- Feb 13, 2010
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So, lots of people are complaining about the power consumption on the 480. I've seen some reasonable complaints, such as concern about PSU requirements, and some not-so-reasonable complaints, such as the following:
"The GTX 470/480 costs so much more money per year, because it draws so much more power!" Have you really run the numbers?
Here's a calculation of the TOTAL cost per year of running a 480:
...assuming 5000 hours (about 100 per week) idle time,
and 1000 hours (about 20 per week) load time per year...
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3783&p=19
5870 idle: 164 watts
5870 load: 319 watts (crysis)
480 idle: 190 watts
480 load: 421 watts (crysis)
5870 total cost calculation:
164 watts idle
* 5000 idle hours/year
= 820 kilowatthours/year
319 watts load
* 1000 load hours/year
= 319 kilowatthours/year
820 + 319 = 1139 kilowatthours/year
* 11 cents/kilowatthour national energy cost average
= $125.29 per year
480 total cost calculation:
190 watts idle
* 5000 idle hours/year
= 950 kilowatthours/year
421 watts load
* 1000 load hours/year
= 420 kilowatthours/year
950 + 420 = 1370 kilowatthours/year
* 11 cents/kilowatthour national energy cost average
= $150.70 per year
Cost difference:
150.70 $/year (480) - 125.29 $/year (5870) =
$25.41 per year additional cost with a 480 over a 5870.
Actually, that's no joke.
Edit: Again, this is assuming about 20 hours/week load, plus 100/week idle for a total of around 120 hrs/week.
Source for power cost numbers: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
"The GTX 470/480 costs so much more money per year, because it draws so much more power!" Have you really run the numbers?
Here's a calculation of the TOTAL cost per year of running a 480:
...assuming 5000 hours (about 100 per week) idle time,
and 1000 hours (about 20 per week) load time per year...
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3783&p=19
5870 idle: 164 watts
5870 load: 319 watts (crysis)
480 idle: 190 watts
480 load: 421 watts (crysis)
5870 total cost calculation:
164 watts idle
* 5000 idle hours/year
= 820 kilowatthours/year
319 watts load
* 1000 load hours/year
= 319 kilowatthours/year
820 + 319 = 1139 kilowatthours/year
* 11 cents/kilowatthour national energy cost average
= $125.29 per year
480 total cost calculation:
190 watts idle
* 5000 idle hours/year
= 950 kilowatthours/year
421 watts load
* 1000 load hours/year
= 420 kilowatthours/year
950 + 420 = 1370 kilowatthours/year
* 11 cents/kilowatthour national energy cost average
= $150.70 per year
Cost difference:
150.70 $/year (480) - 125.29 $/year (5870) =
$25.41 per year additional cost with a 480 over a 5870.
Actually, that's no joke.
Edit: Again, this is assuming about 20 hours/week load, plus 100/week idle for a total of around 120 hrs/week.
Source for power cost numbers: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
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