Question I'm seeking GPU specs for efficiency @ desktop tasks, not gaming ?

[iOne iTwo iThree]

I see plenty of discussions on Tom's reviews about the power efficiency of various GPUs.
That's a good topic, but for my system 99 hours out of 100 or more it's actually just browsing the web or 2D architecture or maybe in TurboTax. On Windows.

Where can I go to see how the cards perform in terms of heat and energy usage at what amounts to idle?
In the end I'm looking for a card that can play a few games, but most of the day just coast....
Price is not so important, but clearly not looking for anything with fancy power connectors or exotic.

 

[JWNoctis]

Most current-generation graphic cards consume <10W with fan off on idle, assuming you don't have a fancy multi-monitor setup. A good rule of thumb here could be (8~10W*n(regular monitor)+12~15W*n(2K+/high-refresh-rate monitor))*1.2(if you use HDR).

For your use case, have a look at current-generation IGPs(Iris Xe 80/96EUs or Ryzen 8600G/8700G IGP). The latest of them more than matches the performance segment once occupied by mainstream GPUs at this point. These tended to consume even less idle power than dedicated graphic cards, and can certainly play a few games.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You could look at reviews like this;
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/powercolor-radeon-rx-7900-gre-hellhound/39.html

If you're looking for a GPU to play your game, look at the minimum required GPU and maybe go one step above.

 

[iOne iTwo iThree]

Do the cards differ much in "idle" power consumption between vendors or product lines? I like that techpowerup review showing draw at various loads!

 

[thestryker]

The biggest driver of video card power consumption at idle is screen refresh rate and number of screens. A card that can be powered by just the PCIe slot would probably give the most efficiency across the board by a small amount. The only real choice for that would be the RTX 3050 6GB. AMD's low end cards (6600, 6600 XT, 7600) seem to have pretty good idle with regards to cards that require PCIe power connections, but media playback and the like is probably going to be a little better on nvidia.

If you wanted to jump through hoops to maximize efficiency you could set your system to use integrated graphics, use two different cables to connect to the monitor one IGP other dedicated, and then enable the dedicated just when you're gaming then disable when you're done. This really isn't going to be worth it in my opinion, but it is an option.