[SOLVED] Do I need a ATX 3.0 PSU for my next upgrade?

[WrongRookie]

I'm living under a rock as I don't know much of the ATX 3.0 but I heard that it is required for more power hungry components.

Does my upgrade require a PSU with ATX 3.0?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/W8TDXy

I do a mix of gaming and editing but I do want to get into the raptor lake for its good value. I intend to reuse my current PSU which is a Seasonic PX Focus Plus Platinum 850w.

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, you don't. And any of the larger power supplies that are compatible with the newer graphics cards that require the 16 pin connector will come with an adapter. Aside from that, all current hardware works perfectly fine with existing standard power supplies.

Currently there is really nothing that REQUIRES the use of a 3.0 standard PSU.

 

[Karadjgne]

Right now is a transition period. The standard ATX 2.0 we all know and love has a new design and specs, the ATX 3.0, which currently has no requirements as Darkbreeze said. Which beggars the question, 'what about tomorrow?'.

It's entirely possible that within 1-2 generations of gpus, or possibly even cpus/motherboards, you'll start seeing equipment (especially the uber high end or expensive giant wattage hogs) that will specify a requirement for a ATX 3.0 psu.

So as Darkbreeze so nicely put it,

Aside from that, all current hardware works perfectly fine with existing standard power supplies.

The question then becomes 'do you really want to spend $200 on an excellent, high quality, power efficient watt monster with a 10-12 year warranty, that you'll need to replace, most likely, long before that warranty is up.

Need? No, no need currently. But it honestly wouldn't hurt if planning on keeping that monster for the next 10 years and upgrading to a cpu/psu that may require one, later.

If I was building from scratch, and opting for a 40series nvidia, I'd probably also opt for the ATX 3.0 psu as well, it having native 12vHPWR connectors, just so I wouldn't have to deal with the 4x8pin to 12+4pin adapters and cable management. And that's besides the advancement in specs and abilities the 3.0 has over the 20year old 2.0 specs.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-atx-v3-psu-standard

 

[Darkbreeze]

Actually, the current standard, prior to ATX 3.0, is ATX 2.53 and has been since early 2020, but the majority of what is out there currently is very likely to be ATX 2.52 which became the standard in 2018.

The only ATX 3.0 power supplies out there right now are the MONSTER models that are like 1000w and up, if my research is in any way accurate. And at that, there are only a very small handful so far.

The ONLY real world differences between ATX 2.53 and ATX 3.0 standards that I am aware of is that the the ATX 3.0 standard of course comes equipped with the 12vhpwr 16 pin connection and they must comply with "power excursions" which basically means they need to be able to handle 3x the maximum "sustained" power capacity for 100 microseconds in order to eliminate problems on modern cards that tend to "spike" outside their specified maximum TDP. So basically, instead of PCI-SIG telling graphics card manufacturers to stop being lazy and design these cards so that they don't have outrageous power spikes that go way past their specified power envelope, instead they want PSU manufacturers to comply with a spec that can accommodate the laziness of graphics card designs.

So in truth, we really never see anything spiking more than a couple hundred watts (for VERY brief periods, like, fractions of a second, which is of course enough to trigger protections on some power supplies especially if the protections are not set or tuned correctly or the unit is lacking a reasonable amount of headroom to accommodate such spikes and/or land in the 50-70% of capacity preferred zone) and since we generally like to see power supplies that are 30-50% higher capacity than the graphics card actually NEEDS, then so long as users are actually doing that (Which we know they usually are not but you can't hold EVERY owners hand to make sure they do) they shouldn't have any problems even with future generations.

Now, if we start seeing graphics cards that are regularly spiking 3x higher than their stated TDP, then I'll start saying users need to or must look to ATX 3.0 power supplies sooner rather than later. Also if that happens, I'll say that that manufacturer needs to be slapped in the choice bits.

 

[WrongRookie]

I understand that at some point i would have to upgrade my PSU. But i can't afford a 40 series graphics card or anything too high in power yet as i much prefer a one that atbest does the job of running games at 1080p.

So i guess that I don't need a new psu to support the 13th gen CPUs right?

 

[Karadjgne]

Nope, all good with the older atx psus.

Also if that happens, I'll say that that manufacturer needs to be slapped in the choice bits.

It's nvidia or Intel, take your pick, they've been needing that for years. Amd at least is attempting to be power efficient and doable for most ppl. A 300w cpu or 600w+ gpu is f'n nuts no matter which way they try and spin it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nope, all good with the older atx psus.

It's nvidia or Intel, take your pick, they've been needing that for years. Amd at least is attempting to be power efficient and doable for most ppl. A 300w cpu or 600w+ gpu is f'n nuts no matter which way they try and spin it.

So much for that theory. LOL.


Asus Lists Identical PSU Requirements for RX 7900 XTX as RTX 4090

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[Karadjgne]

Not really. Look at the numbers. They keep quoting 450w as the power draw for the 4090. It's not. That's the TDP. Power draw is upto 600w. Big difference. The 7900xtx is a 355w TDP, power draw even from OC models should be closer to 500w. It's sticking with 3x 8pin. And with a 250w uber OC on a 7950X, you'd still be good with a 850w psu.

The only reason to be using the same psu is lack of choices. You can step from 450w to 500w to 550w and have a bunch of options, but after 750w, it's 850w, 1000w, 1200w. There's very few oddball in betweens. So you won't be using an 800w, it'll need to be a 850w, and heavy OC might require a 1000w because you won't be using a 900w.

And after that it's basically a few of 1500/1600w.

Either way, still more efficient, and is more efficient watts to cores than Intel, but I'm waiting on the performance charts.

That, and in general most are saying to go with the RMx 1000w or HXi 1200w regardless of cpu/gpu combo because so far Corsair's designs are the only proven reliable non-tripping OCP designs, just about everyone else is or has had issues, most notably anything Seasonic.

 

[Darkbreeze]

 

[Karadjgne]

Rofl, that's awesome 🤣

 

[Darkbreeze]

LOL.