How much does it cost to run your PC?

AnandTech investigated the cost of running your PC. They compared three sample systems, investigate the cost of running your PC for an hour in two US states (North Carolina and California) and Germany. Furthermore, the reporter also calculated the difference a couple of percentages of power supply efficiency can make on your electricity bill.

When we started researching prices of electricity (measured in kilowatts hours/kWh) for the different countries, we were surprised by the huge differences in price. In the US prices range from $0.05 to $0.21, according to the Energy Information Administration -- the average price is $0.089 per kWh. European prices are different for each country, so we will just take Germany as an example. Prices there are high relative to the US but about average for Europe. In 2008, Germany has an average of 17 to 22 Cents (€) -- about $0.22 to $0.29 USD! That's anywhere from 1.5 to 6 times as expensive in the old world depending on where you live; obviously, areas where costs are higher will probably be more interested in PC power consumption, but that is a separate issue from what we are looking at today.

Check it out over here.