AMD Radeon RX 6000/7000 GPUs Reduce Idle Power Consumption by 81% with VRR Enabled

[Jokii]

Advanced veryion is to reach out and turn the monitor off when you stand up from your desk.

You can do Winkey+P if you have multiple monitors.
Or Winkey+L to lock the session, which turns off the monitors after a few seconds.

 

[bug]

Instead of leaving the computer at idle, maybe one could simply turn the computer off and turn off the power strip.

Well, the computer idles when I read stuff. Should I turn it off while at it?

 

[mzx9012]

Why not simply connect the monitor to the integrated gpu? Most people have a igpu and the performance loss is minimal while the power consumption should always be better compared to a mid / high tier gpu for simple stuff. Any reason not to?

 

[Makaveli]

I tested this yesterday after reading the article on videocards.

With VVR off I go back to 50 watts idle and with it on 6-7 Watts Idle.

 

[AusWolf]

24/7 running idle... do you ever? I dont.. thats a major waste of energy to begin with and kinda defeats any point of wanting to save pennies

I don't, either. It was just an example of a worst case scenario.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Hungary. The prices were changed in a way that up to 210kWh you pay the old, government subsidy prices, above that power will cost 5x as much for the part beyond the threshold. If your power usage cost 50€ before, it now costs ~215€. Keep in mind that the average income around here is around ~600€ (in the suburban areas it can be much lower, and pensions can be drastically lower), and on top of that food prices climbed up to twice the value for most essential items in just two years. My dads pension was less than 200€ and he had to use electric heating during winter months. The example I mentioned was his power bill and how much he would need to pay today. I had to change a few things around the house to push my power consumption way down, otherwise I would've had to pay twice as much as I do today.

Many local companies just cannot handle the increase in prices (gas prices also went tits up) and either fold, or increase the price of their products/services which further drives the inflation, making the average income have that much lower buying power.


Advanced veryion is to reach out and turn the monitor off when you stand up from your desk.

So, if you live in Hungary and make $600 a month, you need VRR to allow your $1000 GPU to idle 24/7, or the extra $200 in electricity will bankrupt you?

do you understand how utterly ridiculous that sounds?

Why not simply connect the monitor to the integrated gpu? Most people have a igpu and the performance loss is minimal while the power consumption should always be better compared to a mid / high tier gpu for simple stuff. Any reason not to?

Because every time you want to use the dGPU for, you know, GPU thigs, you now have to move the cable back?

Seems pretty obvious.

 

[AusWolf]

Hungary. The prices were changed in a way that up to 210kWh you pay the old, government subsidy prices, above that power will cost 5x as much for the part beyond the threshold. If your power usage cost 50€ before, it now costs ~215€. Keep in mind that the average income around here is around ~600€ (in the suburban areas it can be much lower, and pensions can be drastically lower), and on top of that food prices climbed up to twice the value for most essential items in just two years. My dads pension was less than 200€ and he had to use electric heating during winter months. The example I mentioned was his power bill and how much he would need to pay today. I had to change a few things around the house to push my power consumption way down, otherwise I would've had to pay twice as much as I do today.

Many local companies just cannot handle the increase in prices (gas prices also went tits up) and either fold, or increase the price of their products/services which further drives the inflation, making the average income have that much lower buying power.

I know that's a problem (I'm Hungarian by origin as well), but people earning €600 won't be buying a 144 Hz 4K monitor with a 7900 XT, so they won't have to worry about idle power consumption, either.

 

[bug]

I tested this yesterday after reading the article on videocards.

With VVR off I go back to 50 watts idle and with it on 6-7 Watts Idle.

This would indicate the GPU cannot decouple itself from the refresh rate of the monitor. If it can force it below 60Hz, it will lower the power draw. If it can't, it will just suck juice.
So it's not a fix, just a circumstance where the problem hides itself. Good find if you happen to own a VRR monitor though.

So, if you live in Hungary and make $600 a month, you need VRR to allow your $1000 GPU to idle 24/7, or the extra $200 in electricity will bankrupt you?

It doesn't have to bankrupt you, that was never a criterion. If you make $600/month ($7,200/year), $200 is significant though.

 

[AusWolf]

It doesn't have to bankrupt you, that was never a criterion. If you make $600/month ($7,200/year), $200 is significant though.

Sure, but if $200 a year is a significant amount, then you won't buy a $1,000 GPU with a $600 monitor, either, will you?

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Sure, but if $200 a year is a significant amount, then you won't buy a $1,000 GPU with a $600 monitor, either, will you?

THANK YOU. So many make this utterly ridiculous appeal to efficiency. "Oh well in sub saharan africa its $1 per kWh, how will they be able to keep the lights on when their SLI titan XD setup is using 1200 watts each instead of 1000! OUTRAGEOUS!"

It's all so tiresome. The last few years there has been a LOT of this showing up on tech forums any time power use is brought up, like we're all supposed to run our GPUs at 1 MHz or something.

It doesn't have to bankrupt you, that was never a criterion. If you make $600/month ($7,200/year), $200 is significant though.

Someone making $7200 per year is not going to have a $1000 GPU. The entire comparison is utterly ludicrous.

If you cannot afford the electricity for a high end GPU, if 20w difference is a big deal, YOU CANNOT afford a big GPU. PERIOD. And people who cannot afford a top tier GPU should stop complaining about their power draw, it is not a concern for them.

 

[Makaveli]

THANK YOU. So many make this utterly ridiculous appeal to efficiency. "Oh well in sub saharan africa its $1 per kWh, how will they be able to keep the lights on when their SLI titan XD setup is using 1200 watts each instead of 1000! OUTRAGEOUS!"

It's all so tiresome. The last few years there has been a LOT of this showing up on tech forums any time power use is brought up, like we're all supposed to run our GPUs at 1 MHz or something.

Someone making $7200 per year is not going to have a $1000 GPU. The entire comparison is utterly ludicrous.

If you cannot afford the electricity for a high end GPU, if 20w difference is a big deal, YOU CANNOT afford a big GPU. PERIOD. And people who cannot afford a top tier GPU should stop complaining about their power draw, it is not a concern for them.

Yup the old efficiency excuse which usually falls apart once you start running the numbers.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Thanks for your point of view that tells poorer people to "buck up" and use low end hardware because it doesn't make sense to buy one of high class. But it is still a fact that poor people also save, sometimes for many months, and buy because of passion.

 

[AusWolf]

Thanks for your point of view that tells poorer people to "buck up" and use low end hardware because it doesn't make sense to buy one. But it is still a fact that poor people also save, sometimes for many months, and buy because of passion.

I don't tell poorer people to use lower end hardware. Their wallet does.

If you earn $600 a month and pay at least $400 on bills and have the rest for food, medicals, and other stuff, are you seriously gonna save up to buy a $1,000 graphics card? Do you think it's wise?

 

[Kyan]

Thanks for your point of view that tells poorer people to "buck up" and use low end hardware because it doesn't make sense to buy one. But it is still a fact that poor people also save, sometimes for many months, and buy because of passion.

It's not a problem of saving to buy something, it's a problem of using it. It's the same as saving for a sportive car, you can buy it if you save money, but you will not be able to keep it (if you use it) because of how much it cost of fuel and maintenance.
You can buy a powerful car or graphics card but i don't think it's to store it in a garage or puting it on a shelve right ?

 

[TumbleGeorge]

because of passion

Please friends the man is not computer. Don't be.

 

[bug]

Sure, but if $200 a year is a significant amount, then you won't buy a $1,000 GPU with a $600 monitor, either, will you?

Maybe that's how you earn a living and you do?

I mean, it's not the end of the world, but if I'm paying for a super-complicated power saving engine (among other things), then it better do its job. Can we at least agree on that?

 

[Kyan]

Please friends the man is not computer. Don't be.

Everybody can do what they want with their life or money, this is totally not the problem. It's just not really smart to buy a thing that you can't maintain or use in the long term. You can buy a beefy GPU or a sports car and sell it shortly after, you will have your passion filled (100% subjective how much is needed to fulfill your passion) without losing more than what you can aford.

 

[AusWolf]

Maybe that's how you earn a living and you do?

If you earn $7,200 a year with a $2,000+ (whole computer) investment, then you'd better look for a new job.

Also, what job needs a 144 Hz 4K monitor? I'm curious.

I mean, it's not the end of the world, but if I'm paying for a super-complicated power saving engine (among other things), then it better do its job. Can we at least agree on that?

Except that a high-end GPU is not a power saving engine of any sorts.

 

[mzx9012]

So, if you live in Hungary and make $600 a month, you need VRR to allow your $1000 GPU to idle 24/7, or the extra $200 in electricity will bankrupt you?

do you understand how utterly ridiculous that sounds?


Because every time you want to use the dGPU for, you know, GPU thigs, you now have to move the cable back?

Seems pretty obvious.

You don't have to move the cable, you just have to set the graphics preference on windows. And I'm sure you can do something similar on linux but i don't remeber how i did.

 

[Evildead666]

I know people who put 100 bucks aside every month, and then buy a kick ass config every 5 years.
Dont knock people who dont earn much by saying they shouldnt, or wouldnt, buy a high end config.
Thats just plain wrong.
Also, top gpu's havent always been over a grand, its a recent thing, and we shouldnt be encouraging it.
Look at the price of flagship phones now!!
You can get a 2nd hand car for that price...

 

[R0H1T]

Also, what job needs a 144 Hz 4K monitor? I'm curious.

Twitch.Tuvalu

 

[AusWolf]

I know people who put 100 bucks aside every month, and then buy a kick ass config every 5 years.
Dont knock people who dont earn much by saying they shouldnt, or wouldnt, buy a high end config.

Considering how fast high-end systems lose their value, and how much that 100 bucks are worth for people on a low budget, doing that is absolutely stupid.

Also, top gpu's havent always been over a grand, its a recent thing, and we shouldnt be encouraging it.
Look at the price of flagship phones now!!
You can get a 2nd hand car for that price...

I'm not encouraging it. All I'm saying is that the average gamer (especially one on a low budget) doesn't need a flagship GPU.

Twitch.Tuvalu

Do you do that as a full-time position for $7,200 a year with no other source of income?

 

[R0H1T]

No but I'm guessing there would be at least some "streamers" who only do Twitch, for now.

Yup the old efficiency excuse which usually falls apart once you start running the numbers.

It's not an excuse so much as the more reasoned/sensible approach even for oneself. You buy less efficient things ~ you waste a lot of money on energy & you generally also have to pay more for the upkeep/maintenance rinse & repeat. This only helps the big corporations in the long run, I mean why the eff are we going back to oversized "green" EV's now

I like small cars & don't want to waste half on my life/on road in traffic jams!

 

[Makaveli]

No but I'm guessing there would be at least some "streamers" who only do Twitch, for now.


It's not an excuse so much as the more reasoned/sensible approach even for oneself. You buy less efficient things ~ you waste a lot of money on energy & you generally also have to pay more for the upkeep/maintenance rinse & repeat. This only helps the big corporations in the long run, I mean why the eff are we going back to oversized "green" EV's now

I like small cars & don't want to waste half on my life/on road in traffic jams!

I'm not talking about people that actually have legit reason. I'm talking about the majority that say they need to save power and give a billions reasons but then when you run the numbers its cost them like $20 extra for the year yet they complain likes its $2000 extra. There are many many people that use that argument and it always fails the numbers test. And of course there are some that the numbers show them to be true. But on most online forums I usually see weak arguments for it that falls apart when tested.

 

[rv8000]

I'm not talking about people that actually have legit reason. I'm talking about the majority that say they need to save power and give a billions reasons but then when you run the numbers its cost them like $20 extra for the year yet they complain likes its $2000 extra. There are many many people that use that argument and it always fails the numbers test. And of course there are someone that the numbers show them to be true. But on most online forums I usually see weak arguments for it that falls apart then tested.

It’s even more rich when half those people are probably buying $3-4 coffees every day or other day. The argument is so long in the tooth, and pointless.