GPU power usage

[buiggiez]

PC Specs:
Asus Z97-P
I5-4690k
Sapphire R9 380
Corsair VS550
8gb DDR3

I ordered GTX 1080 Strix, and started to wonder if my PSU will handle that card? R9 380 uses kinda lot power, and Nvidia cards aren't struggling with that problem, but how it is? Do I need to upgrade the PSU aswell?

 

[Dunlop0078]

A GTX 1080 consumes around 180-190watts stock, a bit more with an OC. The R9 380 uses around 234watts stock. So if it handles a R9 380 it will handle a 1080. Those VS units aren't the greatest however, if it's getting old you may want to replace it just to be safe.

Why doesn't the GTX 1080 use more power than an R9 380? It is just the more efficient card, it gets more performance per watt. You would have to get into the engineering of the card to explain why. One reason is the manufacturing process, the 1080 is much smaller at 16nm, the R9 380s is 28nm. The smaller the manufacturing process the more efficient cards tend to be, though this is not the only factor. The 1080 is also a more modern design, vega 64 and the 1080 are a better comparison though vega still uses more power however is the more powerful card on paper.

 

[buiggiez]

A GTX 1080 consumes around 180-190watts stock, a bit more with an OC. The R9 380 uses around 234watts stock. So if it handles a R9 380 it will handle a 1080. Those VS units aren't the greatest however, if it's getting old you may want to replace it just to be safe.

Why doesn't the GTX 1080 use more power than an R9 380? It is just the more efficient card, it gets more performance per watt. You would have to get into the engineering of the card to explain why. One reason is the manufacturing process, the 1080 is much smaller at 16nm, the R9 380s is 28nm. The smaller the manufacturing process the more efficient cards tend to be, though this is not the only factor. The 1080 is also a more modern design, vega 64 and the 1080 are a better comparison though vega still uses more power however is the more powerful card on paper.

Thats the way how I was thinking about it. Wasn't quite sure through about VS series, but its somewhat 2 years old.

VS550 was able to handle R9 surprisingly well, even with bit of overclocking. And processor is 4,2ghz aswell, and PC seems to be running without problems.

I quess it is safe to keep the VS550 then on with 1080 then. Thank you sir!

 

[Dunlop0078]

No problem.