As if they were exorbitant costs for gaming graphics cards not bad enough, rising electricity prices make things even more difficult. Not a good mix when you consider that not only the performance but also the power consumption of new game hardware tends to increase despite the better efficiency, see the latest example of the RTX 3090 Ti with a 1,275 watt power connection.
This graphics card is an extreme case, especially since there is a big difference between the theoretically possible maximum consumption and the actual consumption under load. So there is no reason to panic, but the hobby PC gaming is not only becoming more expensive due to high GPU prices, but also due to rising energy costs.
In this article you can find out what price increases we are talking about in 2022 and how much a typical gaming PC costs in this country in different scenarios per year. You save most of the money without a computer, of course, but as in the case of our author Sascha Penzhorn, you certainly don’t want to choose this route:
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Rising electricity costs: the extreme case
The electricity price you pay and how much it will increase in 2022 will vary from case to case, but rough classifications are possible. The situation can currently be particularly bad for new customers, as the example of the electricity provider E.ON shows.
The following table compares my own energy costs at the start of the contract in 2019 and the current costs with the current offer for new customers Tariff finder on the E.ON website in the same postcode area. I have not yet taken part in the usual round of price increases for this year:
Electricity price at E.ON in Essen (Gross figures)
| Price at the end of 2019 | 28,55 Cent pro kWh | 99.96 dollars basic price |
| Current price | 31,22 Cent pro kWh | 138.74 dollars basic price |
| Price for new customers | 61,63 Cent pro kWh | 238.71 dollars basic price |
As a new customer, you pay almost double (!) In this case, some providers charge even more. This can be particularly problematic because in the course of the difficult situation, some smaller electricity providers are retroactively terminating contracts with private customers. Then a new provider will be necessary.
Politicians and consumer protection criticize these high costs for new customers, among other things the mirror reports. It remains to be seen whether, and if so, when and in what form this will have an impact on the situation. Existing customers have to reckon with significantly lower, but nevertheless noteworthy, price increases.
So are the average cost of electricity according to the comparison portal Verivox up 22 percent in the past twelve months. The situation is easing despite the lowering of the EEG surcharge (Allocation to promote the generation of energy from renewable energies according to the Renewable Energy Sources Act
What does this mean for the cost of a gaming PC?
For our sample calculations, we assume the power consumption of a PC with RTX 3070 and Core i9 9900K.
Before we take a look at the sample calculations, that’s the word exemplary
to emphasize again. The power consumption of a gaming PC depends not only on the hardware used, but also on other factors such as the respective game and the resolution and level of detail used. How you can determine it for your specific case, you will learn in the section How do I calculate my own electricity costs?
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The following information is based on a comparatively high consumption of 300 watts. However, this is not unusual for a fast gaming PC in demanding titles. You can find such a value, for example, in our test of the Geforce RTX 3070 in combination with Intel Core i9 9900K when playing Year 1800 in WQHD.
Examples are also the (quite long) playing time of four hours every day and the electricity prices mentioned. The first value is a current average value according to Verivox (see the link above), the second stands for a theoretical price increase of 15 percent and the third for costs in the extreme case just described for new customers.
Gaming PC: Exemplary electricity costs per year with four hours of play time per day and 300 watts of consumption
| 0,35 Cent pro kWh | 153 Euro |
| 0,40 Cent pro kWh | 175 Euro |
| 0,65 Cent pro kWh | 285 Euro |
How do I calculate my own electricity costs?
To do the calculation for your PC, you can also refer to test reports with measurements of power consumption like ours or to Watt calculators like the one from the power supply manufacturer be Quiet
This allows you to measure the consumption of your gaming hardware including peripherals such as monitor and speakers over a longer period of time. You also cover the phases in which you are not playing but still using your PC, for example to work or watch videos. The power consumption then often drops to watt values in the double-digit range, but as is well known, small livestock also make crap.
The following formula is used to calculate the annual costs in dollars from your electricity price and the approximate power consumption of your PC as well as the playing time per day:
(Power consumption of the PC / 1,000) x electricity price per kWh x hours of play per day x 365 days
Using a specific example from the table above, the calculation looks like this:
(300 watts / 1,000) = 0.3 (kWh) x 0.35 (cents per kWh) x 4 (hours of play per day) x 365 (days a year) = 153.3 dollars
If you play half as long, you have half the costs and vice versa. If, on the other hand, the PC consumes 400 watts under gaming load, the sum increases by around 50 dollars; if it is values in the range of 200 instead of 300 watts, as is also the case with a current console like the PlayStation 5, the cost is around 50 dollars less per year and so on.
The energy costs for the hobby (PC) gaming are not only influenced to a large extent by the (rising) electricity prices, but also by your exact hardware and the individual playing time.
Are you already affected by significantly higher energy prices? And how much money do you roughly spend a year on electricity to run your gaming hardware? Feel free to write it in the comments!
