I have been putting a lot of serious thought into the GTX470 & GTX480.  I have read all the reviews and analyzed a lot of the data.  We all now know that Fermi is a hot card and uses a lot of power.  However, what are the realistic downsides to this?  The only thing I have been hearing is that it will cause the temperature in your room to be hotter.  That is a given. 

This brings me to a new concern as a result of the heat production of the card.  This concern is the cost associated with running the card in your computer system?  I do realize that many of us here already have 850W and greater PSUs and put them to good use, but can we really afford to push the limits even further?

I think a good review would be for someone to calculate the cost of running a single and multi-GPU GTX480 setup.  After you install the card(s), calculate the differences over a few month period of time to that of what your bill was the year prior in that same period of time.

The real cost is not only $100 more than the HD5870, but those GTX480 adopters will also incurr higher electric bills which could add up to a whole heck of a lot very quickly.  I'm guessing that the cost of running the cards compared to an = # GPU 5870 setup will be $30 - $50 a month extra.  That means in two months, there would be a $200 difference in the price of the GTX480 compared to the HD5870.  In a year, the GTX480 gamer will pay an extra ~$600 compared to the HD5870 owner.


DISCUSS....


edit:  The figures are guestimates for someone who games A LOT which I'm sure many here obviously do.

Somehow,I dont see my E-Bill jumpin $50 a month.

g1xx3r

Somehow,I dont see my E-Bill jumpin $50 a month.

As I edited above, the estimates are for someone who games a lot.  That means your system with the GTX480(s) will not be in an idle state most of the time but rather in a "load" state.

Maybe we have someone here who can do some math figuring for a best case and worst case scenario.

The bottom line is that you will pay more for your electricity regardless.  The question is HOW MUCH more.

Maybe $50 a month if you have your PC running at full load for 30 days. In general if you game lets say 4-5 days a week at 5 hours per day. The overall break down might be $12-$15 more per month.

You don't buy a $500+ GPU to be worried about your power bill or even power consumption. The whole break down of power being a purchase factor is beyond stupid. But hey if that is your deal go jump on the "being green" bandwagon and buy a 6200 card & a atom CPU.

sledgehammer70

Maybe $50 a month if you have your PC running at full load for 30 days. In general if you game lets say 4-5 days a week at 5 hours per day. The overall break down might be $12-$15 more per month.

You don't buy a $500+ GPU to be worried about your power bill or even power consumption. The whole break down of power being a purchase factor is beyond stupid. But hey if that is your deal go jump on the "being green" bandwagon and buy a 6200 card & a atom CPU.

Thats my feeling..Hell,here in Florida I know my e-bill goes up during the hot months.That doesnt mean I wont use it nor will I have it set on 65 either.. :).Ya gotta pay to play..These reviews that keep citing power and heat into the factor are silly IMO..

BTW..I read somewhere that the $per year is ~30..

sledgehammer70

Maybe $50 a month if you have your PC running at full load for 30 days. In general if you game lets say 4-5 days a week at 5 hours per day. The overall break down might be $12-$15 more per month.

You don't buy a $500+ GPU to be worried about your power bill or even power consumption. The whole break down of power being a purchase factor is beyond stupid. But hey if that is your deal go jump on the "being green" bandwagon and buy a 6200 card & a atom CPU.

I don't think this as stupid, power cost money and unless you have limitless funds or don't pay the electric bill this is cause for concern. As electric rates go up budgets get smaller. Now that does not mean go buy a 6200 it just means maybe not folding or gaming as much. Another factor also is not only how much power the card is using but how much more cooling of the room is needed.

quadlatte

sledgehammer70

Maybe $50 a month if you have your PC running at full load for 30 days. In general if you game lets say 4-5 days a week at 5 hours per day. The overall break down might be $12-$15 more per month.

You don't buy a $500+ GPU to be worried about your power bill or even power consumption. The whole break down of power being a purchase factor is beyond stupid. But hey if that is your deal go jump on the "being green" bandwagon and buy a 6200 card & a atom CPU.

I don't think this as stupid, power cost money and unless you have limitless funds or don't pay the electric bill this is cause for concern. As electric rates go up budgets get smaller. Now that does not mean go buy a 6200 it just means maybe not folding or gaming as much. Another factor also is not only how much power the card is using but how much more cooling of the room is needed.

Turn a fan on... 1 fan = $12 per year to run 24/7

quadlatte

I don't think this as stupid, power cost money and unless you have limitless funds or don't pay the electric bill this is cause for concern. As electric rates go up budgets get smaller. Now that does not mean go buy a 6200 it just means maybe not folding or gaming as much. Another factor also is not only how much power the card is using but how much more cooling of the room is needed.

I have to agree, that could be a consideration for me.  I live in a small-ish NYC apartment with a west-facing brick wall that heats up considerably from direct sunlight in the afternoon.  With the introduction of my i7 system with 2x285's I noticed last summer my a/c ran a lot more than it used to and my electric bill was noticeably higher.  With the temps & power consumption they're indicating, I'd have to think twice about two 480's.

So the 470/480GTX was not get a Energy Star rating?

sledgehammer70
If you live in a small apartment or studio... well sucks to be you :)

Yeah, that's a small apartment in New York City.  It actually doesn't suck to be me at all. ;)

chris-nyc

sledgehammer70
If you live in a small apartment or studio... well sucks to be you :)

Yeah, that's a small apartment in New York City.  It actually doesn't suck to be me at all. ;)

Or for the same price you could have a nice 4Br house in Ohio

Well, I witnessed first hand what 3 x 5870s did to my whole living room.  You talk about toasty.  Now, if my 5870 ran at 90 + degrees C, I think I'd go crazy.  Seeming that the 3 x 5870s hovered around 70C whilst gaming, I would say that a single 480 with its fan cranked up to 80% running at 90C+ would be about = to 3 x 5870s in the heat department.

I couldn't imagine 2 x 480s.  It would be:

1. Loud
2. Create higher electric bill
3. Create a toasty room or whole house level the PC is in

sledgehammer70

I still do not see you needing your AC on while gaming if you have a fan or even a cracked window. Now summer might be a different beast overall, but your going to have your air on regardless. So unless you have your T stat right by your PC than the cost to run air isn't going to be much different. Your just going to have a little warmer room than normal.

As for 90c+ cards... the GTX 295's put out that sort of heat under load. A extra 6c isn't going to make that big of difference.

If you live in a small apartment or studio... well sucks to be you :)

+1. And something I think all of us are forgetting, they had the fanspeed on AUTO for a hot card... Duh it hits 96C. Then (Hexus at least) OCed it by 100Mhz'ish and they hit 101C with fanspeed on AUTO. As a rule of thumb I use 100% fanspeed when OC'ing any card.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the TDP of the GTX 480 is 250 watts whereas the TDP of a GTX295 is about 289 watts I believe. I really don't care what the other websites are saying I believe this is what NVIDIA has stated. So if you are comfortable with your electric bill of a GTX 295 then a GTX 480 should be about the same or less.

Halo_003

sledgehammer70

I still do not see you needing your AC on while gaming if you have a fan or even a cracked window. Now summer might be a different beast overall, but your going to have your air on regardless. So unless you have your T stat right by your PC than the cost to run air isn't going to be much different. Your just going to have a little warmer room than normal.

As for 90c+ cards... the GTX 295's put out that sort of heat under load. A extra 6c isn't going to make that big of difference.

If you live in a small apartment or studio... well sucks to be you :)

+1. And something I think all of us are forgetting, they had the fanspeed on AUTO for a hot card... Duh it hits 96C. Then (Hexus at least) OCed it by 100Mhz'ish and they hit 101C with fanspeed on AUTO. As a rule of thumb I use 100% fanspeed when OC'ing any card.

with the delta fan they are using (22w version) 100% will be very loud. I see many going to water with this bad boy