CLASP conducted laboratory testing on computer systems to measure the increase in energy consumption associated with different classes of discrete graphics cards used in desktop computers.

Desktop computers account for about 1% of electricity consumption annually in the US. Determining appropriate discrete graphics card adders – the amount of additional energy a desktop computer is allowed to consume when built with a discrete graphics card – has been a significant barrier to implementing effective S&L for this product group.

These reports provide the preliminary results.