Power Consumption

We are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into an AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a 7,200RPM SATA-II single hard drive is used without CD-ROM or many cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

With the IGP only graphics, the power results are the best across the board. The 4850e and the 780G are very power efficient together. With the IGP disabled and the 3450 installed, the power requirements do go up a bit, but still within a good range for a HTPC. With Hybrid enabled, we see only a 2watt jump compared to the 3450 only GPU tests.