How Much Extra Wattage PSU Do You Need? – Complete Guide

Power Supply Units or PSUs are one of the very crucial things in your PC. You need to be very much concerned with this before building your PC.

So how much extra wattage PSU should you have?

It’s ideal to have a headroom of 100-200W in your PSU. It should always work at 70% efficiency at max. Anything more than that might generate extra heat. As the PSU’s wattage is totally dependent on the components you have on your build, it’s better to calculate that before buying a PSU.

There is a more in-depth discussion that needs to be done to fully understand the whole PSU wattage requirement. I will also discuss the wattage needs for your devices.

Let’s boot it up then!

How to Determine Required Extra Wattage?

It might be tough to determine the correct wattage for your PC’s power supply. More watts mean more performance and higher energy efficiency. But this increased power consumption can lead to an increase in your electricity bill. 

I will teach you about different types of PSUs and how much power they provide.

First of all, I would like to clarify the evergreen question, what wattage should my PSU be?

Your PSU wattage totally depends on your build. For example, If your components require 300W it means you need at least 300W PSU to power them up. However, it’s better to have a headroom of 100-150W. So, that means you’ll need a 450W PSU if your components require 300W.

In general, While idling the PSU remains on 20% load and 70% load at max. So, it is better to get tier 3 or better PSU. Suppose if you are thinking of raw wattage of 350 then 400-500 Watt PSU is a better choice.

As the components are developing they are becoming power-hungry. Right now the basic recommended PSU wattage is 550W for an entry-level PC build.

You can also find out your own builds’ power requirement by using the Newegg power supply calculator. Once you have given all the components as input, it’ll calculate the required power.

However, this number does not represent the PSU wattage you should opt for. You need at least a headroom of 100-150W. It’ll give you safety from the sudden spike from main power lines.

That means the build in the picture will require a 1000W power supply. It will be totally future-proof because there are not many PC components there in the market that can consume more than 1000W.

Source: ROG ASUS

We’ve compiled a list of various GPUs and their corresponding minimum and recommended PSU wattages as well.

PSU Requirement at Current Time

Graphics cards are the largest power hogs on your PC. It’s no wonder that these latest GPUs are smashing their fists on the table, demanding more watts like a Viking in need of beer.

The GeForce RTX 3090 consumes roughly 350 watts without taking into account the rest of your PC. Because of that Nvidia recommends a 750W power supply for their top graphics cards.

Source: Twitter

Also, AMD recommends the same for its new Radeon RX 6000 series. However, the top-end RX 6900 XT requires a beefy 850W power supply to work properly. 

Here’s a glimpse of an absolute monster of a PC with a Radeon RX 6900 XT supported by 850W Corsair RMx.

So, you get an idea of how power-demanding these components are.

However, if you’re going to build an entry-level PC with GTX 1650, RTX 2080 or Ryzen 5600G AGPU then I recommend going with a 450W- 750W PSU.

Power Supply Rule of Thumb

The first rule of thumb is that having too much power is preferable to not having enough. 

Your PC would not be able to switch on if there is insufficient electricity. There are many other reasons behind your PC not starting up, but having an insufficient PSU is kind of the key reason.

It’s also not a good idea to have the power supply running at full capacity. 

A 350-watt power source can power devices that need 350 watts. However, if there are unpredictable spikes in the load, it may shut down totally. This can lead to component failure due to overheating, unlike a PSU that’s considered overkill.

Running at maximum capacity for long periods of time stresses the electrical components. This raises the chances of catastrophe. As a result, running a high-capacity power supply unit is always the better option. 

We recommend having at least 10% to 20% headroom between your needs and the maximum power supply. Also, if you have extra wattage you’ll be easily able to upgrade your PC without changing your PSU.

You can find the usage of power from the PSU calculator that I mentioned earlier. 

Let’s look at some PSU requirements according to the hardware-

PSU Requirement for Gaming

So, how many watts should my power supply be for gaming?

A 6 or 8-core CPU is found in many recent gaming systems. A 650W to 850W power supply should be plenty for a mid-range to high-end graphics card.  For gamers, 750W has long been the sweet spot. 

Higher wattages are required for more powerful systems, especially if you plan on boosting.

GTX 1650 Power Supply Requirements

A 350-550 Watt power supply unit is recommended for the average system. To overclock your GPU or processor, we recommend investing in something with higher endurance. Your PSU is also the most energy-efficient at half load (50 percent utilization).

Here are some of the best 550W PSUs that you can use with your GTX 1655 build.

GTX 1660 Ti Power Supply Requirements

Nvidia recommends a minimum system power of 450W for the GTX-1660-TI. The card’s power consumption is quoted as 120W. For the GTX1660s, a quality 650W will suffice. However, the gtx1660s should not be powered by a hunt key PSU.

R7 260x PSU Requirements

A 550 Watt power supply unit is required for the card on the average system. The system consumes 118 watts when it is turned off. 

When the GPU is fully stressed, it consumes roughly 193 Watts. Using less might cause your Ryzen 7 to keep crashing and there are chances the PSU will degrade.

GTX 3060 PSU Requirement

For the RTX 3060, Nvidia suggests a power supply of at least 550W. This was tested on a high-end i9 CPU. However, I would recommend going for a 650-750W PSU if you’re building a GTX 30 series PC. 

This will give you proper headroom and some sort of upgrading ability. Here I’ve compiled some of the best 750W PSUs, feel free to pick one.

Radeon RX 6900 XT PSU Requirement

Usually these cards require 600W basic PSU with no headroom and only essential PC components. However, this number can rise up to 700W with additional components added to the build.

So, considering the headroom it’s better to get an 850W PSU to run a system with RX 6900 XT. And here are my recommendations-

Tips on Selecting PSU

A multitude of measures may be used to determine the quality of a PSU. As a consequence, some of these suggestions may be valuable to you.

• To begin, always choose a power supply from a reliable brand and read reviews before purchasing.

• Avoid generic power supplies since they are often subpar. Look for recognized brands with excellent warranties and customer service.

• Larger, heavier units are preferred over small, light units. Higher-quality power supplies always have larger and better capacitors, chokes, and other components.

• You should also examine the connections on the PSU. Make sure it’s compatible with your system by doing so.

FAQs

What happens if the PSU’s wattage is exceeded?

When the current limit is surpassed, the power supply will simply stop down. This period is usually less than a millisecond. It must be disconnected from the power source.

What are the signs that my computer is using too much power?

To tell if the computer is consuming too much power, look for particular signs to figure this out. Blue Screen Death, system freezes, and software crashes are all regular occurrences. All of these symptoms imply that your computer is underpowered.

What are the Signs That My GPU Is Getting Enough Power?

Common signs that your PSU is getting enough power are the monitor flashing or displaying dots or lines. This means that the computer’s power supply unit might be out of power. Insufficient wattage may result in irregular screen display rendering.

Summing Up

We hope now you know how much extra wattage PSU you should have. As said before, it’s always better to have more power than to have less. So we hope you can calculate that easily now. 

Till then, all the best!