Rumors about the consumption of the GeForce RTX 40 have sown many doubts. Some rumors said that the GeForce RTX 4090 would draw more than 600 watts and that we would need a power supply of more than 1000 watts to move it. All this was ultimately denied, although as a result of the TGP confirmation of the said video card, a new story appeared that, frankly, there is also nowhere to take.

This story says that the leaked GeForce RTX 40 consumption was so high because this generation it was designed under Samsung’s 8nm nodeand that when NVIDIA jumped to the 5nm node, the consumption figures decreased. It has no legs or head because the green giant was not going to make the mistake of designing a new graphics generation under the same node as the previous generation, especially when AMD already used a 7nm node. For this reason, we did not reflect this report, because it has neither head nor tail, although it does not hurt to give you our perspective on the matter.

Overall, I know that many of our readers who are thinking of buying a GeForce RTX 4090 still have doubts in this regard, and for this reason I wanted to form this article where I’m going to tackle three big questions about food new top-of-the-line graphics cards from NVIDIA. I will limit myself to the official information that we have already seen when unboxing the GeForce RTX 4090 and remind you that on October 11 at 15:00 (Spanish time) we will publish our analysis, where you will find all the key information about the said graphics card.

What power supply do I need to drive the GeForce RTX 4090 smoothly?

The answer is this depends on your computer configurationbut I can give you two references that will help you a lot:

• 850W power supply if you have a configuration that does not require high performance at the CPU level and you are not going to overclock the GeForce RTX 4090. For example, a computer with a Ryzen 7 5800X3D or a Core i5-12600K would fall into this category.
• 1000 watt power supply if you have a configuration with high power needs at the CPU level and you are going to overclock the GeForce RTX 4090. For example, a computer with a Ryzen 9 7950X or a Core i9-12900K would fall into this category.

Please note that the 450 Watt TGP applies total consumption of GeForce RTX 4090 under normal conditions, and in stock frequencies. With an 850 watt power supply, we would still have quite a bit of room (400 watts) to power the rest of the equipment.

Is it true that I need four additional 8 pin power connectors?

No it is not true. The GeForce RTX 4090 comes with an adapter that allows us to connect up to four additional 8-pin power cables, but we’ll only need to plug in three if we don’t overclock the graphics card.

On the other hand, keep in mind that many of the big brands in the power supply world, such as Corsair and Seasonic, There are now 8-pin to 16-pin cables that plug directly into the power supply, and which use only two connections to power up to 600 watts. They facilitate cable management and achieve a more aesthetic finish.

Remember that the graphics card doesn’t only draw power from the connectors, but also up to 75 watts from the PCIe slot, so don’t worry, you won’t have anything to worry about. Check if your power supply is compatible if you’re going to use the 16-pin cable that some PSU manufacturers already offer, because if it turns out not to be compatible, you could freak out.

Could a lower powered GeForce RTX 4090 be used?

Yes, it would be possible because its TGP is 450 watts after all, but you have to keep in mind that you may end up with stability issues if the total consumption of your device is higher than the power of your power supply. In the end, it’s best not to take chances with this problem because these stability issues could turn into a power supply failure, which could take other components with it.

It is best not to take risks in this regard and stick to the minimum of 850 watts. Today we can find power supplies with this level of performance and a good level of quality for less than 100 euros. A good example would be the EVGA BQ 850W 80 Plus Bronze Modular which costs €99.99.

Note: This selection contains some links from our affiliates, but none of the products included have been designed or recommended by them or their manufacturers, but have been selected at our own discretion.