Power Consumption of Current Graphics Cards

[HonestJohn]

Very interesting read. HD 2400 - 4870X2 tested as well as 8800GT - GTX 295 ....

http://ht4u.net/reviews/2009/power_c...tion_graphics/

This is the first time we can refer to exact measurements of the power consumption from graphics cards - measurements some readers possibly know from CPU-tests. We don´t need to rely on power consumption of the whole system any more.

The AMD Radeon 4870 draws more than 200W out of the 8-pin connector which was specified for 150W and also NVIDIAs GTX 295 behaves inglorious by drawing 104W out of the 6-pin connector which was designed for 75W. Our measurements show: when it is about presentation of performance in the high end market segment both manufacturers are on their limits or rather exceed them massively. In contrast to that with mainstream adapters (where the most money is made) AMD and NVIDIA do not violate their specifications, mostly they even go below them.

Generally both companies appear to have no upper limit in power consumption for their high end cards. Even in the idle mode (where efficiency is important for the electricity bill) only few models can satisfy the customer. Merely the GeForce GTX 285 can score some points within the high end group with a consumption of 28W in idle mode. In the middle class the AMD Radeon 4670 demonstrates with 8W in idle mode that a lower consumption is possibe and nevertheless delivers enough rendering power for the casual gamer.

[dawdler]

Strange, I've always read much higher figures for idle (stuff like 100W for the 280 and 150 for the HD4870).