This Gaming PC Has Been Banned For Consuming Too Much Power

If you thought crypto mining was the only thing that utilized a lot of power, think again. Now we’re seeing gaming PC getting banned for consuming too much power. I mean, we’ve heard of taking gaming to the next level, but this is heating things up a bit too much (no pun intended).

Alienware, which is a gaming-specific company owned by Dell, is in the news for selling PCs that are energy-intensive and require a lot of power to work that several states have put them on the banned list. After new strict power consumption laws, states like California are not legally allowed to sell Alienware’s Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 and R12 gaming computers. “This product cannot be shipped to the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont or Washington due to power consumption regulations adopted by those states,” is the warning message displayed on Dell’s online shop and states that orders placed for those countries would be canceled. If you live in any one of those states, take heed of this notice and don’t say we didn’t warn you.

So how much power are these PCs consuming? Well, according to Dell’s specs, the Aurora R12 can be used with a 1,000-watt power supply, which is equivalent to a home air conditioner unit. These restrictions only apply to gaming PCs to minimize energy consumption and maintain an efficient energy standard.

Some might claim that these restrictions are biased towards gaming systems only as they don’t apply to more energy-intensive works such as crypto mining. As crypto mining is still legal in California, that could be one of the reasons why it’s not on the restricted list yet. Maybe in the future, if it comes under personal utilization, there might be a limit to the energy consumption of crypto practices as well.