Power Consumption (Idle and Gaming)

Putting realistic, repeatable load on a GPU to get a decent idea of its real world power consumption and thermal output has long been something we've experimented here at bit-tech. We've found that synthetic benchmarks such as FurMark thrash the GPU constantly, which simply isn't reflective of how GPU will be used when gaming.

It's such a hardcore test that any GPU under test is almost guaranteed to hit its thermal limit, the mark at which the card's firmware will kick in, speeding up the fan to keep the GPU within safe temperature limits. Conversely, simply leaving a game like Crysis running at a certain point also isn't reflective of real world use. There's no guarantee that the GPU is being pushed as hard as other titles might do, and the load will vary from play through to play through.

Eventually then, we've decided to use 3DMark06's Canyon Flight test as a real world representative, repeatable graphics test. It's a ferociously demanding test, pushing graphics cards to their limit, but also containing peaks and troughs in performance that match real world game play.

As the test is so demanding and GPU limited, we've set 3DMark to run the test at 1,280 x 1,024 with 0xAA and 16xAF (enabled in the driver), constantly looping the test for thirty minutes and recording the maximum power consumption and GPU Delta T (the difference between the temperature of the GPU and the ambient temperature in our labs).

Power Consumption (idle)

Windows 7 Desktop (Aero enabled) Idle Power Usage

  • ATI Radeon HD 6870 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6850 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
  • Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6950 2GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 136
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 141
  • 150
  • 150
  • 160
  • 163
  • 164
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
Watts at socket, lower is better

Power Consumption (load)

3DMark06 Canyon Flight test, 1,280 x 1,024 0xAA 16xAF, Load Power Usage

  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB
  • AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6950 2GB
  • Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB
  • 212
  • 229
  • 238
  • 245
  • 247
  • 256
  • 270
  • 270
  • 306
  • 330
  • 341
  • 347
  • 363
  • 376
0
100
200
300
400
Watts at socket, lower is better

Thermal Performance


Heat (idle)

Windows 7 Desktop (Aero Enabled)

  • Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB
  • AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6950 2GB
  • 10
  • 11
  • 14
  • 14
  • 15
  • 18
  • 19
  • 19
  • 20
  • 20
  • 22
  • 23
  • 25
  • 28
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Delta T in °C

Heat (peak)

3DMark06 Canyon Flight test, 1,280 x 1,024 0xAA 16xAF, Peak Temperature

  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB
  • AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB
  • Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB
  • AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB
  • ATI Radeon HD 6950 2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1.3GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB
  • 38
  • 44
  • 46
  • 46
  • 46
  • 46
  • 50
  • 50
  • 54
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 72
  • 72
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Delta T in °C

Read our Performance Analysis
Discuss this in the forums

Posted by Yslen - Wed Dec 15 2010 05:17

<rubs eyes sleepily>

Thanks Bindi, got up early for this!!

Edit: Well, I think I'll stick with my 6870 to be honest. The price difference is pretty huge compared to the performance gap.

<goes back to read article in-depth instead of just skimming the benchmark charts>

Posted by Kenny79 - Wed Dec 15 2010 05:29

But can it play Minecraft?

Posted by Autti - Wed Dec 15 2010 05:31

Yawn. What a lame release.

Posted by ssj12 - Wed Dec 15 2010 05:32

from what I can tell, AMD needs more mature drivers, but still the GTX580 is a beast. AMD has a real fight on their hands again with Nvidia. I only wonder how next gen will play out.
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