GPU-Z and MSI Afterburner use different power sensors - Which is a more accurate reflection of the overall GPU power usage?

[himmatsj]

It appears that there are two sets of power sensors on the GPU.

MSI Afterburner and Nvidia Inspector's "Total Power Usage" are both identical values.

Meanwhile, HW Monitor, GPU-Z and Nvidia Inspector's "GPU Power Usage" are identical values.

So from the above, it's pretty clear that there are two different power sensors capable of reporting power usage from the GPU to monitoring tools.

At idle for example, the MSI AB reading is ~12%, while the GPU-Z reading is ~8%.

I would like to know, why is there a discrepancy here? Why are there seemingly two different power sensors on the GPU? Which is the more accurate reflection of the entire GPU's power consumption?

 

[Plumboby]

i found msi afterburner is most accurate the gpuz is a buggy beast @ best stick with afterburner i been using it atm on a few set ups & everything runs more stable & smoother overclocking i using it for a 260gtx videocard ,& been ,most reliable program out just read up of certain settings threw the msi manuals online & other users