Unbearable cost of electricity (laptop edition)

Continuing again from here (musings) and here (desktop computer usage). 

Of course I couldn't not test laptop too. This is relatively beefy one, with Ryzen 5 5600H processor and RTX 3070 laptop GPU. I used laptop's display for tests, not external monitor, so using one would add to these figures.

Spoiler: If it weren't a real pita to connect laptop to my desktop display/keyboard/mouse at home, I'd seriously consider using it more often even at home.

Idle power usage seems to vary a bit, from low 10 (!!!) to 25 watts, but seems to be averaging at 20 watts (this with display at full brightness).

Again I tried playing Control with it (which on desktop had power usage of 520 watts total), and was pleasantly surprised to see laptop to use about 160 watts while remaining perfectly playable (albeit with a bit lower settings than desktop). My desktop computer is using that much power when just idling! 

Factorio (same base I used with desktop test - that was using 190-ish watts IIRC) had laptop consuming just 40 watts.

Since I had it installed, I also tried Dyson Sphere Program, with relatively late-game base (sphere being constructed and multiple star systems producing stuff). Like Control, it also used 160 watts when running.

So, what's my conclusion? None, really. This was mostly to feed my curiosity a bit. And hope someone finds these figures useful.

Unbearable cost of electricity (now with numbers!)

 Continuing from previous post .

I was wondering about cost of gaming when electricity can be up to 80c/kWh on some days. I didn't have any power meters handy back then, but now I found one I have had for years. It's mostly cheap low-grade consumer unit, and absolutely not calibrated, so I take its readings as mostly ballpark figures.

Now, to start with, I have desktop computer with AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU, AMD RX 6900 XT GPU and a 27" 75 Hz LCD display, and I use old Sony stereo system (with speakers) for sound. All these are on same power meter here.

Booting up desktop (no stereo or display yet) gives reading of 90 watts

Add display, we're up to 150 watts (so display is 60 watts).

Turn on stereo set and we're at 165 watts (15 watts for stereo set alone, with no sound. Note that this is around 25 years old set so I expect power efficiency of newer units would be better). So, at 80c/kWh, that 13 cents per hour for just idling or light work (or at more tolerable 30c/kWh, around 5c/hour).

Game of the day is Assassins' Creed: Odyssey, which I recently started again. At Ultra settings (which my system can run, not fully stable at full 75 Hz but still quite well) total power consumption is up to 400 watts (so 32c/h @ 80c/kWh or 12c/h @ 30c/kWh).

Drop graphics details by a notch to approximately "high" overall settings drops consumption to 300 watts (24c/h / 9c/h). So this drops power usage by full quarter, with effectively zero changes in visual detail.

I don't have any newest AAA titles available, but nearest equivalent I had installed is Control, which I think had also on "high" settings (not ultra). This is a bit more demanding game, upping power usage to 530 watts (42c/h / 16c/h). 

I also tested Factorio, with end-game base. Power consumption (of computer, not the base!) here was expectedly lower, just 190 watts, but still higher than just idling (15c/h / 6c/h).

So, to recap. As expected, AAA titles will cost more to play than "lower end" games, but the difference wasn't as great as I guessed before doing the measurements.

If I were to finish the AC:O (let's say 100 hours - it's a damn long game), it's cost be 12 euros in electricity alone -- and that is at expected average of 30c/kWh prices! And even having computer idling at 8 hours day would be 40 cents. I guess for now at least it's best to put computer in standby when not needing it, and avoid gaming during most expesive hours. While these figures shown here may seem low individually, they still add up over time.

Unbearable cost of electricity

European energy prices are absolutely insane right now, not least because way too large number of people have been way too willing to rely on russian energy, ignoring non-monetary costs involved.

Month ago I had nice fixed-price deal where I paid something like 4c/kWh for energy, plus around 5c/kWh for grid/energy transfer costs. That deal expired and not I'm on spot (market) pricing, which today varies from 40 to 60 c/kWh (plus same 5c/kWh for grid). 

Not greatest time for EV. Funnily enough, most fast chargers still charge 20 or 25 cents/kWh, so it is actually often cheaper for me to use fast charger than my home charger. Insane. Yet home charging would still be cheaper than driving with gasoline, just by much smaller margin now.

I do have solar panels on roof, but those give their best output afternoon, between 13 and 17. Thus I try to schedule dishwashed and washing machine to that time, and always hang-dry clothes instead of using dryer as it is massive energy hog.

Some other things are more difficult to avoid. Computers for example. Many games, especially AAA ones, push both CPU and GPU to maximum, which of course uses more energy. It's kinda weird to turn down graphics settings to save electricity, yet here we are. 

I doesn't seem like things will get easier any time soon either. And really, I shouldn't be complaining about price of damn electricity when others are literally fighting for their homes at the same time, so I just stop here and salute those who are sacrificing the most.

Slava Ukraini!