Research: actual power usage modern PC's

Saving..

How to save money on your energy bill is easy, firstly, do not use distributed computing programs that keep your system at 100% all the time, as this seriouly impacts your energy bill at the end of the year. Also downloading 24/7 is not as cheap as you think it is, as a PC will still use around £ 70 worth of power when you leave it on all the time. Leaving a PC on without using it is even worse, and if you wish to have quick access to your PC setting in on S3 stand by is a lot more sensible. If you really want to save power you can either switch the PC off or keep in in S4 stand by mode. If you think 8 Watt is still to much than you will have to buy a extension lead that you can switch off completely. This will not only enable you to switch the PC off but also swtch all the other equipment around the PC as well.

Conclusion

It is a good thing that both AMD and Intel are making more energy efficinet processors lately. Our test do show that the average power consumption of a system has increased massively over the last few years, and with power becoming more and more expensive people will need to start looking at what their system actually uses. The first place to look is off course the components that you purchase, like the PSU. Also not leaving your PC on unnecessarily or not participating in distributed computing projects helps a lot, and if you are not using your PC for a short period of time put it on stand by or hibernation.