500 watt PSU for 3060ti?

[Ben Neeley]

Currently I have a 1060 3gb and im looking to upgrade to the 3060ti whenever it comes in stock. I have a 500 watt Bronze Plus PSU, and im wondering if its enough. I also have a ryzen 7 3700x I bought about a month ago, 2x8 GB ram, and no optical drive.

I used a very in-depth PSU Wattage calculator, and it said for what I have plus a 3060ti I would need a 440 watt power supply, but im seeing several sources saying I need a 600-650 watt PSU. Idk if its important, but the PSU is 3 years old along with the rest of my PC except for the CPU, the motherboard (also brand new), and a stick of ram.

If I do need to get a new PSU, should I just get a 650 watt or should I get something like an 850 watt, for if in 3-4 years I want to upgrade my gpu again.

 

[Night]

In my opinion you wouldn't want to stress the PSU even more since it's not new, that's almost 90% load when utilizing the system completely (not that you'll be doing that all the time), also you will lose efficiency on higher loads. I would say 650 watts would be ideal for your usage, I'd also look for a 80+ Gold rated PSU, nothing too cheap as well, these are not expensive anymore. 650W can also handle mid to high end GPUs.

 

[Ben Neeley]

In my opinion you wouldn't want to stress the PSU even more since it's not new, that's almost 90% load when utilizing the system completely (not that you'll be doing that all the time), also you will lose efficiency on higher loads. I would say 650 watts would be ideal for your usage, I'd also look for a 80+ Gold rated PSU, nothing too cheap as well, these are not expensive anymore. 650W can also handle mid to high end GPUs.

Ok, thanks. I found an 80+ Gold 650 watt PSU for $100, but for 750 its $110 and $125 for 850. Would it be harmful to get an 850 over a 650, or would it just be a matter of not using the wattage therefore it being wasteful. Im just thinking id probably want this PSU to last for 2 GPU upgrades after the 3060ti (6-7 years), and because they will take more power, a 650 watt power supply would probably struggle after the first one.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Look for a super flower psu same wattage.

 

[SL2]

In terms of power: no.
In terms of PSU quality; depends. What brand is it?

In the 3700X review, the game tests were done with an EVGA 2080 Ti, that card alone uses 100 W more than the 3060 Ti FE, yet the whole system used 365 W while gaming.
Based on that, the chance that your system would go beyond 350 W is unlikely, unless overclocking.

If your PSU low quality, maybe it's time to replace it anyway.

 

[dirtyferret]

In terms of PSU quality; depends. What brand is it?

Not the brand, you need the exact model number of the unit.

I have a 500 watt Bronze Plus PSU

Typically when you see even watt numbers like 400,500,600w, etc they are budget units but without an exact model no one can say anything about your unit. All I can say is it will work, as others have said, because your probably won't be pulling more than 300w gaming. How long will it work and will the fan be going full blast? Not sure. Personally, if that PSU is getting on in age I would start saving for a new one sooner rather than later.

 

[Ben Neeley]

In terms of power: no.
In terms of PSU quality; depends. What brand is it?

In the 3700X review, the game tests were done with an EVGA 2080 Ti, that card alone uses 100 W more than the 3060 Ti FE, yet the whole system used 365 W while gaming.
Based on that, the chance that your system would go beyond 350 W is unlikely, unless overclocking.

If your PSU low quality, maybe it's time to replace it anyway.

Its an HP PSU. Idk much about PSU’s as ive never had to replace one, but its been great so far with no issues.

Ya, what you said about the review lines up with what I looked in to on my own, but if so where so the 650 watt reccomendations from Nvidia come from?

 

[dirtyferret]

Ok, thanks. I found an 80+ Gold 650 watt PSU for $100, but for 750 its $110 and $125 for 850. Would it be harmful to get an 850 over a 650, or would it just be a matter of not using the wattage therefore it being wasteful. Im just thinking id probably want this PSU to last for 2 GPU upgrades after the 3060ti (6-7 years), and because they will take more power, a 650 watt power supply would probably struggle after the first one.

you don't need a 750w unit unless you plan to need one. My guess is you will typically be in the neighborhood of 300w gaming since most people stay within thier same historical GPU budget for future upgrades. Realize though gold efficiency does not make a PSU good.

Its an HP PSU

most of them come from lite-on

 

[SL2]

Here's a test with a 5700XT, they run at maybe 15 W more than the 3060 Ti.


Wasting Money on Power Supplies: How Many Watts You Need for a PC PSU (2020) - YouTube

 

[Ben Neeley]

Typically when you see even watt numbers like 400,500,600w, etc they are budget units but without an exact model no one can say anything about your unit. All I can say is it will work, as others have said, because your probably won't be pulling more than 300w gaming. How long will it work and will the fan be going full blast? Not sure. Personally, if that PSU is getting on in age I would start saving for a new one sooner rather than later.

The part number is 849655-001 and the “model” is PS-8501-2

you don't need a 750w unit unless you plan to need one. My guess is you will typically be in the neighborhood of 300w gaming since most people stay within thier same historical GPU budget for future upgrades. Realize though gold efficiency does not make a PSU good.

I plan to need one in the future, as Nvidia gpus raise around 100 watts for each generation, and id want my next PSU to be last until after I replace my 3060ti, so around 3 years.

most of them come from lite-on

what does lite-on mean?

Here's a test with a 5700XT, they run at maybe 15 W more than the 3060 Ti.
View attachment 184867

Wasting Money on Power Supplies: How Many Watts You Need for a PC PSU (2020) - YouTube

Ok, so I probably shouldnt get a new PSU unless my current one breaks. Thanks.

 

[SL2]

Its an HP PSU. Idk much about PSU’s as ive never had to replace one, but its been great so far with no issues.

Ya, what you said about the review lines up with what I looked in to on my own, but if so where so the 650 watt reccomendations from Nvidia come from?

Do you know if that PSU has proprietary connectors for the motherboard? I'm not up to date here, but in the past you couldn't replace HP/Dell/... PSU's because they had different kind of connectors.

I'd guess Nvidia is going for "better safe than sorry", as they use the same recommendation regardless of the rest of the system. It's quite a difference between a Celeron and a 10900K in terms of power consumption, for instance.

 

[dirtyferret]

The part number is 849655-001 and the “model” is PS-8501-2


I plan to need one in the future, as Nvidia gpus raise around 100 watts for each generation, and id want my next PSU to be last until after I replace my 3060ti, so around 3 years.


what does lite-on mean?


Ok, so I probably shouldnt get a new PSU unless my current one breaks. Thanks.

It is a lite-on made power supply, lite on is one the largest power supply makers out there but they are know more for making quantity (laptop bricks, HP desktop PSU, etc.,) over quality. Like I said, it will work but start saving for a quality PSU sooner rather than later.

Do you know if that PSU has proprietary connectors for the motherboard? I'm not up to date here, but in the past you couldn't replace HP/Dell/... PSU's because they had different kind of connectors.

I'd guess Nvidia is going for "better safe than sorry", as they use the same recommendation regardless of the rest of the system. It's quite a difference between a Celeron and a 10900K in terms of power consumption, for instance.

Dell got rid of the proprietary connectors well over a decade ago, I believe HP followed soon after. Dell used "BTX" PSU for a while but you could still stick an ATX12V PSU in their cases and be good to go.

 

[SL2]

Yeah, it's not a high quality PSU, but on the other hand it's only 3 years old. Maybe replace within a year or so, as a bad PSU can break other components.

Also, forgot to tell you to watch the video I linked. At least you don't need a beefy PSU. Get a quality brand/model that's reasonably quiet.

 

[Ben Neeley]

Yeah, it's not a high quality PSU, but on the other hand it's only 3 years old. Maybe replace within a year or so, as a bad PSU can break other components.

Also, forgot to tell you to watch the video I linked. At least you don't need a beefy PSU. Get a quality brand/model that's reasonably quiet.

Ok, thanks. Are there any that you would reccomend? I was thinking about Seasonic, but I havent really looked too far in to it.

It is a lite-on made power supply, lite on is one the largest power supply makers out there but they are know more for making quantity (laptop bricks, HP desktop PSU, etc.,) over quality. Like I said, it will work but start saving for a quality PSU sooner rather than later.


Dell got rid of the proprietary connectors well over a decade ago, I believe HP followed soon after. Dell used "BTX" PSU for a while but you could still stick an ATX12V PSU in their cases and be good to go.

Ok, thanks.

 

[Mussels]

My system doesnt even use 500W measured at the wall and UPS

It sounds like the PSU is modern enough to be decent, so with such a low wattage system just use it and only replace it if you have issues

 

[dirtyferret]

Ok, thanks. Are there any that you would reccomend? I was thinking about Seasonic, but I havent really looked too far in to it.


Ok, thanks.

I would recommend you read reviews on toms hardware, here on tpu, kitguru, and jonny guru. Avoid the online guys outside of Aris who does reviews for toms and tpu. Plenty of quality units out there include those made by seasonic.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Im just thinking id probably want this PSU to last for 2 GPU upgrades after the 3060ti (6-7 years)

In that case i would suggest a 750w for single GPU systems, This gen saw a TDP increase over last gen

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Gold series gpu's warranty is not that long platinum is though.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Hi,
Gold series gpu's warranty is not that long platinum is though.

Hi ,
Corsair and Seasonic sell gold PSUs with 10 years warranty, i'd say that plenty enough

 

[SL2]

I'd go for a Seasonic, although there are other great brands too. Since you're not in a hurry you might as well wait for a good deal. With so much being overpriced or out of stock right now, I wouldn't be surprised if this holds true for PSU's as well.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Seasonic GX 750w
Corsair RMx 750w
Superflower Leadex III 750w

 

[Ben Neeley]

I would recommend you read reviews on toms hardware, here on tpu, kitguru, and jonny guru. Avoid the online guys outside of Aris who does reviews for toms and tpu. Plenty of quality units out there include those made by seasonic.

Ok, I will

 

[LFaWolf]

I just finished 2 hours of gaming on an MSI Ventus 3060 ti, OC to +100MHz, reaching 2070MHz. According to GPU-Z, the card maximum draw was 208 watts. I used HWInfo to monitor the CPU draw, a 4960X OC to 4.4GHz, and max power draw was 135 watts. I don't know how you got to 440 watts with the PSU calculator, but it is your call if you want a new PSU.

 

[Mussels]

PSU calculators are a joke and should not be used

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Ok, I will

I am a regular reader of tom's hardware PSU reviews by Aris ( one of the most trusted in the business ) the Seasonic GX and Corsair RMx lines of PSUs are the dominant in his reviews of gold rated power supplies ( his words on the site not mine ! )