The Natural Resources Defense Council has written a new report on the power consumption of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. It seems that the two next-generation consoles use a lot of power; in particular, the amount of power consumed by consoles is significantly higher than that of their predecessors, and the live transmission of systems consumes more power than that of other devices. As a result, users will not only cause more pollution, but also increase the environmental costs of the home. According to the group, the systems actually consume more energy than the TVs on which they play.
“When playing the latest games, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles consume more than 160 to 200 watts of electricity, which is higher than previous-generation consoles,” the report says. “It’s more powerful than the huge 60-inch TV that can be used! The good news is that these consoles reduce power levels significantly lower when playing games designed for older consoles and are compatible with the previous version. lower power during the game than the other three new consoles. “
One of the biggest attractions for next-generation consoles is the speed with which they can switch between games and applications, thanks to very low loading speeds. Still, it seems like this is a big part of the problem when it comes to energy use. According to the group, the transmission of TV programs on consoles takes 30 to 70 watts, that is, 10 to 25 times the amount used by dedicated transmission devices such as Roku or Amazon Fire Stick.
Players can’t do much in terms of the power consumption that occurs while playing larger games, but there’s one thing Xbox Series X owners can do to make an impact. According to the NRDC, the system is sent with “instant on” activated to all different territories in Europe. When players switch the system to the “power save” option, it uses less than a single watt of power when not in use.
“Based on NRDC modeling done through 2025, this seemingly insignificant decision by Microsoft could result in the equivalent of an annual power generation from a large coal-fired power plant (500 MW) and cost new owners of The U.S. Xbox is about $ 1 billion in electricity, ”the report says.
It will be interesting to see if Microsoft and Sony try to fix these issues after the report is released. There’s a big draw on how next-generation platforms can run faster and produce better graphics, but it’s clear that there’s been some compensation, both for gamers and for the environment.
Did you buy a PS5 or an Xbox Series X? Are you worried about possible energy costs? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all the games!