Conclusion And Summary
Although it is alright every now and then to splurge and buy the best there is, this kind of self-indulgence (combined with heavy utilization) is bad news for the electricity bill. While the enthusiast might enjoy limited doses of pixel delicacies on a regular basis and remain rather financially viable, the hardcore gamer with his or her permanent power consumption could noticeably be punished by the electricity companies.
The average user should stay away from high-end graphics cards altogether, because even if those products increase the potential of what can be rendered, the cards remain underutilized most of the time. Even though power consumption remains rather low (due to the amount of time spent idle), the electricity money is still wasted.
Those who decide to get a high-performance graphics card should be aware of the added costs. It is just like buying a car: even if you have just enough money for a Porsche, tires, gas, insurance, and taxes still have to be paid. And if that makes things a bit tighter, driving is less fun.
The differences between the various card categories are extreme at intensive utilization levels. With this brief analysis, we want to give you a point of entry and a notion on how to balance the required performance and costs through power consumption. Above all, gamers should avoid meaninglessly oversized graphics cards, as in the end, this is only good for the electricity companies. So think and calculate before you buy!
