Gtx 480 vs electric heater

[Alaric]

Only reason I say that is last time I checked a space heater doesn't have a form of making money just using it

Not unless you're selling beef jerky or doing bulk shrink tube applications for fun and profit. LOL. Well, those and interior house painting in the winter.

 

[SPL Tech]

So where is that computer energy going?

Mechanical energy, electromagnetic energy and light. Mechanical from the fans and hard drives, electromagnetic from the components and light from the monitor and LEDs. But yes, most of it goes to heat, just not all of it.

While yes a heater might be more efficient at spreading the heat into the room, last time I checked the heater only has a few settings a low, med and/or a med/high setting. I have a unit at home, low uses roughly 850W, high is closer to 1300W. Thats the heating element + fan. Extra up to 60W if I want the fancy fire place look. It does a very good job heating a room, I don't disagree with that. Though if you don't need all that heat (yes most can have a set point in temp and turn off and turn back on when needed) but you can use a PC to do similar. Its not going to blow air efficiently into the room I will agree with that but, its lower wattage if you have concerns on your power consumption and if you use it does work. That being said if your mining with it not only are you making heat, but your making money no mater the electric cost. Only reason I say that is last time I checked a space heater doesn't have a form of making money just using it

If your budget is so tight that you cannot afford to run a small space heater to prevent yourself from freezing to death then you probably shouldent be buying gaming PCs. It seems like the OP's priorities arnt quite in line.

 

[deathman20]

If your budget is so tight that you cannot afford to run a small space heater to prevent yourself from freezing to death then you probably shouldent be buying gaming PCs. It seems like the OP's priorities arnt quite in line.

Doesn't sound like budget is a problem. Reasoning was that if he has a PC and uses it might as well make it work for you to create some heat. Others are suggesting other things.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Hello forum . The summer is over and with it cold returns . My room in a finished basement tends to freeze up a lot. I am thinking about buying a gtx 480 and run furmark while turning down the cpu clock and keeping the monitor off while I sleep. Would that be more power efficient than using a hardwired space heater hooked up to a panel .
The 480 only is 50 usd on ebay. Cards I have in my arsenal are an msi 660ti . A 560ti and a 460

My apologize for not finding this thread sooner than later. From experience, I used to run 2 GTX 480s "jumbo jet edition" (air cooled) for a few years. I think I might have lost some hearing because of it.

I still have a 480GTX in my office under my desk... in the winter its a decent space heater keeps my feet warmer.

I can vouch for that. Trust me I know. I had 747 and sauna issue in my room but kept things warm when needed. The problem was, it went from warm to extremely hot. You'd just have to keep a water bottle near you to stay hydrated to prevent you from passing out.

I agree with everyone else on mining with it. I would just pick an AMD on that end if that's the case. An AMD RX290 comes to mind assuming it mines better than a GTX 480. I would just have to warn you of its noise level and thrust capabilities. Maybe bolting it down to the house foundation would suffice and keep young children away.

Not unless you're selling beef jerky or doing bulk shrink tube applications for fun and profit. LOL. Well, those and interior house painting in the winter.

Case in point. You could even cook your food with it.





P.S. - I almost forgot to add. If you're going to run more than one GTX 480, you might need one of these, below. You're probably thinking, it's overkill! I know but that's just the way we like to do things around here.

 

[wagex]

i mean.. you can also go buy a 1800w space heater for like $20 at walmart lol. i think you're still way ahead on cost to run even if it isnt making you money. how much is the gpu like a hundo? its gonna take you like a year to make that mining with an old inefficient card.