I'm building a new PC setup after a long break and I'm looking for advice on power supply units (PSUs). I've got an MSI X870 Tomahawk motherboard, a Gigabyte Radeon 9070 XT GPU, an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor, two Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSDs, and 64GB of G.SKILL RAM. The problem is that I need to find a PSU that has enough 8-pin outputs, as the GPU requires three non-pigtail 8-pin connections, and my motherboard needs two 8-pin for CPU power and one for PCIe. After not building a PC for 20 years, I overlooked the power requirements and now I'm concerned about getting a PSU that is future-proof without relying on 12v 16-pin connectors that consume too many 8-pin outputs. Any recommendations?
1 Answer
An 850W PSU should definitely have enough power for your setup, plus you'll typically get at least a couple of daisy-chained PCIe cables. Just remember, the CPU's 8-pin connection is different from the PCIe cable. You usually only need one 8-pin for the CPU unless you're heavily overclocking. What's your primary use case for this PC? If gaming's your focus, consider just getting the 9800X3D since it performs similarly.
I thought the CPU 8-pin might be interchangeable with a 6+2 PCIe pin. I'll be using my rig mainly for PCVR with some intense mods, so I’m cautious about those power spikes. From what I gather, Corsair's 8-pin can deliver 300W, but pigtails are limited to 150W split between them, right? That's a concern for the 9070 XT, which can pull a lot of power at times.