psu
Posted by Stock-Translator7092@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 16 comments
My parts are a Ryzen 7 5700x3d (105W) and a RTX 5060 (145W), with 4 RAM memories, a CPU cooler and 7 RGB fans, can a 550W power supply handle it? The recommended power supply on the 5060 purchase website is a 450W power supply.
whomad1215@reddit
yes
you can put your hardware into pcpartpicker.com to get a power draw estimate, you usually want at least 100w or 20% more wattage
aminy23@reddit
PC Parts Picker's estimate is based on TDP and doesn't take transient power excursions into account.
For example a 9070XT peaks at over 480 watts: https://www.igorslab.de/en/amd-radeon-9070xt-and-9070-in-the-test-clock-energy-with-crowbar-and-at-least-some-reason-as-a-counterpoint/8/
Yet PC Parts Picker reports it at 304: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QJ3qNz
And with your logic a 365-404 watt PSU is not nearly enough to handle one.
rocklatecake@reddit
Transient spikes are not relevant for PSU wattage requirements, the PSU just has to be built to handle them properly. Lots of people with high quality, high wattage (750w+) Seasonic PSUs had issues with Ampere GPUs simply because the high transient spikes of Ampere would trigger protective systems and turn off their PC. On the flip side, a 400w PSU could certainly be built in a way that it could handle 480w transient spikes.
The person you replied to was talking about total system power estimate on PCPP, not just GPU. So you're going on about something that was never even said to begin with.
aminy23@reddit
ATX 3.0 PSUs are built to handle them, but they didn't exist prior to 2023.
Prior to that we could guesstimate based on the quality of the capacitors in the unit. A unit with top quality capacitors can probably handle a spike over its listed capacity, while a low quality unit might have capacitors that explode.
And that's the core of the issue, especially at lower wattages you don't typically find quality units easily. Try finding a Corsair or SeaSonic 400-550 watt unit and they're not very common.
Even with higher capacity units you can still calculate the transient excursions with that in mind. If you have a 750 watt unit that can handle a 10-15% transient, that could be 825-862 watts. Now if you had a build that was a nominal 600w, but with 800w transients you know it can handle it.
If you have a 750 watt unit that can only output 600W of 12V because it's a cheap group regulated unit, it's at it's limit before even taking transients into account.
rocklatecake@reddit
I honestly don't even know what you're trying to say here. Except for the exploding capacitors in PSUs due to transient power spikes , I would be very interested in seeing some examples of that happening because I have never heard of this occurring in consumer grade PC hardware.
aminy23@reddit
In the old days computers needed many voltage rails like +3.3, +5, -12, etc. For example a CD burner might use 5V and a sound card might use -12 with +12 to create 24V.
Today CPUs and GPUs have VRMs that run on +12V and this is the main thing we need to power.
If I Google "550 watt PSU label", here's the third result for example: https://images.anandtech.com/doci/3985/leisttt.png
This PSU has dual 12V rails of 16.5 Amps each. Volts x Amps = Watts.
Dual 12 x 16.5 = dual 198 watts.
This PSU can supply 198 watts to the motherboard, and a second 198 watts to the graphics card, but combined they can't exceed 350 watts.
The graphics card can get 75 watts from the motherboard, and 75 watts + 198 = 273 watts max for the GPU.
Maybe with a transient power excursion it might handle 10-30% over, so 300-350 watts, even though it's a 550 watt unit.
If we take a mid grade 550 watt unit like this Silverstone: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71DlEgFprzL.AC_UF894,1000_QL80.jpg
It can handle 504 watts of 12V power, so maybe a transient of 550-650 watts.
And for the above ATX 2.3, the "maybe" is basically approaching the point of capacitor explosion.
On the other hand, with new ATX 3.0 PSUs, a 550 watt PSU is required to be designed to handle a transient of double without issue. So it can handle an 1,100 watt transient safely.
So using real examples: * Cheap 550 watt PSU example 1 - 300-350 watt transient before we risk explosion * Mid 550 watt PSU example 2 - 550-650 watt transient before OCP might kick in or capacitor explosion occurs. * Any ATX 3.0 compliant 550 watt PSU - 1,100 watt transient power excursions must be handled safely
rocklatecake@reddit
I'm pretty sure you're not a real person. Bad bot.
whomad1215@reddit
gollygeewillickers mister, I had no idea that a gpu that costs more than OPs entire build may have different requirements
aminy23@reddit
You gave general advice that's not good or accurate in most contexts.
For a 5060, OP's graphics card, it shows a 145 watt PSU: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PBvNjn
A 174-245 watt PSU isn't powering a 5060.
Nvidia, AMD, and possibly Intel all give PSU recommendations calculated by their engineering teams.
Otherwise it's important to calculate it by looking at transient power excursions, not TDP.
That's actually among the most toxic misconceptions out here, because people get undersized PSUs and end up with PCs that are crashing and freezing and they blame brands like AMD for it.
AverageCryptoEnj0yer@reddit
You should put the parts into pc part picker, and itbwill give you the required watts, then multiply that number by 1.5, and that's what your psu should output.
If you go too close to your psu limit, as that guy said, you could have some issues because of spikes, but most 3.0 PSUs are rated to withstand double their wattage for a short timeframe so I guess it should be fine?
aminy23@reddit
Yes, a 550 watt power supply can handle it and will be fine as long as the label shows that at least 475-500 watts on the 12V rail or 40+ amps on +12V.
Some cheap power supplies can't actually provide the labeled wattage on 12V. For example this can only output 350 watts, despite being 550 watts: https://images.anandtech.com/doci/3985/leisttt.png
This is a true 550: https://hexus.net/media/uploaded/2020/8/1a6fe9ec-e34e-4c77-9d0a-72456fd91b41.jpg
The wattage you're seeing is probably TDP which is heat output and has almost nothing to do with power consumption other than being a rough average.
Computers operate at GHz speeds which basically means that go on and off billions of times a second. If a graphic card is 0 watts, then 500, then 0, then 500 - it might average 250. But this 250 watt card won't work with a 300-450 watt PSU because it actually peaks at 500. Now a 5060 doesn't peak that high, but it's important to not apply the wrong logic to future builds.
prohandymn@reddit
I understand your research... but you should at least add 10% more... if he's going to over-clock, even more.
You are not taking into account if he has or is considering an AIO, fans, RGB, what his storage will be, any external USB usage... always better to have a moderate overhead PSU, a quality one at that!
aminy23@reddit
I wouldn't disagree, but as I stated in my other comment. Nvidia recommends 550 watts with a 170 watt 9950X.
Considering OP has a 65 watt 5700X, and AM4 has a socket limit of 142 watts, that 550W recommendation is quite reasonable.
Stock-Translator7092@reddit (OP)
Mine shows 42.5A and 522W on the +12V line, will it work for my configurations?
Stock-Translator7092@reddit (OP)
I saw here that it supports 522W on the label, do you still think it can handle it? The recommended power supply is 450W
Stock-Translator7092@reddit (OP)
My power supply is the Gigabyte PB550, can you see if it can handle it? I don't understand much