Which power supply do you need for the AMD RX 7900 XTX? | digital trends (2023)

Upgrading your graphics card can sometimes mean upgrading your power supply as well, especially if it's one of the latest generations of flagship cards like the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. If you want to make sure everything is running smooth and stable, it's best to check if your current power supply can handle the upgrades coming from AMD's new line of GPUs called the RDNA 3 orRadeon RX7000.

So far, the new GPU series has only two cards:the RX 7900 XTX and the 7900 XT. Of these two, the RX 7900 XTX consumes the most power. Even then, it's still pretty conservative compared to the Nvidia flagship, theRTX4090. In the case of Nvidia, the Founders Edition has a total board power (TBP) of 450 watts and requires an 850 watt power supply. However, some of Nvidia's board partners who have created custom versions of the GPU require a much beefier power supply, capable of delivering up to 1,200 watts.

With AMD's RX 7900 XTX it won't be quite as bad. AMD has a heavy focus on performance per watt, which means RDNA 3 packs a lot of punch with relatively little power. Even then you still need a solid power supply unit so that everything runs smoothly.

If you use one from AMDbest graphics cards, you will probably pair it with atolle CPU, and these things add up. Below we talk about some of the best options for a PSU to go with AMD's new flagship GPU, so dive in and choose your PSU now.

Which power supply do you need for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?

While AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a powerful GPU in its own right, it's not overly demanding when it comes to power consumption. The card's TBP has been set at 355 watts, which is almost 100 W less than Nvidia's RTX 4090.

That's not unexpected - the AMD flagship doesn't really have the same caliber as Nvidia's RTX 4090. Instead, it will compete with the RTX 4090NVIDIA 4080, which actually consumes less power with its 320W TBP. Also, the second-best AMD GPU has seen a shake in terms of power requirements lately. As a result,the RX 7900 XT now has a 315W TBP.

While AMD itself hasn't released an official PSU recommendation for the RX 7900 XTX, there are some safe bets you can pick now rather than waiting for AMD's word on the matter. Before we get to them, it's important to note that AMD's board partner Asus recommends somewhere between 850W and 1200W, and our recommendations fall within that range.

The bare minimum for the RX 7900 XTX will be a 750W power supply. Going for 850W gives you a little more breathing room and is probably a safer choice. Keep in mind that AMD's partners may charge even more. So if you're putting together a beast of a build, going with a 900W to 1,000W power supply is probably a good idea.

Now let's start at the top. If you're looking for a great 750W PSU for a more budget-oriented build, the Corsair RM750x is a good option. This is a 750W Gold PSU. Corsair has a great reputation when it comes to its cooling and power solutions, so make a good decision here, and it's only around $120 at the time of writing.

EVGA may have retired from making GPUs, but it's still around and making some solid power supplies, among other components. An example of these great components is the EVGA Supernova 850 G7. This 850W Gold Plus PSU is efficient, can support the RX 7900 XTX and a good processor, and is fairly affordable at just about $70 more than the 750W Corsair.

If you're not a fan of EVGA, there are some other good options for an 850W PSUor the budget-friendly.

Assuming you'd rather play it safe, you can get a really powerful power supply that leaves plenty of headroom and will help you future-proof your rig. The base RX 7900 XTX doesn't require this at all, but some of AMD's partners may require you to use a power supply with a similar wattage. In any case, it's most likely overkill, but it might come in handy for high-end PC builds.

If you're willing to shell out around $320, the Seasonic Prime TX-1000 is a fantastic 80+ Titanium option. It's quiet, it's reliable, and it's ready to power enthusiast gaming rigs. It's also expensive.

Some cheaper but solid options for a 1000w PSU includeand the

We're playing in the big leagues now with a couple of 1200-watt PSUs. Much like the 1,000W options, these are overkill for most systems based on the RX 7900 XTX. However, since some of AMD's partners actually demand this kind of performance, you could go all out and buy a 1200W PSU to future-proof your build for years to come.

As long as the $400 price tag doesn't put you off, the Asus ROG Thor 1200W is one of the best power supply options in this category. This PSU is 80+ Platinum certified, quiet and reliable when your system really needs all that extra power. With this power supply you can easily acquire one of the best CPUs on the market (even the most power-hungry onesIntel models), add all the RGB lighting you can dream of and still have plenty of power left over.

Some other options that you can fully trust are theand the.

AMD avoided a potential fiasco

AMD uses a standard 8-pin connector for its latest graphics card - two of them, to be precise. Some of the models, particularly those from AMD's board partners, may use three connectors. Regardless, it's good news for you, the person building the PC, because you don't have to fiddle with new technology to achieve something as crucial as achieving stable power flow.

Both Nvidia's latest flagship, the RTX 4090, and the RTX 4080 use a 16-pin connector. Since most power supplies don't come with one, Nvidia has bundled its GPUs with the 12VHPWR adapter, which is said to deliver up to 600 watts of power over a single cable. Unfortunately, it was not envisaged that bending the cable could cause serious thermal problems.

As a result, some users have experienced something downright frightening – their power adapters and ports have caught fire andcompletely melted. It seems that AMD may have made the right choice by forgoing the 12HVPWR adapter, which Nvidia is still investigating.

Better safe than sorry

When choosing a power supply, it's always best to leave some wiggle room. You never know what upgrades you will get in the future. You could end up toooverclock– be it your GPU, yoursCPU, or even both - and that will put additional strain on your power supply.

It's easy to treat the power adapter as an afterthought and try to buy something cheap, but trust us, it's not worth it. A computer without a stable power supply will not serve you well at all. It's better to spend a little more for a gold or platinum power supply than regret it later if something goes wrong.

However, there is no need to go for something that would be completely over the top. It's best to add up the potential power consumption of your components and then leave some extra space on top of that. There are online PSU calculators that can help you, like this one fromnew egg.

If you're using the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX in your next build, any of the above PSUs will do a good job - but if you want to try some other options, be sure to check out our lineup of thebest power suppliescurrently on the market.

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