Electricity bill impact?

[Shroomy]

What is the impact of having a moving customized wallpapper on my electricity bill on a standard build (i5 + Nvidia 1060?).
Just wondering what is the hidden cost of such a wallpaper.
Thanks

[Tim]

On my setup, it increase power draw by 10W. So if my computer is running / showing the wallpaper for 8 hours per day, 365 days a year, that would come down to 29.2 kWH. Now you would need to check your electricity contract and see how much you pay per kilowatt hour. In the US it's around 10 cents as far as I know, so that'd be around $2.9 of electricity each year.

In reality, it's obviously way more complicated because the app pauses in the background and might not be running 8 hours a day, it also really depends on the wallpaper and FPS limit that you're using. I would say: it's not much, but it's obviously measurable to some extent.

[Shroomy]

Ok, thanks for your reply. I was wondering if the unreal engine was unleashed 100% while running for the wallpapers. Apparently not! Glad to see a dev responding so quickly though. Have a great weekend.

[Shroomy]

NOTA: you mean a laptop setup? If you have that translated in GPU usage %, that would be more scalable for me. Thanks again.

[Tim]

GPU usage is not a good measurement of power draw because it ignores the power state of the GPU. You need to use a tool like GPU-Z which can give you actual information about the GPU, such as clock rate, voltage and - to some extent - total power draw. Like I said, ultimately it really depends on the wallpaper, your screen resolution and frame rate. In most cases, the power draw should be negligible.

Sometimes reducing the FPS by just 1 or 2 can place the GPU in a lower power state which can reduce power draw by a few watts. There is just no straight up "This is how much it uses" answer. In reality, things are much more complicated under the hood of a computer.

[Shroomy]

You are right. Fine, i'm on linux and got CPU-X and GtkStressTesting, with the watt / CPU and GPU separatly shown. I'll do my research with the soft regarding power consumption to be sure it won't be a watt sinker. Thanks again!

[Bulletツ]

Be aware that some interactive wallpapers will suck "more" power than standard video ones.

But even then , you can limit them in settings ( lower FPS maximums , make them pause when other apps are in focus etc) .

For me WP usually keeps my RTX3060 at around 10% load or lower when im not using the pc, that is peanuts. If you are actively using your pc that load number jumps around a lot (ex watching a youtube video it goes to 20-30%).

A the same time i believe your monitors running constantly will draw more than the extra load on your GPU.

Do you plan to leave your pc on with no standby settings enabled all day?
If yes you might see some extra power on your bill.

Do you use your pc normally , as in if your are not around it it goes in standby ? Or when you have another app focused WP is set to pause ?
If yes then no... you will not notice any more power being consumed.

[Halflife3]

Originally posted by Tim:

On my setup, it increase power draw by 10W. So if my computer is running / showing the wallpaper for 8 hours per day, 365 days a year, that would come down to 29.2 kWH. Now you would need to check your electricity contract and see how much you pay per kilowatt hour. In the US it's around 10 cents as far as I know, so that'd be around $2.9 of electricity each year.

No where in the US is electricity 10 cents a kilowatt hour. According to Energysage.com, the average cost of electricity in the US is 23 cents a kilowatt hour.

[Capt.Luke]

Originally posted by Halflife3:

Originally posted by Tim:

On my setup, it increase power draw by 10W. So if my computer is running / showing the wallpaper for 8 hours per day, 365 days a year, that would come down to 29.2 kWH. Now you would need to check your electricity contract and see how much you pay per kilowatt hour. In the US it's around 10 cents as far as I know, so that'd be around $2.9 of electricity each year.

No where in the US is electricity 10 cents a kilowatt hour. According to Energysage.com, the average cost of electricity in the US is 23 cents a kilowatt hour.

its 7.6 cent CAD in Québec, we here sell our Free Green hydro electricity to the U.S at 20+ cent :) thx Bro

[ZEROOblivious]

Bro's worried about his electric bill? You that broke homie? I feel it.

[Shroomy]

Originally posted by xZeroツ:

Bro's worried about his electric bill? You that broke homie? I feel it.

This is called planet-saver oriented consumerism.

You know the planet will probably be unlivable for most people withing 30 years? If not, welcome in 2023, find a computer, check wikipedia and type "green house effect".

To my part: I use a brand new Ryzen 9 7940hs (apu with a 780m embedded), maximum 60w TDP. I don't care my apu is loaded at 100% coz my electricity bill won't be affected.

This thread was a test: I now know. Some people here are far too interested in telling me the power consumption with that tool is no big deal at all to finally understand this is a real concern.

Now, if people want to watch a moving wallpaper all day, that's their problem. They had better launch an .avi video (not youtube, it loads the server and is carbon costly) rather than burning they GPU a la bitcoins' miner, that's their problem. Just keep in mind China is one of the biggest providers of chips (with Taiwan), so... if you still wanna have a GPU during the incoming war, best not to burn that soon-to-be rare item :) :) :). Or prep GPU/CPU stocks.

Anyways, I don't see where this program is remotely usefull as you probably use your PC for gaming/office/videos/podcasts. if you are using your computer for normal activities, or, as I do, use your freetime for social activities like a normal human being.

But maybe you are socially broke?