What a gaming PC costs to run in the United Kingdom
A mid-range gaming PC (RTX 5070 and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 27″ monitor) played 3 hours a day costs about £11.06 a month in the United Kingdom, at a household price of £0.263 per kWh (Oct–Dec 2026 price cap).
United Kingdom is 11% above the EU average of €0.283. Live price map
Calculate your own PC
Your PC on the electricity bill
At the wall while gaming
Session meter
£0.000
What gaming since you opened this page would have cost.
| Gaming3.0 h × 371 W | £8.92 |
| Browsing and work2.0 h × 129 W | £2.06 |
| Left on, unused0.0 h × 75 W | £0.000 |
| Sleep0.0 h × 2 W | £0.000 |
| Off (standby)19.0 h × 1 W | £0.076 |
| Energy | 42.0 kWh |
Peak sustained load about 487 W, plus headroom for short spikes.
About 2.0× the electricity of a typical fridge-freezer.
Wholesale day-ahead prices. They matter if you have a dynamic tariff; fixed tariffs do not change by hour.
Price used: £0.263 per kWh — Ofgem energy price cap (GB average, direct debit), Oct–Dec 2026 price cap.
Estimate Gaming draw for this part is an estimate. Measured it with a wall meter? Share your measurement
How this is calculated
Wall power = (graphics card + processor + rest of system) ÷ power supply efficiency + monitor. Energy = wall power × hours. Cost = energy × price. The range uses lighter and heavier gaming loads.
Monthly cost of typical builds
3 hours of gaming and 2 hours of other use per day.
| Build | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Budget 1080pGeForce RTX 5060 · Ryzen 5 7600 | £8.07 | £96.78 |
| Mid-range 1440pGeForce RTX 5070 · Ryzen 7 7800X3D | £11.06 | £133 |
| AMD 1440pRadeon RX 9070 XT · Ryzen 7 9800X3D | £12.76 | £153 |
| High-end 4KGeForce RTX 5080 · Ryzen 7 9800X3D | £14.76 | £177 |
| FlagshipGeForce RTX 5090 · Ryzen 9 9950X3D | £19.16 | £230 |
| Streaming setupGeForce RTX 4070 Super · Core i7-14700K | £12.20 | £146 |
| Last-gen favouriteGeForce RTX 3080 · Ryzen 7 5800X3D | £12.74 | £153 |
Questions
How much electricity does a gaming PC use in the United Kingdom?
A mid-range gaming PC uses about 42 kWh a month with 3 hours of gaming and 2 hours of other use per day, which costs about £11.06 at the average household price in the United Kingdom.
When is electricity cheapest in the United Kingdom?
We do not yet show licensed hourly prices for United Kingdom. If you have a time-of-use tariff, your supplier’s off-peak hours are the cheapest time to play.
Does undervolting a graphics card save money?
Yes. Limiting a graphics card to about 80% of its power usually costs only a few percent of performance. For an RTX 5070 at 3 hours a day in the United Kingdom, that saves about £13.58 a year.
Tools for this
- How much does undervolting your GPU save?Pick a power limit and see the money saved per year and the performance you keep.
- Does a new graphics card pay for itself?See how much electricity a more efficient card saves and how long the upgrade takes to pay back.
- What does leaving your PC on cost?Idle, sleep or shut down: see the yearly cost of each when your PC is not in use.
- PC, console or cloud: which costs less over time?Compare the total cost over several years: hardware, electricity, subscriptions and resale.
Popular graphics cards
- GeForce RTX 5070
- GeForce RTX 5080
- Radeon RX 9070 XT
- GeForce RTX 4070 Super
- GeForce RTX 5060
- GeForce RTX 4090
- GeForce RTX 3080
- GeForce RTX 5090
- GPUs
Compare
- Italy €0.314
- Sweden SEK 3.361
- Austria €0.326
- Switzerland CHF 0.277
- Poland PLN 1.321
- Liechtenstein CHF 0.275
Sources
- Ofgem energy price cap (GB average, direct debit) — Unit rate only; the daily standing charge is not included.
- European Central Bank euro reference rates