Cost of living: How much does it cost to run a gaming PC?

gamesradar.com:

In the face of the ongoing cost of living crisis, you may be weighing up your spending on things you once took for granted. The cost of playing video games might fit that bill for you, and so in our two previous cost comparison articles – how much does it cost to run a PS5? and how much does it cost to run an Xbox Series X? – we considered the price of powering up our favorite games on our favorite consoles. Doing the same for PC players is more difficult, simply because the cost of running a gaming desktop depends on the parts each player has running under the hood. But, obviously, that's not to say there aren't ways to help PC players save money. 

According to PC retailer and specialist UK Gaming Computers, the average gaming desktop setup can use somewhere in the vicinity of £280 to £300-worth of electricity every year. When powering the most visually-demanding games of the current age – the likes of Elden Ring, Call of Duty: Warzone, God of War, and Halo: Infinite, to name but a few – even the most efficient processors have a power rating of 450W (against the PS5's 350W and the Xbox Series X's 315W). 

As per Sust-It's 'Electricity Cost Calculator', this means that running a top-end game on a gaming PC with the above rating for two hours per day will cost £3.28 per week under the current UK price cap (34 pence per kWh; from October 1, 2022). For the month of October, then, this will in turn cost PC players £14.57.

Again, this is likely to fluctuate a lot more for PC players given the variety of system specifications at the fingertips of desktop devotees. But, there are some universal tips worth considering that could save PC players money. As outlined in detail by our friends at PC Gamer, PC players can save cash in