Power Consumption of a Typical PC While Gaming

cliffski writes "How much does your PC really draw in terms of power when idle, when in sleep, and when playing a demanding game? I don't trust everything the manufacturers of hardware say, so I thought I'd get myself a watt measuring device and run a few tests on some of the gear I leave on all the time, and the gear I go to the trouble of turning off. The Linksys router drew 8 watts, the monitor drew a fairly noticeable 30-31, but what surprised me was how little power the base unit drew, even when playing Company of Heroes. Also, the variance of power draw for Vista seemed minimal, regardless of what you got the machine to do."

Comments

Kicking and screaming

[gearloos]

Personally my I^2 R losses are always better if I'm kicking the box and screaming after a good wow gank.

Re:I love kill-a-watt

[gEvil (beta)]

My wife is huge into low-energy tools

Obviously. She married you.

Re:I love kill-a-watt

[bucky0]

>>I can hardly believe that the router mentioned was using 8 watts, what is the time period there?

8 Watts is probably about 8 Joules / Second. You know, in that ballpark.

Re:I need one of those

[Holi]

Luckily I don't pay my electric bill.

A true slashdot stereotype.

Let me guess, late 20's and parents basement.

Re:What about my A/C kicking into overdrive?

[Kingrames]

You might be a geek, if your laptop gave you the itch.

Re:What about my A/C kicking into overdrive?

[OglinTatas]

you're lucky it was just crotch rot. Dell laptops have the dubious distinction of being the first such devices to cause penis burns.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/11/22/man_burns_penis_with_laptop/

I _always_ use a lap "desk" (a flat board on top, some padding on the bottom) when I use my macbook pro, to prevent just such a thing. As you know, it gets pretty warm.