Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

igorslab.de

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 182 posts

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#71

Post by tgb »

bestouff wrote: post #63
unglaublich wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Your home heating consumes 5-50kW. In colder climates, the power consumption will be compensated by less home heating.

if you compare that with an inefficient electric heater. Otherwise, your gaming gear will consume way more electricity for the same heating power than, say, a heat pump.

True but doesn't change the conclusions dramatically, does it? If a heat pump is twice as efficient as electrical heating then you're still displacing half the wattage from your rig with reduced heating.

On the other hand, taking heat into account just makes matters worse in the summer, and I haven't known a gamer who takes half the year off.

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#72

Post by tweetle_beetle »

noobermin wrote: post #53
evandijk70 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely agree that a kilowatt seems very high for gaming and starts to have an environmental impact. Still, driving a car at 100kph takes around 20 kW of power, so driving somewhere is still a bigger burden on the environment than gaming.

That's peak power. You don't run at 100kph straight for hours but you will run your gaming rig at say 500W for three hours in a day (particularly for people willing to shell out money for such a gaming rig). The total energy per day might not be that different, you'd have to account for how much is involved in commuting in traffic.

The grandparent gave specific examples of "foreign ski holidays, gasoline-powered road trips". Extra context for those was provided with an example benchmark by the child comment. Original hypothesis was not about everyday car use.

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#73

Post by timw4mail »

bestouff wrote: post #63
unglaublich wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Your home heating consumes 5-50kW. In colder climates, the power consumption will be compensated by less home heating.

if you compare that with an inefficient electric heater. Otherwise, your gaming gear will consume way more electricity for the same heating power than, say, a heat pump.

An electric heater is ~100% efficient. The power generation is much less efficient.

The heat pump can be effectively more than 100% efficient, but that's because it's moving heat.

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#74

Post by rjsw »

noobermin wrote: post #53
evandijk70 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely agree that a kilowatt seems very high for gaming and starts to have an environmental impact. Still, driving a car at 100kph takes around 20 kW of power, so driving somewhere is still a bigger burden on the environment than gaming.

That's peak power. You don't run at 100kph straight for hours but you will run your gaming rig at say 500W for three hours in a day (particularly for people willing to shell out money for such a gaming rig). The total energy per day might not be that different, you'd have to account for how much is involved in commuting in traffic.

> You don't run at 100kph straight for hours

Plenty of people going on ski trips in Europe will run their car at 130kph for hours.

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#77

Post by tgv »

unglaublich wrote: post #39
jl6 wrote: post #27

I’ve always thought of gaming as a virtuous low-impact form of entertainment, insofar as it displaces real-world pursuits like foreign ski holidays, gasoline-powered road trips, or land-hogging golf courses. But burning nearly a kilowatt on a gaming rig feels like a step too far. Sure, the power could be sourced from wind or solar plants, but there’s still a level of excessive conspicuous consumption going on here th…

Why? Your home heating consumes 5-50kW. In colder climates, the power consumption will be compensated by less home heating.

Even if, in warmer climates the offset will be doubled by the AC.

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#78

Post by causi »

noobermin wrote: post #53
evandijk70 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely agree that a kilowatt seems very high for gaming and starts to have an environmental impact. Still, driving a car at 100kph takes around 20 kW of power, so driving somewhere is still a bigger burden on the environment than gaming.

That's peak power. You don't run at 100kph straight for hours but you will run your gaming rig at say 500W for three hours in a day (particularly for people willing to shell out money for such a gaming rig). The total energy per day might not be that different, you'd have to account for how much is involved in commuting in traffic.

My daily commute is 48.6 miles, at about 30 miles/gallon. 1.62 gallons per day, which when combining the energy content of the gas (38.685 kwhr/gal) and the refining energy cost (4 kwhr/gal) is a daily vehicle energy usage of 69.15 kilowatt-hours, plus whatever I use getting lunch. The greenhouse effect of my gaming rig is next to irrelevant.

Re: Up to 600 watts of power for graphics cards with the new PCIe 5.0 powerconnector

#79

Post by lm28469 »

noobermin wrote: post #21
junon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do photogrammetry. That's one use that will max out the entire system (not just the graphics card) for hours on end that has nothing to do with games or cc's. Just as an example.

600W worth of photogrammetry?

Whatever your problem is if it's remotely calculation heavy you can draw as much power as the hardware will let you (if the software handles it)
Post reply on HN