How Many Watts Does a Gaming PC Use? [Quick Facts 2024]

Are you going to build your next gaming beast? Do you want to upgrade your rig? Are you unsatisfied with the existing PC’s performance? Okay, then wait a bit and take a look at this article; I assure you it will help you make decisions sensibly.

When you expect better performance, you need to use high-end components, but a high-end component consumes more power than an ordinary component. And this may affect your utility bills as well.

I had to consider a lot of things when I wanted to upgrade my system. Done a lot of research and finally found the best power-efficient beast. Sit tight and stay tuned till you find out everything there is to know about the power consumption of your PC. Here, I will discuss the facts and how you can choose your next rig. Let’s deep dive into the facts.

What is the Average Power a Gaming Computer Uses?

A gaming computer uses up to 1400 KWh energy yearly. It is surprising yet true, and it depends on factors like what kind of components you use, the software you use, and how frequently you use them.

On the contrary, If you use a PC only to check emails, browse the internet, and do other small stuff, it hardly consumes huge energy. The amount I mentioned above is only used when you are playing video games on your PC on a regular basis.

Different users need different power consumptions on their computers depending upon their usage. So you might not need to pay your electricity bill as much as a regular twitch streamer.

Do Gaming Computers Use More Electricity?

As mentioned above, a gaming system requires more energy than a normal setup. A typical gaming PC uses about 1400 kWh of electricity per year.  With this amount of energy, you can easily run three refrigerators, six laptops, and ten gaming consoles. But that’s just the peak of the berg because gaming computers represent only 2.5% of worldwide installed computers.

A gaming computer usually consumes 300 to 500 watts of energy per hour. But the consumption rate increases enormously when you play a High-end video game like Forza Horizon 5. It may rise from 500 to 1000 watts depending on the components in use.

Generally, a gaming PC comes up with a more robust and sophisticated GPU, which consumes a great amount of energy.

The energy consumption is not only for the system but also Monitor, sound system, Keyboard, and Mouse. Without gaming, an idle PC, or just browsing the websites, watching youtube videos, etc., requires less energy, like 70 to 90 watts.

Related contents you should read on why do Computers use binary?

Which PC Parts Use More Power?   

Your hardware considerably affects how much power it will consume. Different kinds of hardware have different mechanisms to optimize their power consumption. The hardware doesn’t use the amount of power mentioned on the box. It depends on its purpose.

If you have a high-end gaming PC with more than one GPU installed, it will consume more power than a regular one. Besides, a PC that is used to mine cryptocurrency will use a greater power than a conventional gaming PC. The Power Supply Unit (PSU) circulates power to other components.

Basically, Motherboard gets power from the Power Supply Unit and distributes it where necessary. Some components like HDD, SSD, and GPU get power directly from the PSU.

• Power Supply Unit (PSU): 120 – 600 Watts
• Motherboard: 25 – 100 Watt

Now I will show you how the power consumption varies from component to component.

Comparison of Power Consumption Between Different Types of PC Build

It is very hard to determine how much power a PC consumes. There is a lot of variety of components in the market, and they use different amounts of power. So here, I will try to generalize the category.

For these example builds, we’ll calculate the cost assuming the facts below:

• kWh price is the US national average of $0.16
• Suppose three hours per day of gaming.
• The power supply is rated at >80% efficiency.
• The PC goes into sleep mode, or the user turns it off while not in use.

High-End Gaming PC Power Consumption

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950 X
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
• RAM: 32GB DDR4 (4x8GB)
• Storage: M.2 NVMe SSD (500GB)
• Secondary Storage: 3.5″ SATA 7.2K RPM HDD (2TB)
• Fans: 4X140mm
• CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i Elite
  • Yearly Power Consumption: $166.25
  • Monthly Power Consumption: $14.3

Mid-Range Gaming PC Power Consumption

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 X
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
• Storage: M.2 NVMe SSD (500GB)
• Secondary Storage: 3.5″ SATA 7.2K RPM HDD (2TB)
• Fans: 4X140mm
• CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i Elite
  • Yearly Power Consumption: $103.2
  • Monthly Power Consumption: $9.1

Low-Tire Gaming PC Power Consumption

• CPU: Intel Core i5 – 11400
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super
• RAM: 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB)
• Storage: M.2 NVMe SSD (500GB)
• Secondary Storage: 3.5″ SATA 7.2K RPM HDD (2TB)
• Fans: 4X140mm
• CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H100i Elite
  • Yearly Power Consumption: $66.7
  • Monthly Power Consumption: $6.1

How much power do peripheral devices use?

Devices like keyboards, mice, headphones, joysticks, etc. USB devices hardly use 1 watt of energy.

But a  USB speaker uses up to 2.5 watts. If you use an external sound system with a separate power cord that may use power between 20 to 200 watts, and an external HDD uses about 7 watts.

Check out the easiest way to fix mic picking up Computer sounds.

Why do PCs Consume More Power Than Expected?

Suppose you have been using your gaming rig for a couple of years or more. Then you suddenly notice that your PC is consuming more power than expected. This is a very common issue; basically, with the aging and deterioration with time, the consumption rate becomes higher.

But you may recheck these points to find out the actual cause.

1. Age-old Technologies

Though some gamers have stated that a CRT monitor gives a better result when connecting it with your gaming PC, it draws more power than an advanced LED, LCD, or OLED monitor.

Perhaps the modern monitor gives you a brighter display. They are lightweight and power-efficient. You may change your age-old monitor to reduce power consumption.

Follow our guide to know about my Computer is frozen and won’t turn off.

2. Low-Quality Components

It is often seen that a low-quality brand uses low-quality components to compromise the cost. For example, they use a low-quality thermal paste which dries out over time and loss efficiency. As a result, the components become hotter, and forced cooling demands more power than expected.

3. High Power Consuming Software

Heavy games like Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5, RDR 2, etc., need up to 330 watts of energy because of the need for higher GPU acceleration.

But when you are playing a lower tire game like Gunpoint, Minecraft, etc., the PC needs only 120 watts of energy. So, depending on the software you are running, the power consumption varies a lot.

4. Dust 

You may consider dust as a threat to your PC. When the dust reaches the heat sink, it causes your PC to overheat as it doesn’t let the heat sink to release the heat outside. Your PC runs slower to prevent hardware damage while your cooler fan runs at higher rpm for a long time. Thus your PC consumes more power than usual.

Here are the steps to remove dust from your PC:

• Turn off your PC and unplug it from the socket.
• Move your PC near a window or door (Well Ventilated), then remove the case’s sides and front panel. (If possible)
• With the help of a lint-free cloth, remove dust from the base of the case and clean the CPU and GPU’s cooler and fans.
• Don’t use a vacuum cleaner directly inside the case to prevent unwanted damage.

Caution: You need to use a dust mask to avoid inhaling any dust or dirt from the case because dust may cause allergic problems.

How Do You Measure Your Gaming PC Energy Consumption?

You may find it hard to determine the energy consumption of your PC by seeing the spec on the box or internet.

But you may try collecting all components’ power requirements and how much time you are operating them. Then you can use an online calculator to calculate the power requirement or by yourself if you are an expert.

However, this calculation will not give you an exact power consumption scenario because the consumption rate depends on which software you use.

You can use a power meter to measure your PC’s power consumption. You need to plug the meter into the wall socket and then your computer into the meter. This will let you measure the power requirement for both idle, browsing, and gaming. I think this is the best way for this purpose.

Ways to Reduce Your Gaming PC’s Power Use

I have tried to show how much energy your gaming computer uses. If you are already shocked at how much power your PC is consuming, then sit back and let me give you some tips on how you can reduce it.

Here are several ways how you can reduce power consumption:

1. Remove Dust

Dust acts as an insulator on the heat sink. With the flow of time, dust builds up in your cooling system and forces the cooler fans to move fast. And this extra pressure requires extra energy.

Besides, it slows down your PC, so you need to spend more time on it, costing extra money. This may cause hardware damage in the long run. So, clean your PC regularly so that it can run at its maximum efficiency.

2. Unplug external Devices

External devices increase power consumption. Devices like external HDD, DVD ROM, Speaker, and printer need extra power. Turn off or unplug them while they are not in use.

Also, check out our latest fix for how to get roaches out of Computer?

3. Use Energy Efficient Monitor

As I described before, If you are using a CRT monitor, then replace it with an LCD, LED, or OLED monitor. CRT monitors are now backdated and have no power efficiency.

4. Maximize the Use of Sleep and Hibernate Function

Sleep and Hibernate is a kinda similar system. But you can choose it considering how long you want to take a break from your PC.

If you are taking a short break, like one or two hours, then you can select the Sleep option. The Sleep option cuts power from some components but runs the programs on RAM so that you can resume your tasks when you are on screen again.

But when you take a long break like you are going to sleep, you can select the Hibernate option. It cuts the power supply from almost all components and uses only storage to save your tasks. It is more power-efficient.

Moreover, if you forget to turn off your PC, your PC automatically goes to sleep after a fixed time. You can fix the time manually from the settings.

5. Use Energy Efficient Components

Comparatively, older components use more energy due to deterioration and old technology, which is not energy efficient.

Renowned brands like AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and Asus regularly update their technology and use less energy than before.

Replace an old HDD with an upgraded SSD which consumes 50% less power than a regular HDD.

Replace your PSU after a certain time. Suppose you have been using the PSU for the last five years. During this time, the PSU may lose some capacitors. As a result, the efficiency of the PSU has decreased. Replace it and save some power.

While you are anxious about power consumption, you can choose AMD Radeon RX 5700 over Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super. AMD Radeon RX 5700 needs only 180 watts to run, while Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super needs up to 220 watts of energy. You can even go down to 120W on standard with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti if you are willing to compromise some performance.

6. Close Background Program

Running background programs requires more RAM, and processors also contribute to keeping them running; thus, more energy is lost.

Apps like Discord and others keep running in the background, and you can close them by quitting. And save some money.

7. Use a Better Cooling System

The cooling system plays a vital role in the efficiency of the components. If your CPU or GPU becomes overheated, the cooler fans start running at a very high speed. If you use a better heat sink and thermal pastes, then you can prevent the problem. Perhaps it may reduce utility bills and keep your PC safe.

9. Dim Your Screen

Monitor brightness is directly connected to how much power your monitor will consume. A brighter monitor needs more power to run.

You can set a lower brightness level on your monitor. It will also decrease the damage to your eyes because brighter screens harm them. If you find the color has become dull, you can increase the saturation, which will solve the problem because human eyes receive more saturated colors as bright.

Also, check out our separate post on what kind of data can be lost when a Computer is turned off?

Conclusion

Hopefully, you have enjoyed the whole article. Gaming PCs are expensive, and after purchase, it affects your utility bill. But I think you won’t give up on your passion or hobby.

On the other hand, if you’re an experienced, professional gamer, that should motivate you to plan to reduce your electricity expenses. I have tried to cover every point about how your PC consumes power. And I have also discussed how you can reduce power consumption.

If you buy your next gaming rig, then this article will help you take it wisely. Feel free to knock us if you need to know anything about your gaming PC.