity bill for my PC?
You can turn off any software you’re not using.
Is it okay to leave my computer on while I’m not using it?
You should only do this if your computer is in sleep or power-saving mode and not plugged in. Leaving your computer on while it’s not in use will drain your battery and could potentially cause your monitor to burn in. If you want to save energy while still using your PC, unplug when you are done with it!
How much does a gaming PC cost in electricity?
Why is a gaming PC so expensive in terms of electricity? Gaming PCs are being used more and more for other purposes than just gaming, like for work and school. As the number of people using their PCs for these purposes has increased, so has their energy consumption. There is an estimated $2.3 billion in losses from electricity theft every year as well
What is the average kWh rate for California?
The average kWh rate for California is about $0.13 per kWh, but many places charge rates that are significantly higher than this cheaper rate.
Conclusion
Gaming PCs are awesome! They’ve got tons of power, can run all the newest games, and look cool. But they’re also expensive, and they cost a lot to run. One issue is that they use a lot of power.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to reduce the power your computer uses. For example, you can turn off the monitor or put it in sleep mode when you’re not using it.
You can also turn off unnecessary background programs and close all your windows when you’re not using them. You can also reduce the brightness of your monitor and turn off the backlight on your keyboard and mouse. If you’ve got a gaming PC, these are some simple steps you can take to make it more efficient and save on electricity costs.