# realtimepc

> realtimepc.com calculates what a PC (especially a gaming PC) costs to run in electricity, using power figures for graphics cards and processors, official household electricity prices for 41 European countries and all US states, and live hourly day-ahead market prices. Free, no sign-up. Data updated 2026-10-31.

Key facts:
- Formula: wall power = (GPU + CPU + rest of system) ÷ power supply efficiency + monitor; cost = wall power × hours × price per kWh.
- A typical mid-range gaming PC (RTX 5070, Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 27" monitor) draws about 371 W at the wall while gaming.
- Household prices: Eurostat (EU, 2026-S1), EIA (US states, August 2026), Ofgem (UK), ElCom (Switzerland).
- GPU gaming power is marked "measured" (with sources) or "estimate" (derived from rated board power).
- Translated pages: English, Italian, German, Spanish, French.

## Calculators
- [PC electricity cost calculator](https://realtimepc.com/): whole-PC monthly and yearly running cost with a low–high range, PSU size and cheapest gaming hours.
- [Live electricity price map](https://realtimepc.com/map/): household prices and hourly day-ahead prices across Europe and the US, with rankings and comparisons.
- [Does a new graphics card pay for itself?](https://realtimepc.com/tools/upgrade-payback/): See how much electricity a more efficient card saves and how long the upgrade takes to pay back.
- [How much does undervolting your GPU save?](https://realtimepc.com/tools/undervolt/): Pick a power limit and see the money saved per year and the performance you keep.
- [PC, console or cloud: which costs less over time?](https://realtimepc.com/tools/pc-vs-console/): Compare the total cost over several years: hardware, electricity, subscriptions and resale.
- [What does running AI on your own GPU cost?](https://realtimepc.com/tools/local-ai/): Electricity cost per million tokens on your graphics card, and how it compares with an API price.
- [Your PC is a heater. What is that worth?](https://realtimepc.com/tools/heat-offset/): In winter PC heat replaces some heating. In summer the air conditioning has to remove it.
- [What does leaving your PC on cost?](https://realtimepc.com/tools/always-on/): Idle, sleep or shut down: see the yearly cost of each when your PC is not in use.

## Reference pages
- [Graphics card power table](https://realtimepc.com/gpu/): board power, typical gaming draw and running cost for 54 graphics cards.
- [Electricity cost by country](https://realtimepc.com/country/): household price per kWh and monthly gaming PC cost for 41 European countries.
- [Electricity cost by US state](https://realtimepc.com/us/): residential price per kWh and monthly gaming PC cost for 50 states and DC.
- [Methodology](https://realtimepc.com/methodology/): formulas, assumptions, sources and update schedule.

## Data
- [Household prices CSV](https://realtimepc.com/data/household-prices.csv): price per kWh by country and US state, with period and source.
- [Live day-ahead prices JSON](https://realtimepc.com/data/live/latest.json): hourly prices for today and tomorrow (EUR/kWh).
- [GPU power CSV](https://realtimepc.com/data/gpu-power.csv): board power, gaming draw (low/typical/high), idle, basis.
- [Data and licence](https://realtimepc.com/data/): compiled data is CC BY 4.0; credit realtimepc.com.

## Guides
- [How to measure your PC's real power use](https://realtimepc.com/guides/measure-pc-power/)
- [Dynamic electricity tariffs: when to game for less](https://realtimepc.com/guides/dynamic-tariffs-gaming/)
- [Power supply sizing, transient spikes and ATX 3.1](https://realtimepc.com/guides/psu-transient-spikes-atx-3/)
- [Sleep, hibernate or shut down](https://realtimepc.com/guides/sleep-vs-shutdown/)

## Optional
- [Full text with current data tables](https://realtimepc.com/llms-full.txt)