Nvidia RTX 4090: It might be time to invest in personal power

With each new generation, Nvidia GPUs are gaining in performance and the RTX 4090 should be no exception. Only, it requires so much energy an analogy that is generally made to the consumption of electricity.

A total initial onboard power (TBP) of 850 watts has been announced, the latest rumors instead refer to a (still huge) 600 watts TBP for the AD102 GPU. That’s still a 150 watt increase over the RTX 3090 Ti. For its part, the RTX 4080 with a TBP of 450 watts (or more) is expected.

Basic configuration value

Obviously, this value is estimated for the base version of Nvidia. Partners that tend to offer a more robust version may show higher TBPs. Thus, the RTX 3090 Ti at 450 watts can go up to 516 watts for a custom model.

These powers raise two issues. The first is cooling. Nvidia should stick with fans (maybe with the arrival of a fourth fan), but rumors are talking about moving to hybrid cooling using AIO in partners.

Another problem is determining the size of the power supply. Such a rush of energy would require an energy source capable of feeding the beast. By adding a processor sized to match the GPU (and the rest of the components), many leakers estimate that a 1000W 80+ Gold power supply will be required for the RTX 4090. Others aren’t surprised and believe that 1000 to 1200W power supplies will be the new standard for the next generation of hardware. .

Workstations are not immune to it

The next line of professional cards is also expected to be updated with the AD102 GPU. The higher-end model, the RTX L6000 or RTX L8000, should see a TBP increase to 320 or even 375 watts.

While that’s still a lot less than the RTX 4090, it’s a 25% increase over the previous model.

Obviously, as long as the company has not officially transferred the characteristics, it is advisable to be careful with the announced numbers. It is still best to mentally prepare for a change of power supply for your PC if you plan to switch to an RTX 4000.