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Game Console Energy Usage Comparison
Broadband writes "Modern gaming consoles consume more and more power, dissipate more and more heat and cause a lot more noise with their cooling systems compared to their brethren a decade ago.
While it's obvious that an Xbox 360 would have higher energy demands then a Playstation 1, the curious question is by how much? Even more importantly is the question of whether your console might be costing you money while you sleep. Preposterous you say? Actually quite the opposite!
We put every console in our lab through rigorous testing to find the answers to these questions and see who the energy hogs really are. "
I predict Jack Thompson becoming a huge proponent of energy conversation in the near future.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
Actually, it's a pretty interesting article. I'm impressed.
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While it's obvious that an Xbox 360 would have higher energy demands then a Playstation 1
Probably true, but not obvious.
Energy comes from oil. Oil comes from dirty Arabs. Dirty Arabs are terrorists. If you play the Xbox360 you are supporting terrorism /Fox News told me so
-Dipster
A more interesting article would have covered how much energy it takes to actually produce each console (embodied energy).
Uttering logically derived and empirically supported truths to the disciples of the orthodox establishment.
I don't see the merit of comparing consoles from different generations for their power comsumption. Of course they need more juice... but they're doing a lot more with it. This article would have been interesting if the PS3 and Wii had been out, but with only the 360 available to examine, we don't really know too much about the true power usage of the next-gen systems. The 360 might be the most energy efficient... I'd certainly bet that the PS3's Cell processor and BD-ROM drive will use more electricity.
Also, they labour the point about the idle power consumption a bit much. If I had paid $500 for a 360 and games, I really wouldn't mind paying $2.63 a year for the convenience of using a wireless device (remote or controller) to turn the console on, and $20 per year is probably much less than my PC uses to run, never mind my kettle.
But above all, I especially love this bit:
Ummm, yes. They forgot that the $20 per year saves the moaning caused by the two consoles and associated controllers cluttering up the TV unit!
Why didn't they test the N64? They have the Playstation and Dreamcast, both of which are from that era. Especially given that the Gamecube's energy consumption is so much lower than that of the PS2 or XBox, one would expect that they would test the N64. I wonder: are all Nintendo consoles more energy efficient than their contemporaries?
From the writeup: Even more importantly is the question of whether your console might be costing you money while you sleep. Preposterous you say? Actually quite the opposite!
From TFA:
Let's take a look at how much power video game consoles require while in standby/off mode.
Console Energy Leakage kWh Wasted Each Year Annual Cost
Playstation 1 0.1W 1.752 kWh $0.26
Playstation 2 2W 17.52 kWh $2.63
Xbox 0.2W 3.50 kWh $0.53
Xbox 360 2W 17.52 kWh $2.63
Gamecube 0.2W 3.50 kWh $0.53
Dreamcast 0.2W 3.50 kWh $0.53
USD 2.63 per year for something that cost over USD 300! Oh the humanity!
Uttering logically derived and empirically supported truths to the disciples of the orthodox establishment.
From TFA:
Of course, everyone knows that the Wii will be powered by fun!
The third most important thing I have learned in life: Squeeze anything hard enough and it eventually makes a noise.
Oh my GAWD! You mean I could lose almost $3.00 a year if I don't unplug my PS2?
But wait! Let's assume that it takes me 30 seconds to get off my lazy ass and move to the entertainment center, move the entertainment center, unplug the PS2 from the power strip, and move the entertainment center back into place so my roommate can still watch TV. I play videogames almost every day, sometimes in two or three seperate sessions. Just for argument's sake, we'll figure I do this 360 times a year. That works out to 10 800 seconds, or 180 minutes, or three hours.
Given that the federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, that means that if I spend the time unplugging the PS2, then I'll be losing money! (3*5.15 = 15.45, if my redneck math is right, which I think is more than $2.63)
I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
While the numbers apply to one console at a time, it is always worth seeing what these energy look like when you consider 500 000 people playing a time. The way I like to look at it is if a wind turbine provides 100KW of power, how many wind turbines do we need to satisfy the power demand. Taking the figures from the dashboard usage page. My math is:
turbines = unit usage * 500 000 / 100 000
so at the highest end with xbox 360 (145W) we have 725 turbines and the lowest end the Playstation 1 (4W) we have 20 turbines. That is a huge difference in infrastructure needed to satisfy out gaming needs. I'll let you do the math for others.
I am not sure the amount of energy produced by an average nuclear power station or hydro dam, so if anyone can advise me on them I would appreciate it.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I have my entertainment system on two power strips that it turn off every night and it hasn't affected any of them. The two things i do leave plugged directly into the wall is my old (pre-remote) tv and the cable box since both of them take a long time to restart once the power has been off. Other than that all the rest of the stuff remembers my settings. My dvd recorder doesn't keep the time, but i never use it as a timer, so it doesn't matter to me.
It may not save much electricity, but it is a habit I got into back in college when I lived in the dorms and I could hear everything humming in standby mode when I tried to go to sleep.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
So guys, why do such a half-arsed job of it? Why not be the best?
The catch is this--the "off button" doesn't really turn the cable box off, because it wants to keep processing the program information data ("Friends is on channel 7 at 7:30) that's being trickled down the cable, that requires the tuners and microprocessor and such to be on, leaving little difference in power use for the cable box between "on" and "off". This means that, when I turn the TV on, it can be 10-20 minutes before I have a fully populated program grid.
I'm a nature photographer.
Fail, the DreamCast came earlier than the other consoles from it's generation, but it was the same generation as the PS2, Xbox and GC (hint: the PS1 killed the Saturn while the full-of-lies announce of the PS2 slaughtered the DreamCast)
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
So you should be concerned over milage in a vehicle that cost you $30,000? What if it had a "sitting in the garage" usage (as many electric cars do), would you be concerned about that?
What logical connection do you see between the cost of acquisition and the cost of operation of an console? Would it make a difference to you if the console only cost $10? Why? A cost is a cost. It's all money out of your pocket and that $20 is a couple of pizzas you didn't get to eat.
Now add up the costs of all the other devices in your house that operate similarly. Your VCR. Your Cable box. Other computuing devices. At minimun wage you might end up working a week to have your stuff doing nothing. A week is a lot of time to invest in nothing.
Which brings us to the real point of interest in the figure, which isn't actually direct financial expense. Add up all the households in the country. You should be interested in the total fuel use of the nation to power devices doing nothing?
I think you should. At any right I am, but YMMV.
KFG
I'm less worried about the console than a new desktop PCs. Rumour has it that 1000W and 1200W powersupplies are soon to be standard fair (my spaceheater is only 800W) to support these pigs (and that doesn't include the monitor or peripherials. At the same time we can make pretty capable laptops that draw 30W, so it isn't like energy efficient technology doesn't exist. I can live with a computer that browns out the neighbourhood when I'm in the middle of the latest 3D gaming extravaganza, but I see no justification for a machine that consumes several times more power than maxed out laptop when it is sitting idle. This is a sign of twisted priorities due to weak legislation. PCs are now significantly contributing to stress on our environment, and an aweful lot of it is completely needless -- all PCs should have all low power modes that kick in for un-demanding tasks.
The best advice for now: 1) If you must run your peer-to-peer, do it on a laptop with the screen turned off -- not your ultra-gamer with the 300W video card 2) turn off your desktop when you aren't gaming.
In recent news a startling Sony press release has indicated that the PS3 will not in fact utilise mains power but will instead ship with a dedicated 180kw 6 cylinder diesel generator which will give mileage of a whopping 12mpg (Minutes-Play-Time per Gallon). Analysts predict that the production of the PSG (PlayStationGenerator) will take a toll on Sony's profitability in the first half of fiscal 06-07 and will have downward pressure on share prices.
In other news Microsoft have responded to allegations that the Xbox360 in fact runs on the imprisoned souls of ritually sacrificed children in a press conferance today saying that 'Microsoft at no time has employed the dark-arts to create it's products and that any negotiations with the Dark Prince of the Underworld have been of a purely strategic nature and that Microsoft does not endorce the ritual sacrifice of children or other persons, animals or otherwise'. Industry insiders have their doubts sighting the recent lack of sightings of Bill Gates first born, whome he and his wife named Damien, born on 6 June 1999, as possible evidence of dealings with demonic forces, this reporter will wait for more solid facts before making a judgement... More news at 11.
"The stupider people think you are, the more surprised they will be when you kill them..."