exactly my thoughts and drivers here. The only scenario where the GPU is at default, not even a slight overclock, is when I switch Gaming to my triples 1080p 75Hz rig that is driven by the same PC in the room
but for whatever reasons it happens less and less these days
I even push the envelop to undervolt my Ryzen CPU and most of time even gaming with Windows Power saver mode on while managing to maintain the 60fps locked I need in my Games
I am sure my whole PC would draw much less than 200W overall doing so, and its mega mega quiet even with 5Fans in it (I am using a CPU AIO) despite my case being flagged as a bad airflow/noisy one (MasterCooler Q300L) which is absolutely not true at all by the way
GPU barely reach 50degC (which is maybe 2-3degC more than with my Hybrids 1080Ti and VEGA LC) and CPU around 45degC at its highest
Just Amazing!
So Amazing that I am still at the PS3 Console Generation sitting in the living room and its taking dust lol)
Totally agree, there is a mental thing going on in most of us hardware enthusiasts to push thing to their absolute max, but with some small exceptions, that is just a waste of electrical energy
I pushed my whole system to the absolute limit, it was lots of fun, especially the 6800XT, I was and am still amazed of how much this card can push, but realistically for 95% of games I play, I barely need half of its power, hence the low power tuning. Good to know that if games come in the future that need to use it fully, there is a reserve there, and with how the GPU market is going, my card will live a long life in my system.
And yeah, one major change with this low power setup is the absolute quiet that it brings, I tuned all my fans down, pump down, simply because at ~200w (CPU+GPU) the heat produced is so low that even with fans at 25% and lower it still stays super cool, CPU barely reaches 55c, and for a 5800x that is notoriously hot, that's very cool, and the 6800xt almost never touches 40c.