How much it costs to power PS5 and Xbox Series S/X

From Digital Foundry: "Do you know how much money you're spending powering your consoles? As we head into a winter of unprecedented energy prices in the UK, it's a question that couldn't be more relevant.

To find out, we collaborated with hardware experts Digital Foundry to run a series of tests to determine how much energy each console uses, per hour, doing a range of different things: in standby mode, idling on the menu, playing a game, and so on. Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan then recorded the numbers in a table for this article."

[Orchard]

So basically, the PS5 is more efficient in standby/off, and the Xbox is more efficient when powered on or running games. And the Switch of course consumes far less than both when running games (as expected).

I keep seeing articles about power consumption in the UK, the energy crisis there must be really bad if they're counting 10-20 pounds per year? That doesn't sound like much money over the course of a year.

[senorfartcushion]

It is. It’s different being there. I play games and my gas and electric bills are 2x my neighbours, who don’t.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Huh, my gaming energy consumption is too insignificant for me to even notice a difference in cost on a monthly basis... It's when I cook too much is when there is a big difference in cost.

[isarai]

Dont think gaming is your issue, i game at least 2hrs almost daily. But during a dryspell i didn't really touch my console for like 5-6 weeks, the difference in my monthly bill was only like $5

I will say i barely use stanby/rest mode tho

[crazyCoconuts]

"And when the newest model was tested by the reputable Austin Evans, it was recorded as drawing 20-30W less while gaming, which is significant."
So newer PS5s apparently run as efficiently as the XBs while playing games while presumably consuming far less energy in standby

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Reputable and Evans can't be in the same sentence (regardless of the topic).

[Aussiesummer]

"Reputable" lol....virginal.

[kickerz]

Why did Orchard get so many down votes??? He/she is right . In every test ps5 uses way more power except sleep mode..even the newest model ps5 with 20-30watt less power usage when gaming is still the highest.... if you have a series x/s just turn it completely off every time or energy saver mode.

[darthv72]

Its just the way things are. No matter if Orchard is right... people will still down vote because its Orchard (and they dont want to admit that he/she is right)

[Nacho_Z]

Probably because pretty much everything he posts is disingenuous and people don't like it. Even when it appears neutral it's not.

[kickerz]

Yea I have solar panels so don't really care. Gas on the other hand... Glad gaming dosnt use gas lol

[CBaoth]

Orchard is a well known fanboy that is allowed to do so because it drives up site traffic here. He claims to be a programmer on well known video games yet makes hundreds of posts on N4G daily. So that tells us 2 things: He's either a basement dweller sponging off Mom/Dad or he's an unemployed pothead mooching an existence off some poor girl he hoodwinked. I'm thinking the latter since judging by his post history he has that "I'm too smart to work at MCDonalds but I have no degree" attitude in his posts

[Lifexline]

Agree it’s really not that significant my electric bill is never that high since I started gaming again. But I guess some people are penny pinchers.

[dadano]

The main thing is not the money it's the energy saving - you remember the climate catastrophy that is going on so we try to reduce where possible as already so many people are dying.(starving..)

[JackBNimble]

That's got to be sarcasm right?

[OptimusDK]

It is not more efficient only if you put it in instant on - which espceially is not nessesay on th xbox as the boot is very fast and you still keep your saved games in the resume function despite it beeing turned totally off.

[Hofstaderman]

This is actually a big issue for us in European areas. Thanks to the war the price of heating and electricity has shot up substantially. People are actually buying appliances like TVs and fridges based in their electricity unit consumption. Consoles are no different with the majority of us no longer leaving them on standby mode.

[SullysCigar]

Exactly. And the revised PS5 has reduced power consumption (and reduced heat) even compared to the original. This article hasn't acknowledged that, for some reason.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Because M$ needs to score points with their base while they watch ANOTHER great game come to ps5, while they still wait for Starfield.

[septemberindecember]

The article literally acknowledged that. It's like the second paragraph

[SullysCigar]

^ Sept. You might wanna educate Orchard on that point then, he's at the top of the thread claiming the consoles have the same power usage.

You won't do that, though, will you.. ;^)

[Asplundh]

"claiming the consoles have the same power usage"

Where did he claim that? He said ps5 showed better results when off and standby mode, while the Xbox's showed better when running, which is what the article suggests.

[septemberindecember]

@sully

Why would I do that when someone already quoted the article about the newest PS5 model as a response to Orchard?

[Tacoboto]

Orchard is somehow wrong, according to Sully who didn't read the article. Weird to call him out (for not being wrong?) in a comment thread that he isn't involved in. If you care that much about him you can go up there yourself

[VenomUK]

@SeptemberInDecember if games media is going to do an authoritative comparison then it should include all the models or current model, otherwise just including the oldest and likely least efficient model that’s not on sale anymore is manipulative by omission.

[andy85]

A big reason for replacing my day one PS5 was the lower energy consumption. New warranty was the other reason

[Aussiesummer]

I wonder how much playing my PS5 on my 83" sony a90j costs, hmmm 🤔

[nitus10]

A large screen TV can draw much more power than a gaming console. So if you wish to reduce your power usage you have to evaluate the power ratings of all appliances and that includes consoles and PC's. Of course that won't help if you already have those devices.

[gold_drake]

thanks to the sharp rise in electric bills in europe, i no longer watch netflix or youtube on my pc or ps5. i hate hooking up my tv to the internet but it saves power, especially while binging stuff.

its not been a huge adjustment, but damn.