Have you considered using an older ATX 2.0 PSU to power a 12VHPWR GPU?
Have you considered using an older ATX 2.0 PSU to power a 12VHPWR GPU?
Transient power surges have been a recurring issue since the Pascal architecture (such as GTX 1080). However, it was the RTX 30-series that experienced the most severe problems, prompting reviewers to pay attention and raising awareness among users. Nowadays, this issue is still present, with GPU reviews (like those from TechPowerUp) highlighting transient power spikes as well.
This situation also contributed to the creation of the ATX 3.0 standard, aimed at addressing GPU transient power spikes. For instance, ATX 3.x power supplies need to handle a 200% load for 100 milliseconds, which means an 850W unit should be able to support up to 1700W for the same duration. If this requirement isn’t met, the device cannot be certified under ATX 3.0 or ATX 3.1 standards.
In earlier PSU versions, such as ATX 2.x (e.g., ATX 2.5), the level of over-provisioning varied significantly—some units could handle up to 120% load, while others reached 150%. There was no consistent rule for what was acceptable. This inconsistency led to some ATX 2.x units failing under GPU transient power spikes, whereas others performed well. To prevent this, it was recommended to over-provision wattage accordingly, ensuring the PSU could absorb these spikes effectively.
What I can mention is that when I changed the 4070 to the 3060 and disabled the 95% GPU power in MSI Afterburner, the system crashed again during long transcodes as before. The failure might appear after hours and I’d find out the transcode had failed the next morning.
My 7950X/RTX 4070 setup draws 430W continuously during transcodes. The Lian Li case is cooled with two 120mm intake fans, one 120mm output, one 80mm output, and the PSU fan. It’s not perfect, but the CPU and GPU don’t reach throttle temperature. You should be fine with a moderately adequate cooling setup.
The general rule is to verify measurements before upgrading. I no longer use sound cards after switching to external USB HiFi DACs, but if you need surround sound for games, my stereo DACs wouldn’t be suitable.
I favor full ATX mobos with three decent PCIe slots (each with at least four lanes) and enough space to fit three cards. A Xeon server mobo would be easier.
With my Gigabyte 4070, you could fit an LSI HBA SAS card and a 10GbE NIC in the three larger slots. No cards in the PCIe x1 slots—it’s a tight fit but functional.