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GTX 480

Post Date: 2010-06-19
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TehWellz View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote TehWellz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: GTX 480
    Posted: 19 Jun 2010 at 9:41pm
Not sure if this is in the right section or not but here goes...

I see numerous people saying the GTX 480 will pump your power bill, mind explaining this one too me, like as for an actual #.

Lets compare it to per say the HD 5870, on a monthly basis, lets pretend nothing changes but the video card you use. How much do you foresee your power bill changing?

Thanks in advance
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WardTheSteak View Drop Down
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Posts: 605 		  Quote WardTheSteak Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 Jun 2010 at 10:22pm
Hmm Radeon HD 5870 with a tdp of 188w while the 480 sits at 250w.  One benchmark I saw the gtx 480 at idle was sitting around 220 watts, then at full load it was at 506w.  It beat the 5970 that was at around 498w full load and 194w idle.  Then, the 5870 was at 396w full load, and at 166w idle.  That truly is a huge leap in power usage, and in some benchmarks it has gotten close to 2 5870's in crossfire.  I would think that would translate to hurting your power bill easy.
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Posts: 605 		  Quote WardTheSteak Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 Jun 2010 at 10:32pm
As for other numbers I'm not sure how to calculate that, idk how much would be used throughout the day. 
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Patrick_DS View Drop Down
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Posts: 179 		  Quote Patrick_DS Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 Jun 2010 at 11:14pm
I wouldn't worry about the power bill too much, if your going to run 1 card? It's not going to 'drastically' increase it.
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TehWellz View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote TehWellz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 Jun 2010 at 11:19pm
I fully intend on going with one card and that was what I was looking for Patrick. 
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WardTheSteak View Drop Down
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Posts: 605 		  Quote WardTheSteak Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 1:10am
Yeah, i think it would probably only equate to about 8 to 10 more dollars a month or so.  So it all depends on how much you care about keeping your bills low and such.
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Cretae View Drop Down
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Posts: 7330 		  Quote Cretae Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 2:08am
This is my rant, and I'm really about running them in SLI. You are talking some real sticker shock then. Considering no res below a 30" panel NEEDS 2X, but a lot of people are getting it anyway, there's gonna be a lot of surprised folks out there.
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JJJJ_Shabadoo View Drop Down
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Posts: 320 		  Quote JJJJ_Shabadoo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 3:36pm
The average nationwide cost of electricity is ~$0.11 per kilowatt hours.

Using the numbers Ward posted above, the 480 uses 102 watts more than the 5870 at full load. If you were to run the systems at full load 24 hours a day for an entire 31 day month, that is only an $8.35 difference.

At 24/7 idle, the difference drops to $2.29 a month.

Obviously no one is going to either idle or run at full load for an entire month straight, but this should give you a general idea of the differences.

You can use the calculator below to figure out different usage costs:
http://www.handymath.com/cgi-bin/electric.cgi

Average electric costs as of March 2010 across the country are at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
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TehWellz View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote TehWellz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 3:40pm
[QUOTE=JJJJ_Shabadoo]The average nationwide cost of electricity is ~$0.11 per kilowatt hours.

Using the numbers Ward posted above, the 480 uses 102 watts more than the 5870 at full load. If you were to run the systems at full load 24 hours a day for an entire 31 day month, that is only an $8.35 difference.

At 24/7 idle, the difference drops to $2.29 a month.

Obviously no one is going to either idle or run at full load for an entire month straight, but this should give you a general idea of the differences.

You can use the calculator below to figure out different usage costs:
http://www.handymath.com/cgi-bin/electric.cgi

Average electric costs as of March 2010 across the country are at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html[/QUOTE]
 
 
Thanks alot for the information, very very helpful.
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Cretae View Drop Down
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Posts: 7330 		  Quote Cretae Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 5:57pm
Dude, thanks for the info! Changes everything.
 
A. My rate here in Sunny Fla. is more like .17/KWH  Sad
 
B. I misread my bill and was overstating the "problem" by a mere factor of 10!  Oops
(No emoticon for "what a douchebag"??)
 
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JJJJ_Shabadoo View Drop Down
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Posts: 320 		  Quote JJJJ_Shabadoo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 8:30pm
You're welcome.   
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WardTheSteak View Drop Down
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Posts: 605 		  Quote WardTheSteak Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 8:57pm
Yeah it seems that the only way it will truly hit your power bill negatively unless you're really up tight is when you go with a 2x sli or 3x sli config, and if you game a lot.
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JJJJ_Shabadoo View Drop Down
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Posts: 320 		  Quote JJJJ_Shabadoo Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 Jun 2010 at 9:23pm
Yeah but based on realistic usage, even then it's not that much.

I figure I'm on my computer at most about 4 hours a day on average. Even if that entire time I'm running my system at full load (which I'm not), that's only $1.23 a month difference between the two cards based on my energy costs (in Kansas). $2.46 for 2x SLI. And $3.69 for 3x SLI.

Even in the most expensive state (Hawaii - at $0.2779 per kw hour), those costs are only $3.51, $7.02 and $10.53
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Patrick_DS View Drop Down
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Posts: 179 		  Quote Patrick_DS Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 21 Jun 2010 at 12:25am

I personally think that both the power consumption and the supposed heating issues for the GTX 480 is being way over exaggerated...

@JJJJ that is indeed a very usefull post and linkies!

@Cretae Don't worry about it, that's how we learn! and It's only right to worry about how a power hog of a card will affect our monthy bills after all we all work for a living.
 
Hopefully this will ease alot of peoples minds and won't deny themselves this powerful and worthy GPU.
 
I opted for the GTX 480 in SLI and I can't wait!


Edited by Patrick_DS - 21 Jun 2010 at 12:32am
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Cretae View Drop Down
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Posts: 7330 		  Quote Cretae Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 21 Jun 2010 at 1:17am
Thanks, Patrick_DS, all my reservations about the 480 have been dispelled. And your SLI no longer makes me cry! It's been a good day.  Awesome
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TehWellz View Drop Down
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Posts: 11 		  Quote TehWellz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 21 Jun 2010 at 1:23am
This is exactly the type of information I think we needed to settle alot of rumors that were being passed around the site.

I for the life of me could not understand why it wasn't logical to get the GTX 480 for 70$ more than the 5870, when yes it only benchmarked what 10 fps higher, I think the potential and longevity of the card will outweigh the 70$ that I would be saving myself now. Just my 2 cents. Thanks again everyone for all the responses
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justin.kerr View Drop Down
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 21 Jun 2010 at 8:50am
If you are folding, then yes, you will use a lot more power, but for the gamer, who shuts off his PC when not in use, your power bill will be barely any different. I have 13 GPU's in gaming rigs total at my house right now, and yes If I ran them all 24/7 at full load my power bill would be huge.. lol
The GTX 480 does use a lot of power, specs are not over/under rated. it is what it is.
The time before the GTX 480 is outdated should be longer than the 5870, based mostly on the fact that the GTX 480 has more RAM.. I run 2560x1600 resolution on my tri 5870 rig, and there is a few games that I can not run max settings because the games will need over 1Gb of RAM, I did not have that issue running any game at 1920x1200 resolution.
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