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Does a graphics card use any power when no monitor's plugged in?

Tiger
By Tiger
in Graphics Cards
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Go to solution Solved by Snooli,

You are not saving any energy after all. Since you might need to restart the PC, eating more energy that you would save in a session.

Btw we are talking about 100 watts at most. That is absolitely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Posted

Hi, at night when I'm typing I like having my system be as quite as it can be. 

It seems that my new PSU will remain in fanless mode only until power output reach 50watts.

 

This is really low and I'm just wondering if nothing's plugged into the external GPU and no program's using it but it's still plugged into the PCI-e slot, does it use much power?

All graphics during my "low power mode" will be done by the integrated graphics but I don't want to unplug the External GPU all the time.

 

 

The Intel Extreme Tuning utility reports that when I "surf the web" the CPU have "Package TDP" of about 15W, "Core tdp" of 10w and "Graphics TDP" of 0W when running all graphics off the iGP with no external GPU plugged in.

 

I have an EVGA GTX 960 SSC with i5 4460 but right now my old power supply is broken and the one I borrowed from a friend does not have 8 pin PCI-e. I've ordered a new PSU(Silverstone SX500-LG but while waiting, I wanted to find a solution that would result in long lasting quiet coding sessions at night for the future ahead.

Other things consuming power from the PSU is ADATA SP900 SSD 128GB, Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" HDD 750GB, intel stock cooler(lowest fan speed of 900RPM with temp of about 40 degrees), 2x Case fan(set to 20% which does not spin), and finally a short(0.5M) LED strip.

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Hi, at night when I'm typing I like having my system be as quite as it can be. 

It seems that my new PSU will remain in fanless mode only until power output reach 50watts.

 

This is really low and I'm just wondering if nothing's plugged into the external GPU and no program's using it but it's still plugged into the PCI-e slot, does it use much power?

All graphics during my "low power mode" will be done by the integrated graphics but I don't want to unplug the External GPU all the time.

 

 

The Intel Extreme Tuning utility reports that when I "surf the web" the CPU have "Package TDP" of about 15W, "Core tdp" of 10w and "Graphics TDP" of 0W when running all graphics off the iGP with no external GPU plugged in.

 

I have an EVGA GTX 960 SSC with i5 4460 gpu but right now my old power supply is broken and the one I borrowed from a friend does not have 8 pin PCI-e. I've ordered a new PSU(Silverstone SX500-LG but while waiting, I wanted to find a solution that would result in long lasting quiet coding sessions at night for the future ahead.

Other things consuming power from the PSU is ADATA SP900 SSD 128GB, Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" HDD 750GB, intel stock cooler(lowest fan speed of 900RPM with temp of about 40 degrees), 2x Case fan(set to 20% which does not spin), and finally a short(0.5M) LED strip.

it will use power,  yes because it will still be rendering frames, and completing tasks.

Check out my current projects: Selling site (Click Here)

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The Corsair RMi Series PSUs dont spin till like 40% Load I wanna say... Could be an option....

 

But yes they will still use some power...

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You don't have to disconnect your Discrete graphics card. You should be able to switch between both graphics solutions from within your OS. When there is no monitor connected, the GPU (i believe the 960 has this feature) will go into efficiency mode and the fans would stop spinning.

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Yes, obviously.

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if nothing else, you can disable PCIe devices in windows. That will be just like removing the card alltogether. (just wont work until you enable it) You can even keep monitor cable conneted to it.

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yea, thanks guys but how much is "still use some power"?

Would you think the total usage will exceed 50w at idle?

 

Thanks for all the answers so far! keep them coming!!

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You don't have to disconnect your Discrete graphics card. You should be able to switch between both graphics solutions from within your OS. When there is no monitor connected, the GPU (i believe the 960 has this feature) will go into efficiency mode and the fans would stop spinning.

Well. My GPU fan doesn't spin when there's low workload but it's still using enough power to trigger my PSU's fan. I just want it to be completely off and use the more efficient integrated one altogether for a period of time at night.

 

if nothing else, you can disable PCIe devices in windows. That will be just like removing the card alltogether. (just wont work until you enable it) You can even keep monitor cable conneted to it.

Yes, I've tried that and it seems to be off. I don't believe that it's using virtually no power though. I may need a power meter to verify that.

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it will use power,  yes because it will still be rendering frames, and completing tasks.

What frames? No tasks assign to it by me anyways.. no folding at home, nothing. Just a chrome browser and even then, my monitor is not plugged into the GPU but rather the motherboard. Am I wrong?(corrrect me please) Thanks

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What frames? No tasks assign to it by me anyways.. no folding at home, nothing. Just a chrome browser and even then, my monitor is not plugged into the GPU but rather the motherboard. Am I wrong?(corrrect me please) Thanks

say your computer is on the desktop, and you unplug your monitor, your pc still renders those frames, even tho your monitor is not plugged in

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Renders at what resolution?

I don't believe this is true.

im not completely sure what resolution, i watch some video on it a while back. 

Check out my current projects: Selling site (Click Here)

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Yes, I've tried that and it seems to be off. I don't believe that it's using virtually no power though. I may need a power meter to verify that.

Does it matter if it draws any power? Try it and see if the PSU fan spins.

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Does it matter if it draws any power? Try it and see if the PSU fan spins.

Well i guess not but saving power is good for the world lol.

 

also the said semi fanless psu dont arrive til september 10

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You are not saving any energy after all. Since you might need to restart the PC, eating more energy that you would save in a session.

Btw we are talking about 100 watts at most. That is absolitely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

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