PS3 is Power Hungry.

[ToonyLoons]

Link from GameSpot article.

The PlayStation 3: Blu-ray player, next-gen game machine, multimedia hub--and power guzzler. According to a report by the Australian Consumers' Association's Choice publication, leaving their PS3 on when they're not gaming would cost gamers A$250 ($239) a year in electricity bills.

That's the same as five fridges, and "serves as an important reminder to turn off video game systems after use." Before Microsoft fans get too smug, though, the Xbox 360 came in a close second place.

The PS3, while on and playing a game, consumes some 33.34kWh weekly--equivalent to around A$5 ($4.79). When on but idle, it uses almost as much, sapping 31.74kWh, or A$4.76 ($4.56). When the machine was off (with the back switch on) power usage plummeted to 0.30kWh or A$0.04 ($0.04) a week.

In comparison, the Xbox 360 used up 26kWh per week in power when on and playing a game--about A$3.90 ($3.73) in real money. When on but idle, the figure was slightly reduced to 23.47kWh or around A$3.53 ($3.37), and when off used up only 0.40kWh or A$0.06 ($0.06) a week.

Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo Wii used the least power--under 10 percent of that needed for the PS3. Playing a game, it uses 3.14kWh costing A$0.47 ($0.45) a week, and on but idle it drained 2.97kWh or A$0.45 ($0.43). When the console was switched off, but WiiConnect24 remained on, this dropped to 1.78kWh, costing A$0.27 ($0.26) a week. When WiiConnect24 was also turned off, this figure became 0.32kWh or A$0.05 ($0.05) a week.

The report also found that the Plasma TV set tested was also a "power hungry device" and required over four times as much power as a traditional CRT analogue TV set.

I wonder which PS3 they used for the test. Their might not be much of a difference between the different versions, but I would think the power consumption would be different between a launch 60gb and the current 40gb.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by ToonyLoons

Link from GameSpot article.



I wonder which PS3 they used for the test. Their might not be much of a difference between the different versions, but I would think the power consumption would be different between a launch 60gb and the current 40gb.

Why would you think the power consumption would be different? i would think it would be exactly the same. the storage is just different, everything else is the same. But, it does drain alot of power, i can see my meter jump on my panamax power conditioner when i turn on the ps3.

[ToonyLoons]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Why would you think the power consumption would be different? i would think it would be exactly the same. the storage is just different, everything else is the same. But, it does drain alot of power, i can see my meter jump on my panamax power conditioner when i turn on the ps3.

They have made improvements on production that could translate in better power management. And the current systems may be using the smaller processor which use less power. Although I am sure it would be not a huge differance. I would just be intrested in seeing the data.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by ToonyLoons

They have made improvements on production that could translate in better power management. And the current systems may be using the smaller processor which use less power. Although I am sure it would be not a huge differance. I would just be intrested in seeing the data.

Gotcha, makes sense. I thought about that also after i posted. Maybe at some point ill grab my brothers 40 gb and connect it and see if there is a difference from what the power conditioner meter says..

[surfdude12]

"leaving their PS3 on when they're not gaming would cost gamers A$250 ($239) a year in electricity bills"

leaving it on for how long?? the whole day?? 2 hours per day?? i'd guess less than 1% of all PS3 users leave their PS3 on every hour-all year

"That's the same as five fridges"
in terms of dollars? wow, i assume its a regular fridge (not mini-fridge)...$50 per year?? ($4 per month??) I want that fridge for my house!!! too bad theres no link provided...

[Skunkster]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

"leaving their PS3 on when they're not gaming would cost gamers A$250 ($239) a year in electricity bills"

leaving it on for how long?? the whole day?? 2 hours per day?? i'd guess less than 1% of all PS3 users leave their PS3 on every hour-all year

"That's the same as five fridges"
in terms of dollars? wow, i assume its a regular fridge (not mini-fridge)...$50 per year?? ($4 per month??) I want that fridge for my house!!! too bad theres no link provided...

The original source study said that it was if you left the PS3 on, but not playing any games 24/7. That isn't to be confused by standby mode (red light on), which uses almost no power. (According to their research, the PS3 consumes the most energy of any of the 3 current consoles when running, but the least when in standby mode.)

Also, the new refridgerators are VERY efficient. I've heard that if you have a fridge that is over 5 years old, you'll pay for a new, efficient fridge in electrical savings alone.

The link is in the OPs quote.

[fatediesel]

Plenty of people leave their PS3s on all the time for folding@home.

[Chris60119]

On on, or in standby mode?

[Elandyll]

What I note:

While power hungry, the PS3 consumes very little, and even less than the 360, on standby.

The PS3 has both a console -and- a HD BR player/DVD Player in the same box.

What about adding the cost of a DVD Player or BR player to the Wii, and the cost of a separate BR player standalone to the 360 ?

[Wreck]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

"leaving their PS3 on when they're not gaming would cost gamers A$250 ($239) a year in electricity bills"

leaving it on for how long?? the whole day?? 2 hours per day?? i'd guess less than 1% of all PS3 users leave their PS3 on every hour-all year

"That's the same as five fridges"
in terms of dollars? wow, i assume its a regular fridge (not mini-fridge)...$50 per year?? ($4 per month??) I want that fridge for my house!!! too bad theres no link provided...

I seen this article in a recent gaming mag, they show a frickin huge fridge lol.


Watch out FOLDING@Home users

[actionhank]

Well I guess this article would be relevant for people who live in Australia. We pay different rates in America; there's an article on ign.com about the cost of folding in the 50 different states. I suppose it would be a good approximation of what it would cost you to run your ps3 24/7.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/776/776347p1.html

[dk3dknight]

Not my fridge or my freezer, in fact our electric bill has gone down since I bought a ps3...

Must be lest use of other electronics

Of course my fridge is probably 20 years old, and my freezer is a effective heater.

[Shin-Ra]

Considering the components that are used, I don't see why it should be a surprise to anyone that a powerful games console is comparable to a PC.

[haushausman]

I was rewiring my surround sound yesterday crouched behind my TV and PS3.. it was on and blowing on me while I was hooking up the speaker wires to my receiver. I was sweating from the jet of heat the Ps3 gives off, anything that creates that much heat must be sucking down the juice.

You can't fuel a jet with lawn mower gas... beasts need to be fed properly.

[Skunkster]

I wonder if you could write off your electricity use for Folding@home as a charitable donation.

[Luis_A51]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Why would you think the power consumption would be different? i would think it would be exactly the same. the storage is just different, everything else is the same. But, it does drain alot of power, i can see my meter jump on my panamax power conditioner when i turn on the ps3.

The 40gig uses a 60nm chipset i believe,which uses a lot less power than the 60gigs 90nm.

Im buying my 2nd ps3 when the 45nm ones come out.

[jswilli1]

Originally Posted by dk3dknight

Not my fridge or my freezer, in fact our electric bill has gone down since I bought a ps3...

Must be lest use of other electronics

Of course my fridge is probably 20 years old, and my freezer is a effective heater.

I agree, the PS3 replaced my old DVD/CD player, Laser Disc, and VCR! So no more standby mode on components not being used at all!

[Psx0005]

The PS3 needs to work off that power consumption by following a strict Wii Fit regiment

[Mr. Hanky]

Consider that there are only about 50,000 "active" ps3 F@H users, right now, they could draw 10x the power, and it would still be a drop in the bucket compared to the gross power draw of all refrigerators currently operating in the field. It also works out to merely 1/3 the power consumption of all pc's in the field actively running F@H (while delivering a whole lot more TFlop processing units, as well).

The reality is that the 5x the power consumption is also wildly overestimated, whereas 1-1.2x would be more accurate. It's still a decent chunk of power (being comparable to a fridge), but not nearly as dire as the article tries to imply.

Gizmodo essentially demonstrated that they have zero idea of how power consumption works. Maybe they should rail against hair dryers, as well? The power consumption of one of those running at hi-heat would dwarf fridges and ps3's, alike.

[dk3dknight]

Originally Posted by jswilli1

I agree, the PS3 replaced my old DVD/CD player, Laser Disc, and VCR! So no more standby mode on components not being used at all!

Nope it replaced 2 computers and a ps2.

I own a xp that ill be frank sounds like a jetengine going off when it turns on.. I now do not need to use that as often or have a reason to.

My other computer is a 98 and its strictly for old strategy games, aoe, swbg, and steel panthers.

Other people use the 98 but less often, the xp is rarly turned on ah my ps3 keeps me busy, the ps3 is in my room with my tv..