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🎮What does a gaming PC cost to run?

✓ Tested & verified Updated: How we calculate this

Gaming PC running cost

$9.31 a month ≈ $111.69 a year

That is 1.80 kWh a day · $0.31 a day · $0.08 an hour while it runs

Electricity used a year
657 kWh
Cost a week
$2.14
Cost a year
$111.69

The number on the power supply is a maximum, not a consumption. A build with an 850 W PSU typically draws 350–500 W while gaming and 60–90 W sitting at the desktop.

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How much does a gaming PC cost to run?

A 450 W gaming PC run four hours a day costs about $0.31 a day at $0.17 per kWh — £0.45 at £0.25, €0.63 at €0.35. That is $112 a year, £165, or €230, plus 30–60 W for the monitor.

The most common mistake is reading the power supply. An 850 W PSU is a ceiling, not a consumption — it describes what the unit can deliver, not what the computer asks for. A mid-range build under load typically pulls 300 to 500 W from the wall, a high-end one with a large GPU 500 to 800, and the same machine sitting at the desktop between 60 and 90.

Hours are where the real variation lives. Gaming four hours a day is 650 kWh a year; leaving the same machine running at idle around the clock adds another 500 kWh for nothing. Sleep draws a few watts, and it is the single easiest change on this page.

Four hours of play a day, every day, for a year — plus what the same machine does the rest of the time.

SetupDrawkWh a yearAt $0.17At £0.25At €0.35
Laptop, gaming120 W175$30£44€61
Console180 W263$45£66€92
Mid-range desktop350 W511$87£128€179
High-end desktop600 W876$149£219€307
Add: monitor45 W66$11£16€23
Add: left idle 20 h a day80 W584$99£146€204

Look at the last row against the third. A mid-range PC left running all day when nobody is using it costs more than the gaming does — and sleep mode makes that row disappear.

Frequently asked questions

Does a PC use its power supply's full wattage?

No. The PSU rating is the maximum it can supply, chosen with headroom for peaks and efficiency. An 850 W unit in a typical build delivers 350 to 500 W while gaming. To know your own machine, read a wall monitor or a software readout of package and GPU power and add roughly 50 W for the rest.

Is a console cheaper to run than a PC?

Yes, generally by half or more. A current console draws 150 to 220 W while playing against 300 to 800 for a gaming PC, because it is built to a fixed power envelope. Per hour of play at $0.17 that is about 3 cents against 8. It is not a small difference over years, but neither is it what decides between the two.

How much does leaving a PC on overnight cost?

At an idle draw of 80 W, eight hours is 0.64 kWh — about $0.11, £0.16 or €0.22 a night. Every night for a year is $40, £58 or €82 for a machine doing nothing. Sleep brings that to a few watts and wakes in a second or two.

Does the monitor count?

Yes, and people forget it. A 27-inch monitor is 30 to 45 W, a large 4K or ultrawide 50 to 80, and two of them doubles that. Add the monitor’s draw to the PC’s in the field above, or run this calculator twice.

Do frame rate caps and settings change the bill?

Substantially. A GPU rendering 240 frames a second in a menu draws far more than one capped at 60, and undervolting a modern card typically cuts 15 to 25% of its power for a few percent of performance. Capping frame rate to your monitor’s refresh is free and is the largest saving available here.

What about mining or folding overnight?

That turns a four-hour appliance into a 24-hour one at close to full load. At 400 W continuous, a year is 3,500 kWh — $595, £875 or €1,225. Whatever it returns has to clear that before it is a gain.

How we calculate this

Cost is watts × hours ÷ 1,000 × your price per kWh, with a month taken as 30.44 days. The preset of 450 W is a typical mid-to-high-end desktop under gaming load, shown with a 300–800 W range; the honest figure for a specific machine comes from a plug-in wall monitor, because component power varies with settings, resolution and frame rate more than with the parts list. Power supply ratings are deliberately not used as an input: they describe maximum deliverable power, not consumption. Monitors are not included and should be added separately at 30–80 W each.

Worked example

With Appliance Gaming PC under load, Power it draws (watts) 450, Hours a day 4, Days a week 7, Country United States (USD), Your price per kWh 0.17, this page works out $9.31 a month ≈ $111.69 a year. That is 1.80 kWh a day · $0.31 a day · $0.08 an hour while it runs

  • Electricity used a year657 kWh
  • Cost a week$2.14
  • Cost a year$111.69

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