GeForce RTX 5080 Power Consumption and Cost

360 W Total Graphics Power — about 306 W sustained in a real game, and 426 W from the wall with the rest of the machine. NVIDIA suggests a 850 W supply. 16 GB VRAM, RTX 50, 2025.

Usage and electricity price

US residential average, EIA June 2026

4
6

Hours the machine is on but not gaming. On an always-on PC this is often the bigger bill.

Power assumptions
85%

Share of the 360 W power limit a real game sustains. Rarely 100%.

CPU, board, drives, fans and PSU conversion loss under load.

Running a GeForce RTX 5080

$151 a year in electricity
System draw
426 W
Per month
$13
Card alone / yr
$93
Suggested PSU
850 W
  • Gaming hours
  • Idle hours

Where the watts go

Power and running cost breakdown for a GeForce RTX 5080
Item Power Per year Cost / year
Gaming hours 426 W 622.0 kWh $121
Idle hours 70 W 153.3 kWh $30
Whole machine 775.3 kWh $151
GeForce RTX 5080 alone 306 W 479.6 kWh $93

What 360 W actually means

Total Graphics Power is a ceiling, not a running average. A GeForce RTX 5080 will touch 360 W in a synthetic stress test, but a real game at a real frame rate sits below it — which is why the figures here apply a 85% load factor by default rather than multiplying the headline number by hours. Cap your frame rate or play something older and the draw falls further; the calculator above lets you set the factor yourself.

The card is also not the whole bill. A mainstream CPU, board, drives, fans and the power supply's own conversion loss add roughly 120 W under load, so a GeForce RTX 5080 machine pulls about 426 W while gaming. Of the $269 a year that costs in California, the card itself accounts for around $167 — the rest of the computer is the remainder.

Where you live changes the answer more than which game you play. The same GeForce RTX 5080 costs $102 a year to run in Nevada and $409 in Hawaii — a 4.0× difference for identical use.

Running cost by state

GeForce RTX 5080 running cost in every US state
State Cents / kWh Per month Per year whole machine Card alone
Nevada 13.11 $8 $102 $63
Nebraska 13.25 $9 $103 $64
Utah 13.37 $9 $104 $64
Louisiana 13.49 $9 $105 $65
Tennessee 14.07 $9 $109 $67
Arkansas 14.12 $9 $109 $68
North Dakota 14.12 $9 $109 $68
Kentucky 14.26 $9 $111 $68
Oklahoma 14.33 $9 $111 $69
Idaho 14.37 $9 $111 $69
North Carolina 14.74 $10 $114 $71
Mississippi 14.88 $10 $115 $71
Washington 14.91 $10 $116 $72
New Mexico 15.06 $10 $117 $72
Florida 15.10 $10 $117 $72
Montana 15.14 $10 $117 $73
Arizona 15.18 $10 $118 $73
Wyoming 15.24 $10 $118 $73
South Dakota 15.36 $10 $119 $74
West Virginia 15.45 $10 $120 $74
South Carolina 15.55 $10 $121 $75
Kansas 15.71 $10 $122 $75
Iowa 15.93 $10 $124 $76
Texas 15.94 $10 $124 $76
Missouri 16.22 $10 $126 $78
Oregon 16.32 $11 $127 $78
Georgia 16.36 $11 $127 $78
Alabama 16.40 $11 $127 $79
Colorado 17.13 $11 $133 $82
Virginia 17.22 $11 $134 $83
Indiana 17.51 $11 $136 $84
Minnesota 17.52 $11 $136 $84
Ohio 19.19 $12 $149 $92
Delaware 19.29 $12 $150 $93
Wisconsin 19.56 $13 $152 $94
Illinois 19.89 $13 $154 $95
Pennsylvania 21.73 $14 $168 $104
Maryland 21.84 $14 $169 $105
Michigan 22.99 $15 $178 $110
Connecticut 24.32 $16 $189 $117
District of Columbia 24.39 $16 $189 $117
Vermont 24.44 $16 $189 $117
New Jersey 24.95 $16 $193 $120
New Hampshire 27.01 $17 $209 $130
Alaska 28.21 $18 $219 $135
Rhode Island 29.23 $19 $227 $140
New York 29.49 $19 $229 $141
Maine 29.59 $19 $229 $142
Massachusetts 29.61 $19 $230 $142
California 34.74 $22 $269 $167
Hawaii 52.72 $34 $409 $253

4 h gaming and 6 h idle a day, at 85% load with 120 W of system overhead.

The rest of the RTX 50 range

Other RTX 50 cards compared
Card TGP Suggested PSU Per year US average In California
GeForce RTX 5090 575 W 1000 W $202 $362
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 300 W 750 W $136 $243
GeForce RTX 5070 250 W 650 W $124 $222
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 180 W 600 W $107 $192
GeForce RTX 5060 145 W 550 W $99 $177
GeForce RTX 5050 130 W 550 W $95 $170

Frequently asked questions

How much power does the GeForce RTX 5080 use?
Its Total Graphics Power is 360 W, which is the limit rather than the average. At a realistic 85% sustained load a demanding game pulls around 306 W from the card, and roughly 426 W from the wall once the rest of the machine is counted. NVIDIA recommends a 850 W power supply.
How much does it cost to run a GeForce RTX 5080?
At the US average of 19.42 cents per kWh, 4 hours of gaming and 6 idle hours a day works out at about $269 a year for the whole machine in California, $102 in Nevada and $409 in Hawaii. The card's own share of that is roughly $167.
What power supply does a GeForce RTX 5080 need?
NVIDIA recommends 850 W. The card plus a mainstream system peaks around 480 W, so that recommendation leaves about 370 W of headroom — deliberate, because transient spikes on modern cards briefly exceed the rated limit.
Do idle hours matter?
More than most people expect. A PC left on but not gaming still draws roughly 70 W. Over 6 hours a day that is $53 a year in California — on an always-on machine the idle hours can cost more than the gaming ones.

Power figures: nvidia.com GeForce specifications (Total Graphics Power). Electricity: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, residential, June 2026.

Estimates for informational purposes only. Total Graphics Power is a power limit, not an average: real draw depends on the game, resolution, frame cap, board partner design and any factory overclock. Electricity prices are state residential averages and your tariff will differ.

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