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How to cut your gaming PC's electricity cost
Most of a gaming PC's power goes on the graphics card, so the biggest savings come from making it work less hard. These seven changes cost nothing and keep games looking good.
1. Cap your frame rate
If your graphics card is producing more frames than your monitor can show, it is using power for nothing. Set a frame cap at or just below your monitor's refresh rate, in the game or in your graphics driver. Going from a typical load to a light one on an RTX 4070 PC saves about £20 a year at 3 hours a day.
2. Use upscaling
DLSS, FSR and XeSS render at a lower resolution and upscale the image, so the graphics card does less work for each frame. With a frame cap on, that usually means lower power use for a similar picture.
3. Use V-Sync or adaptive sync
V-Sync, G-Sync and FreeSync stop the card running far beyond your refresh rate in lighter games, which has the same effect as a frame cap.
4. Turn off screens you aren't using
A second 27-inch monitor left on while you play adds about 35 W, around £10 a year at 3 hours a day.
5. Use sleep, not idle
Leaving the PC on overnight on the desktop still draws power all night. Set Windows to sleep after 15–30 minutes and turn off the PC at the wall if you are away for long.
6. Pick efficient parts when you upgrade
When two cards perform similarly, the one with the lower rated power costs less every hour you play. Compare running costs on any card's page before you buy.
7. Check your tariff
The calculator uses the price cap of 26.32p per kWh. A cheaper fixed tariff, or cheaper off-peak hours if you have a smart tariff, lowers the cost of every hour you play.