Hey everyone! I have a couple of questions about my setup. I'm considering upgrading from my RTX 3060 Ti to an RTX 5070 (Gigabyte Windforce SFF Triple Fan 12G) and I'm currently using a Thermaltake Smart BM2 650 Watt 80+ Bronze PSU with a Ryzen 5 5600x, B550M Mortar motherboard, a 240mm AIO cooler, four ARGB fans, two 500GB SSDs, and a 1TB 7200RPM HDD.
1. Will my PSU be sufficient to run the RTX 5070?
2. If it is, can I daisy chain one PCI-E 8x2 pin cable from the PSU and connect both ends to the 12v-2x6 adapter that comes with the GPU? Or do I need a second PCI-E 8 pin cable? Just for reference, the RTX 5070 has a TDP of 250W while my current card has a TDP of 200W. The PSU is semi-modular and has extra PCI-E slots available. Thanks in advance for your help!
4 Answers
One daisy-chained cable isn't enough for that card—it's pushing 150W DC. When you add in the motherboard power of 75W as well, you're cutting it close and might end up short on power. It may not even turn on without undervolting it, which isn't reliable.
In my experience with a similar setup, a 650W PSU just won’t cut it for the RTX 5070. PCPartPicker recommended at least 699W for my build, so I went with a 750W modular PSU. Plus, it came with a dedicated high-power cable for my GPU!
You should definitely check out PCPartPicker to get a handle on your power needs. Generally, I’d add an extra 150-200 watts to whatever total it gives you. If that still falls under 650 watts, you should be okay. That said, I’d recommend thinking about a higher wattage PSU just to be safe. You don't want to risk frying your expensive components!
Here’s what I got on PCPartPicker: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QpQrsp. It suggests not to daisy chain, but I should still be golden, right?
DO NOT skimp on your PSU! Always go for Gold-rated or better from reputable brands. Your components depend on it!
Wait, but why does my build only show 473W? I took out some RGB strips and peripherals, which shouldn't add that much.