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#1 2025-09-25 12:14:54
- millus
- Member
- Registered: 2019-07-21
- Posts: 244
What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
I connected a Watt meter to the PC (without monitors, just the PC itself) and noticed that my desktop pc uses around 120W when idle, like no Firefox or Discord running, just some open terminal windows and audio mixer window perhaps.
Is that normal?
Hardware for reference:
ASUS PRIME X670E-PRO WIFI
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
2x32GB 4800 MT/s RAM
NVIDIA AD102 GeForce RTX 4090
All latest packages from the official repo.
Last edited by millus (2025-09-25 12:37:58)
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#2 2025-09-25 13:18:32
- LuxFerre
- Member
- Registered: 2010-03-01
- Posts: 121
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
AMD is known for high idle power use... the CPU alone might be eating around 40~50W. You can check to see what is running on a system monitor, and maybe find some specific bios settings to reduce power usage for your MB.
I think it's quite possibly normal though.
edit: also try powertop
Last edited by LuxFerre (2025-09-25 13:21:27)
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#3 2025-09-25 13:43:32
- millus
- Member
- Registered: 2019-07-21
- Posts: 244
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
Thanks, I tried powertop and ran it twice in a row, but I'm not sure how to read these measurements at all. Like, is this high or low, sorry oO???
First time
Summary: 11737.3 wakeups/second, 0.0 GPU ops/seconds, 0.0 VFS ops/sec and 16.6% CPU use
Usage Events/s Category Description
9.9 ms/s 2144.6 kWork usb_giveback_urb_bh
2.1 ms/s 2137.8 Timer tick_nohz_handler
8.9 ms/s 1470.2 Process [PID 1233] /usr/bin/pipewire
22.2 ms/s 1042.6 Process [PID 2195] pavucontrol
17.0 ms/s 995.0 Process [PID 827] /usr/lib/Xorg -nolisten tcp vt07 -auth /var/run/slim.auth
4.5 ms/s 738.5 Process [PID 1234] /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse
5.1 ms/s 595.7 Process [PID 1167] /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse
9.4 ms/s 329.4 Process [PID 2042] xfce4-terminal --geometry=157x41 --display :0.0 --role=xfce4-terminal-1752866804-3971814720 --workspace 0 --hide-men
2.0 ms/s 291.5 Process [PID 689] /usr/bin/eruption -c /etc/eruption/eruption.conf
7.7 ms/s 275.0 Process [PID 8784] ./tomenet
4.7 ms/s 253.6 Process [PID 1133] xfwm4 --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 22bfe14fb-ed2d-47b8-bcfa-7fbb6fdef3b9
1.7 ms/s 197.3 Process [PID 1034] /usr/bin/eruption -c /etc/eruption/eruption.conf
4.3 ms/s 182.7 Process [PID 9140] ./tomenet
409.9 µs/s 170.0 Process [PID 562] [nvidia-modeset/]
0.0 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 1153] /usr/bin/pipewire
2.0 ms/s 123.4 Process [PID 1647] xfce4-panel --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 2492fd92f-1612-4ab2-9bc5-b314406d03c9
3.0 ms/s 120.5 Process [PID 1812] /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/plugins/libpulseaudio-plugin.so 10 14680078 pulseaudio PulseAu
3.1 ms/s 119.5 Process [PID 1826] xfdesktop --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 2f062e0f4-7e57-4aa2-98e9-dd831fb651e0
4.4 ms/s 118.5 Process [PID 967] xfce4-session
1.7 ms/s 118.5 Process [PID 2212] xfce4-screensaver
11.4 ms/s 113.7 Interrupt [105] nvidia
123.3 µs/s 83.6 Timer inactive_task_timer
162.9 µs/s 28.2 Interrupt [3] net_rx(softirq)
1.8 ms/s 15.5 Interrupt [7] sched(softirq)
7.8 µs/s 13.6 Timer napi_watchdog
105.9 µs/s 9.7 Process [PID 2546] /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/blueman-tray
42.9 µs/s 9.7 Process [PID 19] [rcu_preempt]
13.6 ms/s 1.9 Process [PID 44169] powertop
21.2 µs/s 6.8 kWork psi_avgs_work
12.2 ms/s 1.9 Interrupt [0] HI_SOFTIRQ
4.4 µs/s 3.9 kWork toggle_allocation_gate
8.4 ms/s 0.00 Interrupt [41] xhci_hcd
185.2 µs/s 2.9 kWork handle_update
24.2 µs/s 1.9 kWork kfree_rcu_work
6.2 µs/s 1.9 Process [PID 122] [kcompactd0]
2.7 µs/s 1.9 kWork flush_to_ldisc
0.9 ms/s 1.0 Timer timerfd_tmrproc
481.7 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 2234] /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/blueman-manager
95.7 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 1] /sbin/init
64.1 µs/s 1.0 Interrupt [88] nvme0q5
59.6 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 593] [irq/105-nvidia]
48.5 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 417] /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-journald
44.1 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 44098] pool-182
21.5 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 818] /usr/bin/ntpd -g -u ntp:ntp
19.9 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 1131] /usr/bin/gpg-agent --supervised
17.2 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 44163] sudo powertop
8.9 µs/s 1.0 kWork pci_pme_list_scan
5.6 µs/s 1.0 kWork ext4_end_io_rsv_work
5.0 µs/s 1.0 kWork vmstat_shepherd
3.6 µs/s 1.0 Process [PID 2650] [nvidia-drm/time]
1.0 µs/s 1.0 kWork wb_update_bandwidth_workfn
0.0 µs/s 1.0 kWork wb_workfn
1.2 ms/s 0.00 Timer hrtimer_wakeup
235.7 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 44155] [kworker/u64:7]
209.7 µs/s 0.00 Interrupt [9] RCU(softirq)
140.7 µs/s 0.00 Interrupt [1] timer(softirq)
134.5 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 34137] [kworker/11:1]
91.2 µs/s 0.00 Timer fq_flush_timeout
85.0 µs/s 0.00 Interrupt [104] eno1
72.1 µs/s 0.00 Timer delayed_work_timer_fn
21.9 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 46] [migration/4]
20.2 µs/s 0.00 Timer process_timeout
17.4 µs/s 0.00 kWork vmstat_update
16.9 µs/s 0.00 Timer nv_timer_callback_typed_data
14.6 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 58] [migration/6]
14.2 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 94] [migration/12]
13.7 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 44156] [kworker/u64:8]
12.9 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 40091] [kworker/3:1]
12.9 µs/s 0.00 Timer blk_stat_timer_fn
12.6 µs/s 0.00 Timer tcp_delack_timer
11.9 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 43348] [kworker/0:3]
11.4 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 70] [migration/8]
10.3 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 40] [migration/3]
9.2 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 23] [migration/0]
9.0 µs/s 0.00 Timer clocksource_watchdog
8.8 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 40769] [kworker/2:3]
8.2 µs/s 0.00 Timer tcp_orphan_update
7.8 µs/s 0.00 kWork blk_mq_run_work_fn
7.1 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 265] [kworker/4:1H]
6.8 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 38283] [kworker/14:2]
6.6 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 88] [migration/11]
6.0 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 100] [migration/13]
5.6 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 34] [migration/2]
5.3 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 43298] [kworker/5:0]
4.7 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 44133] [kworker/4:1]
4.5 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 38596] [kworker/12:0]
4.2 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 89] [ksoftirqd/11]
3.6 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 38761] [kworker/1:0]
3.4 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 43208] [kworker/6:3]
3.3 µs/s 0.00 Timer posix_timer_fn
2.6 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 43725] [kworker/7:1]
2.6 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 38678] [kworker/10:1]
2.5 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 38579] [kworker/9:3]
2.5 µs/s 0.00 Timer mix_interrupt_randomness
1.9 µs/s 0.00 Timer nv_timer_callback_typed_data
0.9 µs/s 0.00 Timer tcp_write_timer
0.7 µs/s 0.00 Timer writeout_period
100.0% Device USB device: HD Pro Webcam C920Second time
Summary: 3345.6 wakeups/second, 0.0 GPU ops/seconds, 0.0 VFS ops/sec and 9.6% CPU use
Usage Events/s Category Description
2.8 ms/s 915.8 Timer tick_nohz_handler
5.2 ms/s 281.5 Process [PID 2195] pavucontrol
4.6 ms/s 248.9 Process [PID 827] /usr/lib/Xorg -nolisten tcp vt07 -auth /var/run/slim.auth
2.2 ms/s 228.7 kWork usb_giveback_urb_bh
1.0 ms/s 137.0 Process [PID 689] /usr/bin/eruption -c /etc/eruption/eruption.conf
0.8 ms/s 133.4 Process [PID 1167] /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse
187.9 µs/s 126.8 Process [PID 1233] /usr/bin/pipewire
0.0 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 1153] /usr/bin/pipewire
340.5 µs/s 123.4 Process [PID 1234] /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse
2.4 ms/s 104.5 Process [PID 1133] xfwm4 --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 22bfe14fb-ed2d-47b8-bcfa-7fbb6fdef3b9
2.7 ms/s 102.6 Process [PID 9140] ./tomenet
3.2 ms/s 101.6 Process [PID 2042] xfce4-terminal --geometry=157x41 --display :0.0 --role=xfce4-terminal-1752866804-3971814720 --workspace 0 --hide-men
390.6 µs/s 101.9 Process [PID 1034] /usr/bin/eruption -c /etc/eruption/eruption.conf
268.7 µs/s 85.9 Process [PID 562] [nvidia-modeset/]
1.0 ms/s 82.0 Timer hrtimer_wakeup
2.2 ms/s 78.0 Process [PID 1647] xfce4-panel --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 2492fd92f-1612-4ab2-9bc5-b314406d03c9
138.0 µs/s 70.3 Timer inactive_task_timer
1.4 ms/s 67.4 Process [PID 1826] xfdesktop --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 2f062e0f4-7e57-4aa2-98e9-dd831fb651e0
1.6 ms/s 60.2 Process [PID 2212] xfce4-screensaver
1.2 ms/s 55.5 Process [PID 1812] /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/plugins/libpulseaudio-plugin.so 10 14680078 pulseaudio PulseAu
1.5 ms/s 46.1 Process [PID 967] xfce4-session
491.2 µs/s 45.9 Timer timerfd_tmrproc
10.9 ms/s 41.7 Interrupt [105] nvidia
1.0 ms/s 30.3 Process [PID 8784] ./tomenet
153.1 µs/s 17.1 Interrupt [3] net_rx(softirq)
1.9 ms/s 12.5 Interrupt [7] sched(softirq)
31.3 ms/s 0.5 kWork disk_events_workfn
7.8 µs/s 8.9 Timer napi_watchdog
114.8 µs/s 6.3 Process [PID 2546] /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/blueman-tray
20.3 µs/s 4.9 Process [PID 19] [rcu_preempt]
5.3 µs/s 3.8 kWork toggle_allocation_gate
7.5 ms/s 0.30 kWork key_garbage_collector
7.9 µs/s 2.2 Timer watchdog_timer_fn
15.9 µs/s 1.8 kWork psi_avgs_work
23.4 µs/s 1.3 Process [PID 695] /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-logind
4.4 µs/s 1.2 Process [PID 323] [usb-storage]
11.3 µs/s 1.0 kWork flush_to_ldisc
2.1 ms/s 0.10 Interrupt [41] xhci_hcd
2.2 ms/s 0.00 kWork cgroup_bpf_release
21.5 µs/s 0.8 Process [PID 1117] /usr/lib/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
26.4 µs/s 0.8 Process [PID 1138] xfsettingsd --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 28b7b8111-f436-4543-b775-34b8d36e16b0
4.1 µs/s 0.7 kWork vmstat_shepherd
1.1 µs/s 0.6 kWork srcu_invoke_callbacks
201.3 µs/s 0.5 Process [PID 2234] /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/blueman-manager
4.7 µs/s 0.6 kWork blk_mq_run_work_fn
3.6 µs/s 0.6 Process [PID 2116] /usr/lib/glycin-loaders/2+/glycin-image-rs --dbus-fd 16
12.5 µs/s 0.5 Process [PID 1805] Thunar --sm-client-id 2e5046934-b5c0-43fd-a08c-e6e7d32a8896 --daemon
2.4 µs/s 0.5 kWork lru_add_drain_per_cpu
1.0 ms/s 0.10 Interrupt [0] HI_SOFTIRQ
2.6 µs/s 0.4 kWork kfree_rcu_monitor
2.2 µs/s 0.4 kWork delayed_vfree_work
531.7 µs/s 0.15 kWork wb_workfn
14.1 µs/s 0.3 Interrupt [92] nvme0q9
10.5 µs/s 0.3 Process [PID 1773] /usr/lib/gvfsd-metadata
5.9 µs/s 0.3 Process [PID 44182] blocking-95
4.7 µs/s 0.3 kWork css_killed_work_fn
3.9 µs/s 0.3 kWork css_free_rwork_fn
12.7 µs/s 0.30 Process [PID 1815] /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/plugins/libweather.so 14 14680079 weather Weather Update Show
175.0 µs/s 0.20 Process [PID 44169] powertop
18.7 µs/s 0.25 Process [PID 417] /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-journald
7.0 µs/s 0.25 kWork pci_pme_list_scan
4.2 µs/s 0.25 Process [PID 44184] blocking-96
20.8 µs/s 0.20 kWork flush_memcg_stats_dwork
9.0 µs/s 0.20 Process [PID 373] [jbd2/nvme0n1p4-]
1.6 µs/s 0.20 kWork fsnotify_connector_destroy_work
1.4 µs/s 0.20 kWork blk_mq_requeue_work
1.1 µs/s 0.20 kWork kernfs_notify_workfn
0.4 µs/s 0.20 Process [PID 122] [kcompactd0]
0.1 µs/s 0.20 kWork cleanup_offline_cgwbs_workfn
0.3 µs/s 0.15 kWork neigh_managed_work
0.2 µs/s 0.15 kWork wb_update_bandwidth_workfn
10.4 µs/s 0.10 Process [PID 44183] blocking-47
8.7 µs/s 0.10 Process [PID 1] /sbin/init
3.2 µs/s 0.10 Timer posix_timer_fn
2.5 µs/s 0.10 kWork handle_update
1.7 µs/s 0.10 Process [PID 818] /usr/bin/ntpd -g -u ntp:ntp
0.9 µs/s 0.10 kWork blk_mq_timeout_work
0.8 µs/s 0.10 kWork fsnotify_mark_destroy_workfn
0.8 µs/s 0.10 kWork ext4_end_io_rsv_work
0.3 µs/s 0.10 Process [PID 22] [rcu_exp_gp_kthr]
0.1 µs/s 0.10 kWork neigh_periodic_work
54.7 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 687] /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --system --address=systemd: --nofork --nopidfile --systemd-activation --syslog-only
9.8 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44179] systemd
8.4 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44185] (sd-chown)
6.1 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44185] systemd
5.1 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44183] zbus::Connectio
5.1 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44180] (sd-mkuserns)
3.6 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 1774] /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/xfce4/panel/plugins/libwhiskermenu.so 1 14680071 whiskermenu Whisker Menu
3.4 µs/s 0.05 kWork crng_reseed
2.9 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44180] (nordvpnd)
2.3 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44182] wrapper-2.0
2.1 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 43955] pool-103
1.8 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 43953] pool-102
1.2 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 1319] /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkitd --no-debug --log-level=notice
1.0 µs/s 0.05 kWork process_srcu
0.9 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 1131] /usr/bin/gpg-agent --supervised
0.8 µs/s 0.05 kWork free_user_ns
0.7 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44184] blocking-95
0.6 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 1237] /usr/lib/rtkit-daemon
0.4 µs/s 0.05 Interrupt [84] nvme0q1
0.4 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 89] [ksoftirqd/11]
0.3 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 1238] /usr/lib/rtkit-daemon
0.2 µs/s 0.05 kWork addrconf_verify_work
0.1 µs/s 0.05 kWork drain_local_stock
0.1 µs/s 0.05 Process [PID 44179] 16
0.1 µs/s 0.05 kWork iova_depot_work_func
0.0 µs/s 0.05 kWork kfree_rcu_work
106.5 µs/s 0.00 Interrupt [1] timer(softirq)
103.7 µs/s 0.00 Interrupt [9] RCU(softirq)
86.5 µs/s 0.00 Timer fq_flush_timeout
85.4 µs/s 0.00 Interrupt [104] eno1
73.8 µs/s 0.00 Timer delayed_work_timer_fn
47.9 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 20018] [kworker/u64:2]
17.6 µs/s 0.00 Timer nv_timer_callback_typed_data
13.6 µs/s 0.00 Timer process_timeout
12.3 µs/s 0.00 Timer tcp_delack_timer
11.7 µs/s 0.00 kWork vmstat_update
10.8 µs/s 0.00 Timer clocksource_watchdog
9.7 µs/s 0.00 Process [PID 46] [migration/4]Also the first run has this weird line
100.0% Device USB device: HD Pro Webcam C920is that right? oO
Last edited by millus (2025-09-25 13:44:09)
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#4 2025-09-25 14:19:45
- seth
- Member
- From: Won't reply 2 private help req
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 75,039
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
2.3W - obviously this is rather HW dependent.
The xfwm4 compositor might cause the nvidia GPU to draw more power and a second monitor will for sure (also if you configured it to enforce the full composition pipeline)
Check nvidia-smi
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#5 2025-09-25 15:40:09
- LuxFerre
- Member
- Registered: 2010-03-01
- Posts: 121
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
Powertop on a laptop will give you watts estimates, but it does not really show power consumption (watts) on a desktop pc. It does however measure and show what is waking up the CPU (asking for something, therefore using power and preventing the low power mode).
In the first case where it says 100% device webcam that seems to be the main cause for disturbing the low power mode. Maybe try unplugging it and measure again...
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#6 2025-09-25 15:42:45
- cryptearth
- Member
- Registered: 2024-02-03
- Posts: 2,090
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
ASUS PRIME X670E-PRO WIFI
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
2x32GB 4800 MT/s RAM
NVIDIA AD102 GeForce RTX 4090
that's surely not the fulll list
- what about cooling? not just the cpu but the entire case!
- storage - how many, what type?
- fans?
- rgb?
- why a wifi mobo? do you need wifi? do you use it?
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#7 2025-09-25 15:58:25
- dimich
- Member
- From: Kharkiv, Ukraine
- Registered: 2009-11-03
- Posts: 594
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
To get impact of OS configuration on consumption, first measure consumption when the system is close to true idle, e.g. when booted into emergency mode.
Also keep in mind that some PSUs may be inefficient with low loads, so considerable part of that 120W may be consumed by PSU itself.
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#8 2025-09-25 16:26:05
- topcat01
- Member
- Registered: 2019-09-17
- Posts: 282
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
On laptops with nvidia disabled I get around 3 W (with screen and wifi on). These are all on intel.
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#9 2025-09-26 03:16:43
- ewaller
- Administrator
- From: Pasadena, CA
- Registered: 2009-07-13
- Posts: 20,617
Re: What is normal Watt consumption for desktop Arch?
I connected a Watt meter to the PC (without monitors, just the PC itself) and noticed that my desktop pc uses around 120W when idle, like no Firefox or Discord running, just some open terminal windows and audio mixer window perhaps.
Is that normal?
Seems a bit extreme. Desktop/Tower power supplies can have ratings pushing 2kW, but this laptop has a 60W wall wart. That is almost two orders of magnitude difference.
Questions:
Spinning disk drives? How many?
GPU?
Tell us more about the Watt meter. Is it something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_A_Watt ?
Is your PC power supply power factor corrected? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor
Non-pfc switching power supplies can seriously confuse some power meters.
TL;DR -- I question your instrumentation.
Edit: To put things in perspective. My wife and I live in a single family home. We have two refrigerators, one television, LED lighting, three x86 Linux computers (always on) one Windows computer (always on), electric ovens, an air conditioning unit that ran a few hours last month, other stuff includes vacuum cleaners, phone chargers, a couple printers, and two raspberry-pis that I use to control irrigation valves. And a fountain with a small pump. Our average power over that time (kWh divided by the number of hours per month) was 500W.
Last edited by ewaller (2025-09-26 03:26:23)
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