video cards current draw

[doc]

Can anyone suggest some products or point me to articles concerning
modern fast video cards current draw while not performing tough 3d tasks,
I mean when they're used in normal office/desktop applications?
I have a bunch of PCs that stay up for hours every day for other purposes
than gaming, but would like to give a decent gaming video card to a
couple of them along with a hard disk drawer in order to switch them to
gaming platforms when they're not needed for work purposes.

I've no particular preference for any video card brand or model,
therefore anything that will run at decent resolution the most recent fps
games will do, but the requirement is that the video card must not draw
anormous amounts of current when not used for gaming. I'm perfectly
willing to trade speed for low current, therefore I cannot expect to get
meaningful suggestions from the usual reviews at gaming sites or in
magazines where for obvious reasons faster is better no matter if you
need a nuclear plant to power it. Thanks in advance.

 

[rjn]

I've no particular preference for any video card brand or model,

Be sure to look at ATI (AMD) IGP then.

therefore anything that will run at decent resolution the most recent fps
games will do,

What games. What res. What eye candy settings?

... but the requirement is that the video card must not draw
anormous amounts of current when not used for gaming.

A motherboard with AMD 790GX integrated graphics, and
128MB of sideport, might do, in which case you can skip
the PCI Express heater entirely. And if it doesn't add, a
modest PCe card in hybrid Cross-Fire.

.... typed on a machine with 790GX, but no games.