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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) by lka1988@sh.itjust.works to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

I'm in the process of getting my Home Assistant environment up and running, and decided to run a test: it turns out that my gaming PC (custom 5800X3D/7900XTX build) uses more power just sitting idle, than both of my storage freezers combined.

Background: In addition to some other things, I bought two "Eightree" brand Zigbee-compatible plugs to see how they fare. One is monitoring the power usage of both freezers on a power strip (don't worry, it's a heavy duty strip meant for this), and the other is measuring the usage of my entire desktop setup (including monitors and the HA server itself, a Lenovo M710q).

After monitoring these for a couple days, I decided that I will shut off my PC unless I'm actively using it. It's not a server, but it does have WOL capability, so if I absolutely need to get into it remotely, it won't be an issue.

Pretty fascinating stuff, and now my wife is completely on board as well; she wants to put a plug on her iMac to see what it draws, as she uses it to hold her cross-stitch files and other things.

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[-] Majorllama@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I got a UPS cause the breaker to my room likes to trip if I am gaming and someone in the house decides to microwave something for 10 minutes. My desktop, three monitors (2x1080p 60hz + a 1440p 144hz) and my 3d printer all running at full tilt will suck my 1500w UPS dry in about 2 minutes lol.

If I'm not gaming and say just watching YouTube while not 3d printing anything that same UPS can run for almost 15 minutes.

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[-] Cooljimy84@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

What res is that monitor ? My 2k monitor is pretty hungry compared to my old 1080. Even just looking at the uk energy efficiency ratings for 4k tells shocks me !

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Right now I just run dual 1080p. I plan on upgrading to a 120Hz+ 1440p ultrawide at some point, but priorities... My entire desk setup is currently consuming 12 watts with the PC shut off. That's ~90W just from the PC.

[-] Cooljimy84@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago

So my partner and I use laptops (small flat) so really sip power compared to the 65 watt of the monitor

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[-] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago

Is your GPU reducing the VRAM frequency when it's idle?

If the vertical timing is different between the monitors, the VRAM will have to run at maximum speed all the time and that can add 20 watts or more to your idle power consumption.

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

No idea, honestly, it's just the default settings. I haven't really had any time to tinker and optimize it to my liking for a while.

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this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025
204 points (100.0% liked)

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