Amp is the primary current unit, meaning that the flow of electrical charge from one point to another is measured in amps. All electrical components, including computers, require a certain amount of amps to function effectively and efficiently.
Let us look at Amps usage of a gaming PC compared with other types of PCs.
Generally, a regular PC uses 1.67 amps per hour, while a gaming PC uses up to 6.25 amps per hour, depending on the power supply’s wattage and cutting-edge components.
In the case of a standard PC, you may not worry about the amperage, but a gaming PC has considerably powerful hardware because it’s supposed to run graphic-intensive games.
Moreover, most gamers integrate fancy peripherals with gaming PCs, enhancing amperage.
It will lead to whooping electricity bills and maximizing the risk of blowing the circuit due to drawing more power than the circuit’s maximum capacity, or other factors that make it crucial to know How Many Amps Does A Gaming PC Use and this will be discussed in the forthcoming section.
3 Major Implications of High PC Amperage
Knowing PC amperage is essential because it may lead to severe consequences, including damage to PC parts, malfunctioning power supply, and a rise in your electricity bill.
Hazard to PC Parts
Keeping in view the simple laws of electronics, if your PC is drawing more power than the maximum capacity of your supplying circuit, it won’t allow any voltage to pass through other components. Eventually, your PC will stop operating.
Usually, the power supply is intelligent enough to timely detect the overload and shut down the PC for a certain period. However, if your power supply unit doesn’t possess this feature, it can cause your PC to repeatedly turn on and off, thus, screwing the unit.
Hazard to Electric Circuit
The gaming PCs that draws massive power from your electric circuit will potentially blow up the capacitors in your PSU, which will most probably damage the motherboard. Going one step ahead, if your power supply unit is not of high quality, it may catch fire and lead to severe consequences.
Hike in Electricity Bill
PCs nowadays use a fraction of electricity, but it may increase your electricity bill depending on your residence and usage. If you live in an area where kWh is higher, your gaming PC will add cost to your electricity bill.
As we know the importance of understanding the amperage of a PC, let us find out How many Amps a gaming PC uses. But before jumping to the point, it is vital to understand the fundamental difference between an ordinary PC and a gaming PC. Once you know the difference, you can calculate your PC amperage with a simple formula.
Standard PC vs. Gaming PC
Both types have the same number of components but substantially differ in their working capacity. Both PCs comprise a CPU, RAM, storage component (HDD/SSD), Graphic Card (optional in regular PC), a mouse, and a keyboard. The dedicated Graphics Card, enhanced RAM, much more storage, and suitable operating system crowns the title of Gaming PC to a typical PC.
How many Amps does a Gaming PC use?
As we know the difference between types of PC, we can identify the amperage of your PC using multiple techniques. There is a generalized formula that varies with the type of components being used in the gaming PC. According to this formula, a standard PC uses 1.67 amps per hour, while a gaming PC uses up to 6.25 amps per hour, and it depends on the wattage of the power supply and cutting-edge components being used.
Let us look in detail at the amperage of different types of PC. It includes a desktop PC, laptop, and gaming PC amperage.
Desktop Computer
Desktop computers are the most common PC type and usually require between 0.25 to 2 amps of current per hour. This range is slightly higher because a desktop has to power a monitor, speaker, printer, etc. The amperage is directly proportional to the number of peripherals connected to the PC.
Gaming PC
A gaming PC is a powerhouse of electronic components essential to run high-graphics games. It implies high amp usage for a gaming PC. The amperage for a gaming PC also depends on whether you are using a gaming laptop or desktop. On average, a gaming PC uses 6.25 amps of current per hour. The primary culprit for using high amperage is the graphics card.
Laptop
Laptops are one of the best PCs requiring a minor amp per hour. A standard laptop needs between 0.41 amp to 0.84 amp of current per hour. It typically doesn’t mean that laptops have less computational power. It is important to note that the amperage of the daily use laptop will increase as the peripherals connected to the laptop increase.
Point to Ponder
A widespread misinterpretation about power supply units exists. It says that the wattage of your power supply determines how many watts your PC uses. Instead, your power supply can’t withstand a single watt more than mentioned on the power supply unit.
For example, if you have 600 watt PSU, it doesn’t mean that your PC is consistently using 600 watts; instead, it means that your PC won’t withstand more than 600 watts.
How to calculate Gaming PC Amperage?
To calculate how many amps a gaming PC uses, you need information about the voltage supply and your PSU’s adequate wattage. For your convenience, here’s a table with gaming PC Parts wattage information.
| Part | Wattage |
| Intel Core i7 | 65-150 watt |
| AMD 8 Core CPU | 95-125 watt |
| High-End Motherboard | 40-80 watt |
| High-End Graphic Card | 20-250 watts depending on usage |
For instance, if your PSU is adequate wattage is 600 watt and you live in a country that provides a voltage supply of 220v, then your gaming PC amperage would be as follow;
600 watt/ 220V = ~2.8 Amp
How Can I Reduce Gaming PC Amperage?
The easiest way to reduce the amperage of a gaming PC is to remove the additional peripherals. It will reduce it by a considerable margin. Another way to reduce the amp usage of a gaming PC is to use an advanced and intelligent PSU, customize the power management settings, and, most importantly, shut down your gaming PC when not in use.
Wrapping Up
The amperage of a PC depends on multiple factors, including the type of PC, peripherals installed with the PC, and the number of hours the PC is used. A gaming PC consumes more wattage than a standard PC because it runs heavy hardware to support high graphics games.
Additionally, there is no hard and fast rule to determine how many amps a gaming PC uses, as amperage depends on different factors. You can use the mentioned formula to calculate the amperage of your gaming PC.
