{"id":22993,"date":"2023-07-17T12:27:06","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T10:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/g100.us\/?p=22993"},"modified":"2023-07-17T12:27:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T10:27:12","slug":"how-much-power-does-a-pc-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Power Does a PC Use? Power Draw Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_39 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-668440771b07e\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" 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\" \/><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" 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><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-668440771b07e\" class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-668440771b07e\" checked><nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 \"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#How_PC_Power_Consumption_Is_Measured\" title=\"How PC Power Consumption Is Measured\">How PC Power Consumption Is Measured<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#The_Many_Benefits_of_Power_Efficiency\" title=\"The Many Benefits of Power Efficiency\">The Many Benefits of Power Efficiency<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#How_Much_Power_Does_a_Content_Creation_Rendering_PC_Use\" title=\"How Much Power Does a Content Creation &amp; Rendering PC Use?\">How Much Power Does a Content Creation &amp; Rendering PC Use?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#What_Goes_Into_a_Content_Creation_Rendering_PC\" title=\"What Goes Into a Content Creation &amp; Rendering PC?\">What Goes Into a Content Creation &amp; Rendering PC?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#Rendering_PC_Power_Consumption_Expectations\" title=\"Rendering PC Power Consumption Expectations\">Rendering PC Power Consumption Expectations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#How_Much_Power_Does_a_Gaming_PC_Use\" title=\"How Much Power Does a Gaming PC Use?\">How Much Power Does a Gaming PC Use?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#What_Goes_Into_a_Gaming_PC\" title=\"What Goes Into a Gaming PC?\">What Goes Into a Gaming PC?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#Gaming_PC_Power_Consumption_Expectations\" title=\"Gaming PC Power Consumption Expectations\">Gaming PC Power Consumption Expectations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#How_Much_Power_Does_an_Office_PC_Use\" title=\"How Much Power Does an Office PC Use?\">How Much Power Does an Office PC Use?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#What_Goes_Into_an_Office_PC\" title=\"What Goes Into an Office PC?\">What Goes Into an Office PC?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#Office_PC_Power_Consumption_Expectations\" title=\"Office PC Power Consumption Expectations\">Office PC Power Consumption Expectations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#Conclusion\" title=\"Conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#FAQ\" title=\"FAQ\">FAQ<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#How_do_I_check_my_own_PCs_power_consumption\" title=\"How do I check my own PC\u2019s power consumption?\">How do I check my own PC\u2019s power consumption?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#How_much_wattage_does_my_Power_Supply_need\" title=\"How much wattage does my Power Supply need?\">How much wattage does my Power Supply need?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#What_is_an_Uninterruptible_Power_Supply\" title=\"What is an Uninterruptible Power Supply?\">What is an Uninterruptible Power Supply?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-much-power-does-a-pc-use\/#Over_to_You\" title=\"Over to You\">Over to You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>So, how much power does a PC use, and how are we going to answer that very general-sounding question?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stick around and I\u2019ll be answering these questions and many more, including walking you through a \u201csimulation\u201d of what kind of power consumption you can expect from PCs on the market today, and tools to measure it properly!<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_PC_Power_Consumption_Is_Measured\"><\/span>How PC Power Consumption Is Measured<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>PC power supplies are sold according to <strong><em>wattage<\/em><\/strong>, so consumption, too, is generally measured in wattage.<\/p>\n<p>Uninterruptible Power Supplies are sold according to <strong><em>VA (Volt-Ampere)<\/em><\/strong>, but...these are <em>ultimately<\/em> the same metric as <strong>Watt<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Many_Benefits_of_Power_Efficiency\"><\/span>The Many Benefits of Power Efficiency<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20230\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings.jpg\" alt=\"80 Plus Ratings\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20230 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"80 Plus Ratings\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/10\/80-Plus-Ratings.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s talk about power efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Power Supply load isn\u2019t solely reliant on how much power your PC is actually pulling in that moment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Power Efficiency is a significant factor for your power bill and the levels of excess heat and noise you can expect your Power Supply to make while it\u2019s in use.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22998\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads.jpg\" alt=\"PSU efficiency and system loads\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22998 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PSU efficiency and system loads\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/PSU-efficiency-and-system-loads.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>The <strong>more efficient<\/strong> your Power Supply\u2019s operation, the <strong>quieter and <em>cooler<\/em><\/strong> it will be able to run.<\/p>\n<p>In order to answer <strong>how <em>much<\/em> power a PC uses,<\/strong> I\u2019m going to need to break down the question into a few bigger sections to correspond to what you can expect moving further into this article.<\/p>\n<p>Before we get too deep into it, though, let\u2019s establish at least a <em>baseline<\/em> expectation. Modern <strong>low-power<\/strong> PC designs can easily use ~450W or smaller PSU without issues.<\/p>\n<p>However, gaming and professional-oriented PCs tend to have beefier PSU requirements due to <em>using<\/em> much beefier CPUs and (multiple) GPUs to get their work done.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll try to help establish firmer ranges for different use cases throughout the rest of the article but <strong>expect the power consumption to scale to the budget of your PC<\/strong>, generally speaking.<\/p>\n<p>So why talk about efficiency? Well, if we're answering the question of how much power the PC uses it'll be less than what is pulled from your wall outlet. A lot will be lost in electricity conversion\/regulation within your PSU (depending on its efficiency) and some more will be lost within each of your PC's components through heat, so your PC will use less than what the power meter on your wall outlet reads.<\/p>\n<p>That said, even in a worst-case scenario, you shouldn't lose more than 10-20% of electricity to inefficiencies and heat, but do take the numbers we'll be listing in this article with a bit of approximation.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Much_Power_Does_a_Content_Creation_Rendering_PC_Use\"><\/span>How Much Power Does a Content Creation &amp; Rendering PC Use?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Goes_Into_a_Content_Creation_Rendering_PC\"><\/span>What Goes Into a Content Creation &amp; Rendering PC?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Powerful <strong>Multi-Core Focused<\/strong> CPU<\/li>\n<li>High RAM <strong>Capacity<\/strong> To Project Scale<\/li>\n<li>NVMe Solid State <strong>Storage<\/strong> To Project Scale<\/li>\n<li>Graphics Card <strong>Power <\/strong>To Budget, Multi-GPU Scales Well<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rendering_PC_Power_Consumption_Expectations\"><\/span>Rendering PC Power Consumption Expectations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Like <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/server-guide\/\">server PCs<\/a>, <strong>a rendering PC\u2019s power consumption will scale in pretty much direct proportion to your budget<\/strong>, but let\u2019s discuss rendering-oriented PC hardware as it exists on the market today.<\/p>\n<p>On the budget and mid-range of rendering PC setups, the aforementioned scaling-to-budget will pretty much apply as you expect.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re only using a single GPU in your rendering build<\/strong>, you\u2019re unlikely to <em>need<\/em> a PSU with a higher wattage than 750W (the requirement for a single RTX 4080 GPU) for some time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Besides the GPU, most other components in your PC won\u2019t use that much powe<\/strong>r.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the CPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, a CPU generally isn\u2019t going to use much more than ~<a href=\"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/review\/intel-core-i9-12900k-alder-lake-review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">125-250 Watts<\/a> by itself AT THE MOST. Graphics Cards have long been the culprit for the most egregious power consumption in a PC build.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, if you plan on overclocking your hardware or using more than one GPU...your power supply requirements are going to start stacking<\/strong>. The aforementioned RTX 4080 demands a 750W PSU as a minimum, but actually only consumes up to 320 Watts of power by itself.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22999\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking.jpg\" alt=\"GPU Overclocking\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22999 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"GPU Overclocking\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/GPU-Overclocking.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Slapping a second RTX 4080 into the same PC will mean 640 Watts of power are being dedicated <em>solely<\/em> to GPU power, <strong>necessitating<\/strong> a PSU bump to at least 1200 Watts just to still have overhead when you\u2019re pushing that much raw horsepower.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fortunately, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/combine-processing-power-two-computers\/#What_Workloads_Can_Be_Run_On_Multiple_PCs\"><strong>rendering applications and other high-productivity workloads tend to scale pretty well across multiple GPUs<\/strong><\/a> or even PCs, unlike games.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Multi-GPU setups arguably make <em>more<\/em> sense to a rendering-focused PC build than a single high-end card<\/strong>, since the scalability of these workloads allows for combining weaker GPUs to beat a single, stronger GPU as a matter of course.<\/p>\n<p>All that said, definitely <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/open-air-vs-blower-style-gpus\/\"><strong>use a blower-style cooler for a multi-GPU setup<\/strong><\/a>, if available.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23000\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs.jpg\" alt=\"Benefits of Blower Style GPUs\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23000 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Benefits of Blower Style GPUs\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Benefits-of-Blower-Style-GPUs.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Much_Power_Does_a_Gaming_PC_Use\"><\/span>How Much Power Does a Gaming PC Use?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Goes_Into_a_Gaming_PC\"><\/span>What Goes Into a Gaming PC?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Powerful <strong>Single-Core Focused<\/strong> CPU<\/li>\n<li>Moderate RAM <strong>Capacity<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Solid State <strong>Storage<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Graphics Card <strong>Power <\/strong>To Budget, <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-many-gpus-can-you-use-pc\/\"><em>Single<\/em> GPU Is Best<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gaming_PC_Power_Consumption_Expectations\"><\/span>Gaming PC Power Consumption Expectations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re opting for a gaming PC, your power consumption can also get pretty high up there, <strong>especially<\/strong> if you decide to start overclocking your CPU or your GPU.<\/p>\n<p>However, modern gaming PCs also run into a few key limitations that should be kept in mind for this article.<\/p>\n<p>The most important of those limitations in this power consumption discussion is actually multi-GPU support. Or, really, the <strong>lack thereof<\/strong> of multi-GPU support in modern PC games.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_23001\" style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23001\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23001\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance.jpg\" alt=\"Wolfenstein Youngblood Multi GPU Performance\" width=\"1920\" height=\"963\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-1024x514.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-768x385.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-1536x770.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23001\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23001 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201920%20963%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Wolfenstein Youngblood Multi GPU Performance\" width=\"1920\" height=\"963\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201920%20963%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-1024x514.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-768x385.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance-1536x770.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/Wolfenstein-Youngblood-Multi-GPU-Performance.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-23001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=i1dGQiNfCAc&amp;t=752s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Linus Tech Tips<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>The nature of games as real-time workloads makes them pretty difficult to distribute across multiple processors at the same time<\/strong>. This doesn\u2019t just mean graphics processors, either\u2014 until recently, the majority of game engines were barely equipped to make proper use of a quad-core CPU, much less today\u2019s eight-core-and-higher chips.<\/p>\n<p>So,<strong> realistically speaking, there probably isn\u2019t much reason for your gaming PC build to go past about 1000 Watts on the power supply <em>unless<\/em><\/strong> you\u2019re particularly insistent on using multi-GPU or overclocking the most cutting-edge CPU and GPU available to you simultaneously.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Much_Power_Does_an_Office_PC_Use\"><\/span>How Much Power Does an Office PC Use?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Goes_Into_an_Office_PC\"><\/span>What Goes Into an Office PC?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>High-Value, Multi-Core CPU<\/li>\n<li>Low to mid RAM <strong>Capacity<\/strong> To Project Scale<\/li>\n<li>HDD <em>or<\/em> Solid State <strong>Storage<\/strong> To Project Scale<\/li>\n<li>iGPU or Low-Power GPU<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Office_PC_Power_Consumption_Expectations\"><\/span>Office PC Power Consumption Expectations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Fortunately, your typical office-oriented PC isn\u2019t going to have particularly high power requirements.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As a general rule of thumb, you\u2019ll probably be well-suited with a 500 Watt PSU for the majority of office, school, and home PCs<\/strong> that aren\u2019t meant to be used for serious gaming or heavy-duty rendering workloads.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Even <em>that<\/em> can be somewhat overkill <\/strong>if you opt to build or buy a PC that doesn\u2019t have an external graphics card at all. The total wattage of a Ryzen 5 3400G CPU with onboard graphics tops out at just 65 Watts on its own, for example.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a myriad of use-cases for PCs and even more components to choose from and combine to create the perfect PC for your specific workloads. Each of these PCs will draw a different amount of power.<\/p>\n<p>We can still make some <strong>typical power-draw averages <\/strong>of popular workloads and components, though, so here goes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CPU Rendering PC: 300 - 500W<\/li>\n<li>GPU Rendering PC: 400 - 600W (add 200-300W per GPU)<\/li>\n<li>Gaming PC: 400 - 600W<\/li>\n<li>Office PC: 300 - 400W<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do note that the above numbers are a PC's actual power draw (from your wall outlet), <em><strong>not<\/strong> <\/em>the required PSU wattage. Depending on your PSU's efficiency and necessary headroom, you should have at least 200W or more PSU wattage in addition to your true power draw.<\/p>\n<p>Check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/power-supply-guide\/\">PSU buying guide here<\/a> to ensure you're getting the right power supply for your PC.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_I_check_my_own_PCs_power_consumption\"><\/span>How do I check my own PC\u2019s power consumption?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Want to check your current PC\u2019s power consumption?<\/p>\n<p>This can be particularly helpful if you\u2019re hoping to carry over a graphics card to a new PC build or just want a more solid idea of how your PC is contributing to the consumption of your power bill each month.<\/p>\n<p>Running through all the power consumption checking methods is a bit out of the scale of <em>this <\/em>article, but thankfully Alex already has me covered with a concise guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-to-check-pc-power-consumption\/\"><strong>How To Check Your PC\u2019s Power Consumption<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22915\" style=\"width: 2500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22915\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-border wp-image-22915 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator.jpg\" alt=\"OuterVision Power Supply Calculator\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator.jpg 2500w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-1024x570.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-1536x855.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-2048x1140.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22915\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-border wp-image-22915 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202500%201391%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"OuterVision Power Supply Calculator\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1391\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202500%201391%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator.jpg 2500w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-1024x570.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-1536x855.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator-2048x1140.jpg 2048w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/06\/OuterVision-Power-Supply-Calculator.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-22915\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Outervision<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_much_wattage_does_my_Power_Supply_need\"><\/span>How much wattage does my Power Supply need?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>That is going to depend on your specific PC setup and hardware. Fortunately, Jerry has already written a fairly detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/power-supply-guide\/\"><strong>Power Supply Buying Guide<\/strong><\/a> that you can refer to for step-by-step assistance with the PSU selection process.<\/p>\n<p>But for the sake of this article, I can <strong>at least establish expectations<\/strong> before you start earnestly shopping for power supplies. Mainly, expect a high-end PC with modern hardware to require <em>much<\/em> more than 500 Watts.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, a 500W PSU could take you a pretty long way, but these days the RTX 4080 has a <em>minimum<\/em> PSU requirement of 750W, and it can still probably run quieter and cooler with a high-efficiency 850W or 1000W PSU on top of that.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_an_Uninterruptible_Power_Supply\"><\/span>What is an Uninterruptible Power Supply?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Chances are if you\u2019ve read this far you have at least some concerns about stable power delivery to your PC.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As you should<\/strong>, because the opposite means your PC risks permanent damage every time there\u2019s a blackout or similar power delivery problem.<\/p>\n<p>If you live in an area prone to frequent blackouts due to poor infrastructure or what-have-you, an uninterruptible power supply is a great way to preserve the long-term health of your PC.<\/p>\n<p>You may also see a UPS referred to as a<strong> \u201cbackup battery\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As long as your UPS matches the power spec of your PSU, you\u2019ll be able to rest assured that your PC <strong>won\u2019t<\/strong> be prone to random power spikes or outages that take it out of commission.<\/p>\n<p>With the software and a USB connection, you can also have it safely and automatically shut down your PC in the event that it gets forced onto battery power while you are not present.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re concerned about PC power draw for reasons related to stable power delivery in your home, a UPS can go a long way in alleviating those concerns<\/strong>. It won\u2019t fix a power system that just <em>isn\u2019t<\/em> equipped for your PC, though, fair warning.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Over_to_You\"><\/span>Over to You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And that\u2019s it, for now!<\/p>\n<p><strong>I hope this article helped illuminate how modern PCs use power depending on how they\u2019re built and the workloads they\u2019re running<\/strong>. Of course, if you want the best results for yourself, you\u2019ll want to properly calculate the wattage of your PC build before you pick the power supply.<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, you can use a tool like the <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pc-builder\/\"><strong>G100 PC Builder<\/strong><\/a>, which will give you your estimated wattage and pick a matching power supply for you right away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In any case, good luck with your current PC or your next PC project!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Feel free to ask for further assistance in the <a href=\"#comments\">comments<\/a> section if you have any more questions about this or other PC hardware. You can also try <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/forum\/?__cf_chl_tk=GKj76FUQlh8H6UFknZhne1umsKJs0MxnLmwt23akYyI-1684589827-0-gaNycGzNDyU\">our Forum<\/a> if you want a more involved environment where other community members can chime in and you have way more room for discussing challenging projects.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, how much power does a PC use, and how are we going to answer that very general-sounding question? Stick around and I\u2019ll be answering these questions and many more, including walking you through a \u201csimulation\u201d of what kind of power consumption you can expect from PCs on the market today, and tools to measure...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2339,"featured_media":22994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[74],"tags":[122,216],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22993"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23278,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22993\/revisions\/23278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}