Okay or no way? AMD RX 7800 XT with 560W PSU

[Freeco]

When I built my new desktop last year I didn't foresee I would end up adding a +265W TGP GPU later down the road. Last year I wasn't gaming at all, so though the iGPU would do fine, or maybe a entry level GPU... Currently I 'only' have a Fractal Design Ion+2 Platinum 560W. I've started some occasional race games lately though (half an hour here, an hour there... just a few hours a week...), so want something a bit more powerful.
AMD recommends a 700W PSU for the RX 7800 XT, so my PSU is well below that.
However, when I add up the power consumption of my other components (stock i5-13600K, motherboard, 2 DIMMS, 8 fans, 2 NVMe drives) I estimate those consume about 200W when maxed out. Considering another 348W for 20ms power spikes of e.g. the Powercolor Hellhound, that's still within the capacity of my PSU. And in practice I don't expect to max out everything all at once...

I know PSUs are most efficient at 50% load. But if I don't necessarily have to spend €100-150 for a new 700W PSU on top of the €550-600 for the new GPU, I'd rather keep my current PSU.
So... "Okay..." or "No way!!"?

 

[Vya Domus]

It will be fine. Worst case scenario it triggers OCP and you'll know if you need to buy another PSU.

 

[PLAfiller]

Well, I still remember the GTX295x2 which not only needed certain watts, but also certain voltages on the 12v rails to fire up, otherwise it wouldn't start. Personally I wouldn't do it. I mean AMD's recommendation includes of course some headroom for safety, but 560W seems low IMO for this card. I mean the reviews are out here on TPU and power consumption is now a known variable. Imagine spending €550-600 for the new GPU and getting a black screen when you max it out in some game.

 

[GerKNG]

at least it's a quality unit that does not explode like a hand grenade when you overload it.
if this would be a 6800XT... forget it. but RDNA 3 has a lot better transients than 2 and it could work.

 

[KrazyT]

You've got an Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 560W.
What i'll do : try the 7800XT with this PSU and see what's happens ...
If it's fail, i'll probably save $ for a future PSU upgrade.
And during this time, i'll play in V-Sync 60Hz, and maybe undervolt a bit.
As you can see in test, (take the PowerColor for example) you've got 273W for gaming, and "only" 94W for a 60 Hz gaming scenario !
This said, i fear the PSU will be a little just here.

 

[Vayra86]

The highest 20ms spike measured on this card is 318W. PSU should be mighty fine, so definitely just roll with it first.

Some things you can do to make sure you remain with the power budget on your PSU:
- Limit the 13600K to a max wattage even at stock; say 100-120W, both short/long term settings. It'll possibly turbo less aggressively which will help you.
- Undervolt the 7800XT with -10% TDP target and core voltage reduction. Vsync60 won't necessarily help you everywhere and isn't a power limiter, its a frame limiter, it won't guarantee you won't use the full card TDP.

Both measures won't be costing you tangible performance, most likely.

 

[bug]

When I built my new desktop last year I didn't foresee I would end up adding a +265W TGP GPU later down the road. Last year I wasn't gaming at all, so though the iGPU would do fine, or maybe a entry level GPU... Currently I 'only' have a Fractal Design Ion+2 Platinum 560W. I've started some occasional race games lately though (half an hour here, an hour there... just a few hours a week...), so want something a bit more powerful.
AMD recommends a 700W PSU for the RX 7800 XT, so my PSU is well below that.
However, when I add up the power consumption of my other components (stock i5-13600K, motherboard, 2 DIMMS, 8 fans, 2 NVMe drives) I estimate those consume about 200W when maxed out. Considering another 348W for 20ms power spikes of e.g. the Powercolor Hellhound, that's still within the capacity of my PSU. And in practice I don't expect to max out everything all at once...

I know PSUs are most efficient at 50% load. But if I don't necessarily have to spend €100-150 for a new 700W PSU on top of the €550-600 for the new GPU, I'd rather keep my current PSU.
So... "Okay..." or "No way!!"?

Keep in mind AMD's recommendation has to cover for you running a 13900KS or something like that. So you have some wiggle room because of your 13600k (probably a lot of room if you power-constrain it). But like @Vya Domus said, watch for OCP, just in case.

 

[basco]

should have this:
1x 20/24-Pin, 1x 8-Pin EPS12V, 1x 4/8-Pin ATX12V, 4x 6/8-Pin PCIe, 6x SATA, 4x IDE
+12V 46.6A

 

[Freeco]

I see some comments that I indeed already had in mind:
* just try and see... An OCP would be quite obvious
* AMD recommendation is probably based worst case scenario with a healthy headroom, just to cover themselves
* limit to 60fps to reduce power consumption (my 4K ultrawide monitor and 4K TV are 60Hz anyway)
* undervolt for better efficiency
* if I'd buy an factory OC card, revert to stock frequencies

(my CPU is already undervolted btw (-0.075V I believe), but not power capped yet. R23 multi: same performance but 20W less power)

 

[bug]

I see some comments that I indeed already had in mind:
* just try and see... An OCP would be quite obvious
* AMD recommendation is probably based worst case scenario with a healthy headroom, just to cover themselves
* limit to 60fps to reduce power consumption (my 4K ultrawide monitor and 4K TV are 60Hz anyway)
* undervolt for better efficiency
* if I'd buy an factory OC card, revert to stock frequencies

(my CPU is already undervolted btw (-0.075V I believe), but not power capped yet. R23 multi: same performance but 20W less power)

Yeah, you can shave ~100W off max turbo for these and lose like 5% performance in the process. Otoh, my is set al PL1=94W, PL2=125W - it doesn't go anywhere near the 224W as seen in TPU's stress test. I believe removing those spikes will go a long way helping the PSU to feed the whole system.

 

[W1zzard]

Should be np, especially with your midrange cpu

 

[Chrispy_]

It's impossible to build a 80+ Platinum certified PSU and not have it be high-quality. Efficiency and quality should not be confused at lower tiers like 80+ Bronze and Gold, because it's possible to build a low-quality PSU that is still efficient enough to pass those rather low bars.

With current technology, there is no way to meet 80+ Platinum certification and cut corners, so your 560W PSU will comfortably deliver 560W with tolerance included in that rating for 20ms spikes.

 

[Assimilator]

Okay, but with caveats.

Your PSU will almost certainly be fine at stock with your 13600K + a 7800 XT, but load would be hitting 80% or 90% of its rated capacity which is not good - higher loads put more stress on the components and PSUs are most efficient at around 50%. So as others have suggested, I'd go with undervolts on both CPU and GPU - as has already been demonstrated multiple times, these components are effectively overvolted by default nowadays so that they can boost to stupid clocks just to make their numbers looks better in tests. Yet shaving only a few millivolts off what they're allowed to consume will drop your performance by a few percentage points, while lowering power consumption by orders of magnitude more, thus making your PSU happier and likely allowing it to last a lot longer.

In the long run I'd step up to a 750W or 850W unit just for safety's sake, but that's your choice.

 

[Chrispy_]

Okay, but with caveats.

Your PSU will almost certainly be fine at stock with your 13600K + a 7800 XT, but load would be hitting 80% or 90% of its rated capacity which is not good - higher loads put more stress on the components and PSUs are most efficient at around 50%. So as others have suggested, I'd go with undervolts on both CPU and GPU - as has already been demonstrated multiple times, these components are effectively overvolted by default nowadays so that they can boost to stupid clocks just to make their numbers looks better in tests. Yet shaving only a few millivolts off what they're allowed to consume will drop your performance by a few percentage points, while lowering power consumption by orders of magnitude more, thus making your PSU happier and likely allowing it to last a lot longer.

In the long run I'd step up to a 750W or 850W unit just for safety's sake, but that's your choice.

The number of scenarios where the CPU and GPU are drawing peak power are almost non-existent in the real world, outside of running simultaneous synthetic burn-in tests for both CPU and GPU - not something anyone's going to do regularly.

The average gaming power draw of the 13600K across multiple games is about 75W and 100W in the heaviest titles.
The power draw of the 7800XT Hellhound across multiple games is no higher than 275W, regardless of title.

So, in a worst-case scenario the CPU+GPU are pulling 375W and the ancillary components like fans, chipset, storage are likely under 25W total. (Memory is driven by the CPU, so its power draw is included in the 13600K's budget)

So, at full load in the heaviest game tested, we're talking 70% load of a platinum-rated PSU which is comfortable and in no way near what I'd call a concern, not even leaving a game running for days on end.

Efficiency "curves" are not a thing with Platinum-rated PSUs. They're basically excellent across the whole useful range:

 

[Onyx Turbine]

Im in same scenario same psu 560! haha would a 7700 xt be different as it slightly has lower power consumption instead of his cpu choice i would go one step below cpu and opt for a 13500 or 14500 - 14400 when available..

 

[QuietBob]

While you should be able to run the 7800XT with your current PSU -- especially when power limiting the CPU and gaming at 60 fps -- I would advise against it. The 13600K consumes about 200 W when fully loaded, and the 7800XT could spike as high as 320-360 W:



This already brings us to the limit of your power supply, and does not account for the rest of the system (50 W at least). Sure, you're unlikely to see both the CPU and GPU pegged at the same time, and your high quality power supply can deliver more wattage than it's rated for. But IMO you should size the PSU up for the worst case scenario, plus a little headroom, and not for typical/casual use.

I'd upgrade to a quality 650 W unit at the very least. A bigger power supply will also operate at lower temperatures and noise levels, prolonging its life.

BTW, I'm the last person to recommend oversized PSUs. I ran my current setup for months on a 650W Seasonic Focus GX, against AMD's 800W minimum recommendation. I tested 20+ games with uncapped framerate at the time and didn't see a single issue.

EDIT:
Occasional spikes on the 7800XT can actually go much higher, if only very briefly:

 

[Onyx Turbine]

While you should be able to run the 7800XT with your current PSU -- especially when power limiting the CPU and gaming at 60 fps -- I would advise against it. The 13600K consumes about 200 W when fully loaded, and the 7800XT could spike as high as 320-360 W:

View attachment 312500View attachment 312501View attachment 312502

This already brings us to the limit of your power supply, and does not account for the rest of the system (50 W at least). Sure, you're unlikely to see both the CPU and GPU pegged at the same time, and your high quality power supply can deliver more wattage than it's rated for. But IMO you should size the PSU for the worst case scenario, plus a little headroom, and not typical/casual use.

I'd upgrade to a quality 650 W unit at the very least. A bigger power supply will also operate at lower temperatures and noise levels, prolonging its life.

BTW, I'm the last person to recommend oversized PSUs. I ran my current setup for months on a 650W Seasonic Focus GX, against AMD's 800W minimum recommendation. I tested 20+ games with uncapped framerate at the time and didn't see a single issue.

what about 560 psu and 12600k like power draw and the 7700xt u think it will run?

 

[Remeca]

For a bit I had a low quality 500W powering my 11600k and 3060 ti, stated min wattage was 650 watts. Never had any issues, but I did upgrade after a while for peace of mind.

 

[bug]

While you should be able to run the 7800XT with your current PSU -- especially when power limiting the CPU and gaming at 60 fps -- I would advise against it. The 13600K consumes about 200 W when fully loaded, and the 7800XT could spike as high as 320-360 W:

View attachment 312500View attachment 312501View attachment 312502

This already brings us to the limit of your power supply, and does not account for the rest of the system (50 W at least). Sure, you're unlikely to see both the CPU and GPU pegged at the same time, and your high quality power supply can deliver more wattage than it's rated for. But IMO you should size the PSU for the worst case scenario, plus a little headroom, and not typical/casual use.

I'd upgrade to a quality 650 W unit at the very least. A bigger power supply will also operate at lower temperatures and noise levels, prolonging its life.

BTW, I'm the last person to recommend oversized PSUs. I ran my current setup for months on a 650W Seasonic Focus GX, against AMD's 800W minimum recommendation. I tested 20+ games with uncapped framerate at the time and didn't see a single issue.

He doesn't go that high, he already posted he undervolted. If he power constrains, he can make sure the CPU won't go over 125W (or whatever limit he chooses).

I'll just leave this here, in case someone missed it (Raptor Lake is pretty much the same): https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-i9-12900k-alder-lake-tested-at-various-power-limits/

 

[QuietBob]

what about 560 psu and 12600k like power draw and the 7700xt u think it will run?

Basically, it's the same situation. But could you fill out your full system specs in the TPU profile?

 

[Onyx Turbine]

Basically, it's the same situation. But could you fill out your full system specs in the TPU profile?

yes will do

 

[Freeco]

Just one more note: the review on HWbusters.com states that the 700W PSU recommendation is based on a PC configured with a Ryzen 9 7950X.
That CPU can be way more power hungry than my i5-13600K.
Blender multi-threaded: 187W vs 235W. While after undervolting mine is running CB R23 MT at 140-145W as per HWiNFO64.
So that should shave off quite a bit from that 700W recommendation.

I guess I'll just go for it and see what it gives. If I do see unusual crashes or OCP is getting tripped, I can then still look for a higher wattage PSU.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Should be np, especially with your midrange cpu

Agreed.

 

[3x0]

I'm planning on running the 7800XT on my system with a 500W PSU, will post results by the end of this month when prices stabilize.

 

[dont whant to set it"']

Power tune slider down 5-10% will take some good care of ocp triggering transients if so, untill you get a higher capacity psu .