[SOLVED] Upgrading from old card to RTX 2060 -> Actual power consumption increase??

[cruiserandmax]

I have a GTX 750 Ti from 2014 that I'd like to upgrade in anticipation of the new MS Flight Simulator. I have always tried to balance performance with power consumption and noise. I went for the GTX 750 Ti way back when becuase its TDP was 60 watts and there was even one manufacturer that sold one with giant heat sinks instead of a fan (low power/low noise!)... It looks like all of the real performers these days have fans, so I am willing to accept a little more noise- however since I am also working remotely full time (thanks corona virus), I'd still like to go as low as possible on power consumption...

The RTX 2060 lists a TDP of 160 watts, much more than my GTS 750 Ti. However when I'm not running massively accelerated 3D stuff (flight simulator or maybe other games) and I am just doing regular "work" in windows- VNC, lots of apps through web browsers (gmail, slack, calendar) how would the likely power consumption compare to my existing card? ie do these newer 160 watt cards really only start sucking that power when it comes to fancy 3D stuff?

I'm running Windows 10 on two monitors- 2560x1600 and 1920x1200.

If the "day-to-day" power usage is not that much higher I will probably go for the upgrade...

Thanks for ANY tips!

 

[RTX 2080]

I have a RTX 2060 KO. 160 watts is peak power consumption, not idle power consumption. Idle is very low and these cards overall give much higher performance per watt than older generations of cards. If you are really interested in low power consumption, you could get a GTX 1650; I believe those have a TDP of 75 watts. I wouldn't recommend it though because you'll have a hard time running MS flight simulator at 1080p 60 fps.

Get a 2060 that has "zero RPM fan mode." It means the fans will stay off until the card hits a preset temperature, maybe 50 degrees. The fans should only kick in when you're playing MS flight simulator or doing something else graphically intensive.

If you can afford the $400 2060 super, that one is probably an even better fit for MS flight simulator. If you are worried about power consumption, you could always upgrade your power supply to an 80 Plus Gold or Titanium to run more efficiently.

 

[cruiserandmax]

Get a 2060 that has "zero RPM fan mode." It means the fans will stay off until the card hits a preset temperature, maybe 50 degrees. The fans should only kick in when you're playing MS flight simulator or doing something else graphically intensive.

Thanks, this is a FANTASTIC tip! I had no idea some cards did this.

 

[RTX 2080]

No problem!

 

[SkyNetRising]

If the "day-to-day" power usage is not that much higher I will probably go for the upgrade...

What make/model PSU are you using?
RTX 2060 requires 500W PSU minimum.

 

[cruiserandmax]

What make/model PSU are you using?
RTX 2060 requires 500W PSU minimum.

I am using an Antec NEO ECO 520C (520W max continuous), also CPU is i7-4790K (TDP 88W), SSD as main (and only) storage device, and a DVR-R drive. And several USB power consuming things (monitor/keyboard switching device, bluetooth dongle)..

 

[John Chesterfield]

Released in 2013, that'll be an old design, best to replace it.

 

[cruiserandmax]

Would the Neo ECO GOLD ZEN 700W be a good replacement?

 

[John Chesterfield]

Don't know much about that one, but it gets good reviews and is apparently a rebadged Seasonic so I think it's a good one.