Okay, we’ve got the last in the next-gen power figures. For those who haven’t been playing along at home, the power-usage controversy started when it was reported that the PS3 would utilize 380 watts of power while gaming. We can now say that is not true, but the fact is it’s still sucking down far more than the competition.
First, the good news, power usage when “off.” All of the next-gen consoles utilize some amount of power even when turned off to look for signals from remotes or, in the Wii’s case, to auto-download updates. This ranges from the roughly 2 watts used by the PS2 and Xbox 360 according to this very comprehensive DX Gaming article to the rather less frugal 8 used by the Wii. The PS3, impressively, uses barely anything when off; the Watt display on the Kill-A-Watt metering device showing between 0 and 1 watts.
So, the console’s “phantom drain” is more or less negligible. However, the power used for gaming itself is not nearly so. When sitting idle at the crossbar navigation system, the equivalent to the Xbox 360 dashboard or the Wii’s home menu, the PS3 used anywhere from 185 to 205 watts. When doing similar work the Xbox 360 uses 145 watts and the Wii just 15-20.
Now, for the gaming. We tested with three games and found consumption to be lowest when playing Tiger Woods 07, registering at 185-190 watts, and highest when playing Formula One Championship Edition, which demanded a rather more disconcerting 217 watts on average. By comparison the Xbox 360 comes in at 165 watts during gameplay with the Wii using only around 17-20. Finally, during Blu-ray playback the PS3 continued to draw a surprising 205 watts, just to spew the rather craptacular Ricky Bobby to my HDTV.
So, we can say conclusively that the PS3 is the most greedy console of the bunch, though the Xbox 360 isn’t that far behind when playing games. Certainly the graphics power of the next-gen consoles is awesome to behold, but when we look back to the humble Playstation and its minuscule 6 watts of power consumption during gaming, you have to wonder: are we seeing comparable increases in graphics performance to match up with 35-fold increase in power consumption? And, perhaps more importantly, are games 35 times more fun to play? The answer to that last one, at least, is obvious enough.
UPDATE: Fixed Wii consumption figures
“gameplay with the Wii using only around 120. Finally, during Blu-ray”
120 ?! did you press 1 and 2 together by accident?
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/wii/wiis-uses-about-onetenth-power-of-360-216051.php
Wii:
- In Standby Mode: 10w
- Idle @ Wii menu: 17w
- Running a Wii Game (Test with Zelda / Trauma Center) in 480i: 17w
XBox 360:
- In Standby Mode: 2w
- Idle @ Dashboard: ~140w
- Running a Game: ~160w
- Playing a DVD: ~110w
I have not, but what I have done is e-mailed Brian and asked him to double-check his source on that, because it’s very different from what I saw from the Wii. It seems odd and unlikely to me that the Wii would actually use less power than a GameCube despite the inclusion of WiFi.
I unfortunately got no response.
And what about going to technological shrink of CPU and GPU?
IIRC from 130nm to 90nm ?
Didn’t Nintendo boasted that it uses LESS power despite 50% bigger clock?
I’ll be re-testing the Wii shortly and will post the results so that we can figure it out.
[...] All right, so it may not be something to call home about, but we’ll take whatever 1st place award we can get. The PS3 is the most powerful system this generation and as such, consumes the most wattage. Even the mightiest heroes cannot fight evil on an empty stomach — bring on the feast! But first, the good news. When on standby, the PS3 is the winner on the least amount of watt usage: 0 to 1 watts are used while on standby. The Wii uses 8, and the 360 and PS2 use around 2. So, that’s awesome. [...]
[...] All right, so it may not be something to call home about, but we’ll take whatever 1st place award we can get. The PS3 is the most powerful system this generation and as such, consumes the most wattage. Even the mightiest heroes cannot fight evil on an empty stomach — bring on the feast! But first, the good news. When on standby, the PS3 is the winner on the least amount of watt usage: 0 to 1 watts are used while on standby. The Wii uses 8, and the 360 and PS2 use around 2. So, that’s awesome. [...]
[...] All right, so it may not be something to call home about, but we’ll take whatever 1st place award we can get. The PS3 is the most powerful system this generation and as such, consumes the most wattage. Even the mightiest heroes cannot fight evil on an empty stomach — bring on the feast! But first, the good news. When on standby, the PS3 is the winner on the least amount of watt usage: 0 to 1 watts are used while on standby. The Wii uses 8, and the 360 and PS2 use around 2. So, that’s awesome. [...]
I’ve re-tested the Wii and found the earlier consumption figures of 120 to be incorrect. The story has been edited to reflect the proper figures of 17-20.
[...] From digitaldisplacement.com:[QUOTE]The PS3, impressively, uses barely anything when off; the Watt display on the Kill-A-Watt metering device showing between 0 and 1 watts. [...]
What about when the Wii is on “red LED” standby (Connect 24/7 disbled)? Also, 17 watts is half the power of what the Gamecube typically burnt during gameplay. The Wii console probably uses less power than those power-hungry wiimotes lol
PS3 vs consumi di energia elettrica…
Che la PS3 sia la piú costosa console di gioco attualmente in commercio, é ormai cosa nota. Si parla un pó di tutto, dal Blu-Ray ai titoli dei giochi, ma un aspetto che ultimamente sta facendo tanto discutere é il consumo energetico.
Negli ultimi …
I was wondering if you could send me a Media Kit for your website?
I was wondering if you could send me a Media Kit for your website?
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Comprehensive PS3 Power Usage Figures, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.