How much does a gaming PC cost to run?
At the current price cap, a gaming PC costs about 27.6p per 3-hour gaming session, or around £72.05 a year with typical use.
Gaming PC
- An hour
- 9.2p
- A day used
- 27.6p
- A week
- £1.38
- A month
- £6.00
- Energy a year
- 274 kWh
350 W for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, at 26.32p per kWh.
Excludes the daily standing charge, which you pay whatever you use.
How it compares
Yearly cost with typical use, at your unit rate.
Gaming PC running costs
At 26.32p per kWh, with typical use of 3 hours a day, 5 days a week.
| Period | Energy | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Per 3-hour gaming session | 1.05 kWh | 27.6p |
| Per week | 5.25 kWh | £1.38 |
| Per month | 22.8 kWh | £6.00 |
| Per year | 274 kWh | £72.05 |
How the cost varies
A mid-range PC at around 200 W to a high-end PC at around 600 W, for 3 hours.
| Energy use | Per 3-hour gaming session | Per year (typical use) |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | 15.8p | £41.17 |
| Typical | 27.6p | £72.05 |
| Higher | 47.4p | £123.52 |
Entertainment appliances compared
Yearly cost with typical use, at 26.32p per kWh.
| Appliance | Per hour | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gaming PC (this page) | 9.2p | £72.05 |
| TV (55-inch LED) | 2.6p | £38.43 |
| Games console | 5.3p | £27.45 |
Ways to spend less
- Cap your frame rate to your monitor's refresh rate. Running games faster than your screen can show uses extra power for no benefit.
- Set the PC to sleep after 15 to 30 minutes of no use rather than leaving it idling.
- Your graphics card is usually the biggest user. A newer, more efficient card can use far less power for the same performance.
How we calculate this
We take a typical gaming PC at 350 watts, used 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, and multiply the energy it uses by the Ofgem price cap unit rate of 26.32p per kWh.
One 3-hour gaming session uses about 1.05 kWh. Use the calculator above with your own appliance’s power and how you use it for a closer figure.
Questions people ask
How much does a gaming PC cost to run a year?
With typical use (3 hours a day, 5 days a week), about £72.05 a year at the current price cap, or £6.00 a month.
Does a gaming PC use its full power supply rating?
No. A 750 W power supply is the maximum it can deliver, not what the PC uses. A gaming PC typically draws a few hundred watts while gaming and much less on the desktop.
Do monitors add to the cost?
Yes. Our figure is for the PC itself. A gaming monitor adds about 30 to 60 W while it's on.
Does this include the standing charge?
No. The standing charge (54.83p a day under the current cap, about £200.13 a year) is a fixed daily cost for being connected. It does not change with how much you use any appliance.