Looking for ways to reduce your electricity expenses?
Looking for ways to reduce your electricity expenses?
Hey everyone, it looks like our electricity bill has been pretty high last year. This is probably because two devices in the house have been running a lot—12 to 20 hours a day. We’re currently paying 39 cents per kWh, but we’re spending around 380€ a month, which is way above our cost. We need to make some adjustments soon. One of the two devices we already know is a big issue: it’s an overclocked Xeon X5650 with a GTX 1060. Next month, we’ll be swapping it out for a cheaper Ryzen processor.
Our current setup includes:
- Ryzen 7 5700X
- GTX 3060 Ti
- MSI B450 M.2 NVMe 980 (2x8TB, 16GB each)
- Patriot Viper Elite II DDR4-3600 DIMM
- 750W Thermaltake PSU (sticker missing, but it’s been around a while)
Are there any practical ways to reduce power usage? I’m thinking about selling the PC and using it as a gaming rig for a Steam player, but that would mean less performance. My roommate on the Xeon machine is likely getting a Ryzen 2600 with a budget B450 board since he can’t afford much better right now. I’m not spending much, but I could sell parts to upgrade or trade. Any advice would be really helpful!
It's not a smart move to push the X58 when bills are high. The value could vary—rare models like EVGA or Foxconn might appeal to collectors, while a gigabyte board suits memory needs. An ASUS board would be better unless it's an X58A OC/G1 Assassin. A top-tier board could even offset the expense of an AM4 AM4 if you're willing to spend over $200. Consider used options under $70 for a B450 or under $50 for a B3/450, especially if you can undervolt components to save power.
the xeon board is an MSI x58 pro-e, not extremely valuable but we can still trade it for a bit. i reduced clock speed and lowered voltage on both components. my graphics card and processor use about 240 watts when fully loaded. i’m curious if switching to a laptop or roguelike would be better, since a gaming laptop might draw around 200 watts instead.
Received plenty of helpful suggestions. Made numerous adjustments to my setup and will switch to the other device soon.