What to anticipate with my present setup and transitioning from a 2K display to 4K?
What to anticipate with my present setup and transitioning from a 2K display to 4K?
The Aeacus link indicates that the 5900X can deliver 381W during gaming, with a TDP of 105W. It seems unclear about the calculations. I understand your confusion. It mentions a full system but it's not clear how they estimated overall usage given the variety of GPUs available. Perhaps the specific GPU model was mentioned but not shown in the image.
I'm surprised my 5900X isn't causing a bottleneck in my system. I've seen videos showing it runs very well in games, but I expected it might affect a 4090. Based on the Afterburner stats of 99% GPU usage and 84% CPU usage, I'm questioning whether to stick with the $550 1600W PSU or consider a lower limit to avoid spikes.
850 W is clearly insufficient for a 4090 system. The minimum should be around 1000 W, with 1200 W being optimal. 1600 W seems excessive (perhaps Aeacus misinterpreted the graphics specs or missed the details). The 5900x model consumes relatively little power during gaming, as most of its 400 W comes from the 2080 Ti. I recommend removing the 1600 W and opting for a 1200 W instead.
GPU comes with its own safeguards (similar to CPU and PSU), ensuring it won’t be completely disabled if the user attempts to adjust settings beyond its standard operating limits. Upon closer inspection, it does display overall system power usage. This is unusual for TechPowerUp, which typically only shows component-level power draw instead of the full system consumption.
For example, in my CPU review, it only displayed the power drawn by the CPU, not the entire setup. You can check the full system details here:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-r...3d/23.html
With complete system power data, it becomes much harder to determine just how much power the CPU consumes alone.
The review also notes that the AM4 socket supports up to 142W, so we can estimate a maximum CPU draw of 142W. However, this doesn’t significantly affect PSU sizing calculations:
- GPU: 450W (with spikes up to 662W)
- CPU: 142W
- Rest of the system: 100–150W
≈ 955W total
This equates roughly to 850W, which is insufficient for a standard 1kW PSU. A 1.2kW unit would be more suitable, and a 1.6kW unit would also be adequate. There’s no compelling reason against that.
The PRIME TX-1600 comes with a 12-year warranty and offers peace of mind. Additionally, it remains uncertain how much power the RTX 6090/7090 would draw if upgraded within the next 12 years, or even in a completely new build, allowing you to reuse your existing 1.6kW PSU safely.
Out of curiosity, why does 850W not suffice? Imagine your 4090 handles the full 450W and your 5900X draws 150W, totaling 600W. That leaves room for more than its rating. My 850W model is a Seasonic Titanium, so extremely durable. I believe the chance of hitting 600W plus unexpected spikes from the 4090 could be reduced by limiting power usage below 100%.
I'm still amazed if the GPU altered an Afterburner setting. I never adjusted it above 100% and the GPU has never overheated or been stressed.
You're still considering power surges up to 662W. Wouldn't adjusting the power cap to around 80 to 85% reduce those spikes?
I share the same view about the 1600W PSU being future-proof for a new GPU or a completely rebuilt system. I've also read that oversizing the PSU too much might lower efficiency at low loads?
I connected your previous GPU review. With brief power fluctuations, these occur before the GPU can set its power boundaries. Therefore, even when you configure a 80% limit, transient spikes can still reach up to 662W for short periods before the GPU's power cap is triggered. In fact, these spikes exceed the allowed limits and have become part of the evaluations.
Power surges cannot be avoided. They arise when a sudden heavy workload is applied to the GPU, such as starting a benchmark or game. Anything that forces the GPU to operate under stress.
These spikes are only significant if the GPU load stays below 10% and the power supply unit has a low efficiency rating (e.g., 80+ Bronze).
PRIME TX-1600 efficiency testing:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/seaso...3-0/6.html
The best performance is observed at 30% load (480W) with a score of 95.01%. At 10% load (160W), efficiency remains high at 92.12%, comparable to an 80+ Platinum unit running at half capacity. Only at 5% load (80W) does efficiency drop to around 87.22%, matching the 80+ Silver rating at 50% load.
Despite its 1.6kW output, the device maintains strong efficiency across all loads thanks to its 80+ Titanium rating.
I own a 5800X3D, a 5090, and used an 850W Prime ultra titanium from Seasonic made in 2018. I can confirm it functions well. I limited power to 80% without any problems. At full capacity, I would trigger the PSU during many games I've played. 1200W seems excessive for this setup, especially compared to 1600W. A solid 1000W ATX with a 3.1PSU is more than sufficient. After that, I switched to an FSP 1000W titanium PSU since I didn’t want the PSU to activate during the 5090 spikes. Feel free to check my build description if you’re interested.