Which PSU To go for with regards to GPU Safety?
Posted by ddosn@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 3 comments
I have a now rather old Superflower 2000W PSU. It doesnt have a dedicated cable for the type of power connector used by Nvidia cards (12VHPWR) and I think the adaptors I've been using are partially what killed my 4090 and may be negatively affecting my 5090 (as sometimes my screens display 'no signal' briefly before coming back on and I am worried the power port may be degrading....).
I know more modern PSUs have dedicated 12VHPWR ports, and they dont seem to have the melty port issue (or at least, have it far, far less).
I'd like opinions on the best PSUs for compatibility with 12VHPWR cards.
I'm thinking of either this:
or this:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-meg-ai1600t-pcie5-modular-atx-psu-1600-w-pow-msi-05030.html
But any PSU over 1500w with a Platinum or Titanium rating would be fine.
I heard that MSI PSUs have a detector that helps you make sure the 12VHPWR connector is properly seated, so I am leaning towards that one.
Anyone have any opinions on which one would be the best choice?
hamfinity@reddit
I'm not sure why you need so much wattage as my 1000W PSU is fine with my 4090 and now 5090. Remember that efficiency is max when using 50% of the rated wattage and I doubt you're running at 1000W constantly.
Anything over 1000W with a dedicated 12VHPWR would be fine.
ddosn@reddit (OP)
I might go for the MSI one, if it has the dedicated detector. Even if it is expensive.
1600W would be a drop from 2000W, but like you said I dont think I use all that much power, despite having four pumps, 15 fans, a 5090 etc.
So that might be my choice.
Due to past experiences I got into a mindset of 'best to have far more than I need rather than not enough'. Its sort of stuck with me for 20 years.
Cyber_Akuma@reddit
I get that, but there is a limit to just how much more you have where it becomes excessive waste. There is a difference between buying one oversized packet of food from Costco that you might not finish vs buying their entire stock of it...
A 1000W PSU should be fine for a 5090, especially if you don't have other power-hungry things in the case, if you really want to be safe you can go up to 1200W, but 1500+ is just excessive. I have a system with a 11700K, 4070Super, SIX mechanical hard drives, three NVMEs, two SATA SSDs, and even a blu-ray burner as well as several 200mm fans and a half dozen USB accessories and when running a test that intentionally runs every component at max power I was not pulling more than 600 watts off my 850 watt PSU, that's even with the "CPU Enhancement" that basically is a small CPU overclock enabled in the BIOS.