The energy flux onto an unbiased substrate is determined theoretically and experimentally for aluminum, and copper deposited using a 3 in. magnetron sputtering system. The energy per deposited atom is calculated. Energy per deposited atom trends towards being independent of power and pressure, especially at high magnetron powers. At low powers, the energy per deposited atom increases with pressure due to lower deposition rates. For the magnetron system used, plasma effects are shown to be important in determining the total energy flux to the substrate. Contributions of the electrons and thermal radiation from the target-region are included in the model. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.