As the hardware in our PCs keeps getting better, power consumption is spiraling out of control.
AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel keep pushing the envelope, but at what cost?
The Problem
Big 2022 hardware launches by NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel are absurdly powerful.
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TheNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090graphics card runs circles around its predecessor, the RTX 3090.
But it gulps down 450W from your power supply to get to function.
That’s 100W more than the RTX 3090 and the same as the RTX 3090 Ti.
Intel
Both the new Ryzen chips and the new RTX graphics cards are using TSMC’s5nmprocess.
Intel is using10nmand was using 14nm as early as 2021,but that’s another story.
Why Is Power Efficiency Important?
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The fact that everything is using more power is important for a few reasons.
It means that the consequences of that power consumption difference are carried over to you, the user.
Meanwhile, for a high-end gaming PC in 2022,650W is just not enough.
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You may need even more—if you’re planning to overclock.
That should speak volumes on its own.
Playing games on your PC pulls more and more power every time, and that has a twofold effect.
There are also the obvious environmental costs of increased electricity usage.
What Can Be Done to Change This?
It’s not like chipmakers don’t know this.
The purpose of die shrinks is to fit more transistors within a chip while simultaneously using less power.
But at the same time, making chips better and better is still causing power consumption to go up.
Basically, innovation is outpacing any power efficiency gains we’re getting.
These are the most efficient and will help you cut down on your PC’s idle power draw.
