Need a new PSU for my gaming rig to lower the electric bill

darkabyssofdreams · Sep 16, 2018

As the title says, I currently have an EVGA 850W Gold Edition power supply and I heard that if you go down to silver edition or something then it should not drain so much energy. I definitely want to try and lose the least amount of performance out of my rig. So if you guys could just help me out with finding a new one that is reasonably priced, that would be great. Thanks

Specs:
i7-4790K @ 4.0Ghz
Gigabyte Windforce 980Ti
WD Black 2tb HDD
Samsung Evo 250GB SSD
G.skill Ripjaws 16GB RAM

animemangamer · Sep 16, 2018

I don't see any reason to downgrade your current PSU to a silver efficiency rating. If anything most people would upgrade to a better brand PSU/ with platinum efficiency.

Also you have more than enough capacity and you shouldn't lose any performance because your total system doesn't even use that much wattage power.

kadec.a.mackinney · Sep 16, 2018

dont downgrade your psu. it will cost 150$ approx to buy a new psu so maybe if it makes you feel better buy another gpu for that juicy performance and overclock the cpu a bit. just so you know i have my i7 4790k at 4.6ghz without any voltage increase.

k1114 · Sep 16, 2018

Lower efficiency is higher power use. I'm not sure who told you silver is better than gold but they were trolling. The higher the rating, the more power efficient it is. The more power efficient it is, the less power it uses. Even if you got a better platinum or titanium for the price of a bronze, you will never recoup that cost in power saving even if your power cost is the highest on the planet.

You don't lose performance from a lower capacity psu. Either it supplies enough power or your pc will be unstable/crash.

DSzymborski · Sep 16, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

You would have to go up in efficiency, not down. If you are running your PC at full 100% load, 500W, 12 hours a day, a 5% improvement in efficiency would save you about $0.04 a day at average US electricity prices, or about $15 per year. The cheapest Titanium PSU on PCPartPicker, which is what you'd need to get this efficiency improvement, will cost you $122 (SeaSonic Prime Ultra Titanium 650W).

So under this scenario, which is incredibly aggressive about how much power you're using right now, you'll start to see savings after roughly eight years of using a Titanium PSU instead of your current one.

envy14tpe · Sep 16, 2018

I'm confused. If you want to lower the electricity bill then use less power. Your components inside the PC draw the power. The PSU just converts AC to DC and supplies it to your components in a safe way. If you want to reduce power then get more efficient parts.

The 980ti draws a lot of power. The gtx1070 is about same performance but uses less power. Also, if you are overclocking the 4790k it draws more power too.

So forget about swapping PSUs and focus on CPU n GPU using less power.

Twistfaria · Sep 16, 2018

Putting your PC into sleep mode any time you aren't using it = less power = lower bill!

darkabyssofdreams · Sep 18, 2018

animemangamer :

No I know, but I have to downgrade for financial reasons. So what would be my best option for a PSU?

animemangamer · Sep 18, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

You mean by planning to return this one and getting a cheaper replacement? I'm not exactly sure what specific model this "EVGA 850W Gold Edition" is or how much it costs but hopefully it's over a $100 then that would make some kind of savings.

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.01 @ Newegg)

Would be better than the one you have now.

DSzymborski · Sep 18, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

Again, there's no financial gain for this. The cost of a more efficient power supply (and you have to upgrade, not downgrade, worse power supplies tend to use *more* power) won't save you money for several years at best. You have some misconceptions about how this works.

The only way you'll save significantly money on PC power in the short-term is by using your PC less often. But it's not going to be much money under any scenario.

mortemas · Sep 18, 2018

DSzymborski is right. Envy had a great suggestion that would have the most impact on electric usage, but there is a cost to everything and it could take a couple of years to recover the cost of upgrading your gpu. To get an idea of the savings, a 980 ti uses 250 watts and a 1070 uses 150 watts, saving you 100 watts. On a system using a total of 500 watts, that's a 20% savings. Using someone's earlier example of usage, 500w for 12 hours per day, the electicity costs about $250 per year. The 20% savings means you save $50 per year. If you can sell your 980 ti for $250 and buy a 1070 for $350, it will take 2 years to recover the cost of upgrading. Your monthly bill will be smaller, but you need to spend $100 out of pocket for the upgrade. All that assumes the U.S. average of $0.12 per kWh, but in some locales electricity could cost twice that.

Twistfaria · Sep 18, 2018

It you are really serious about saving money on your electricity there are MANY other things you can do that have nothing to do with your PC that will make WAY more of a difference.

You can:

Change all light bulbs in your home to LED bulbs like these. They are as bright as 75 watt bulbs but only use 11.5 wattes!

Unplug appliances when not using them. Things like toasters, microwaves, coffee makers and the like will draw power even when not being used. You can use a power strip and just flip the switch on it instead of "unplugging".

If you have a washer/dryer washing your clothes on cold will save on electricity.

There are lots more ideas if you google "saving on power bill".

mdd1963 · Sep 18, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

So you are going to spend $60-$80 on a new PSU to save pretty much nothing (or perhaps $1 per year, assuming an efficiency improvment) on an electric bill...? Given an identical load, it is not as if an 800 watt PSU simply consumes 800 watts continuous compared to a 600 watt unit....each would consume 200-300 watts given a 200-300 watt load. (In short, PSU's are not like old light bulbs, using 60 watt bulbs instead of 150, etc...)

Maybe you can find someone to buy your 980Ti, but, that's iffy to save 75 watts by getting a 1070 instead...

SPend nothing, and play 10 minutes less..

failboat · Sep 18, 2018

You need a power meter to really know what you're pulling. make sure you're running the power saving features.
when sleeping you'll only pull 5W or so.
With the right settings during idle you will pull 50-80W. OC might turn off your power savings.

an oversized PSU will pull a little more W, but replacing it won't bring you any return. the mistakes already been realized.

punkncat · Sep 18, 2018

Twistfaria :

Thank you for that.

Yes, you will realize FAR more monthly savings by simply adjusting your air/heat a few degrees, and turning things off when you leave a room.

darkabyssofdreams · Sep 19, 2018

DSzymborski :

darkabyssofdreams :

You would have to go up in efficiency, not down. If you are running your PC at full 100% load, 500W, 12 hours a day, a 5% improvement in efficiency would save you about $0.04 a day at average US electricity prices, or about $15 per year. The cheapest Titanium PSU on PCPartPicker, which is what you'd need to get this efficiency improvement, will cost you $122 (SeaSonic Prime Ultra Titanium 650W).

So under this scenario, which is incredibly aggressive about how much power you're using right now, you'll start to see savings after roughly eight years of using a Titanium PSU instead of your current one.

Okay, so question, I have a 850W in my computer right now if i get a 700W or lower could that, in theory, help lower the cost?

J_E_D_70 · Sep 19, 2018

No... the psu uses what it uses at a given level from the other components. As stated by a dozen people in this thread, changing your psu will not save any money.

animemangamer · Sep 19, 2018

J_E_D_70 :

DSzymborski · Sep 19, 2018

MERGED QUESTION
Question from darkabyssofdreams : "Computer is using a ton of power, ways that I can help reduce that?"

darkabyssofdreams :

kanewolf :

USAFRet :

Aeacus :

mrmez :

DSzymborski · Sep 19, 2018

Do not start new threads with the same problem because you don't like the answers.

First off, your scenario is implausible.

And even if it were plausible, the things you suggest doing do not work because:

1. A power supply uses the power it needs, it doesn't simply use the maximum power at all times.
2. A lower efficiency power supply would increase your electricity usage, not decrease it.
3. It would take years for a higher efficiency power supply to start saving you money; a gold power supply is already very efficient.

These were the truths in your first thread, your second thread, and in any subsequent threads.

darkabyssofdreams · Sep 20, 2018

DSzymborski :

Dude I am just confused as you. I posted a new one because it better explained the predicament I am in. Whether or not it is plausible, my Dad's electric bill goes up when I am the computer. I have moved out and it went down, I came back, it goes back up astronomically. I get play less, which I am, but I am trying to figure out why its doing this because like you said, its implausible.

animemangamer · Sep 20, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

Whatever is causing your electric bill to spike up has nothing to do with your PC. It would take a large crypto mining farm like the one below to even do that much damage to your electricity bill:

Maybe even an entire server room:

Como-funciona-um-data-center-robusto-com-tecnologia-de-ponta.png

Gam3r01 · Sep 20, 2018

Just a quick check, did you ever actually see the power bills with your own eyes?

USAFRet · Sep 20, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

Not "implausible"...rather, impossible.

Consuming 600w, 16 hours a day, every day....$35/month
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/electricity-calculator.html

jankerson · Sep 20, 2018

darkabyssofdreams :

That's impossible.

Would make little to almost no difference in the electric bill.

Most would be maybe $5 a month in the power bill from the computer.

Someone is completely full of crap.

It is summer time, with the AC running the bill will go up.....

Need a new PSU for my gaming rig to lower the electric bill

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