I replaced my old Zotac RTX 3060 Ti with a used Zotac model based on the GA103 chip. In the same computer and the same tests, the previous card consistently reported around 199W, while this one shows only about 100–110W at full GPU usage. The Ryzen 5 3600 and the rest of the system are unchanged.
Despite the low reported power, performance appears normal. The card holds roughly 1950–2000MHz in Time Spy and scored around 11,000 graphics points, which is above average, with no obvious throttling. In FurMark it runs closer to 1500MHz, reaches about 82–90°C on the hotspot, and still reports only 100–110W. GPU-Z shows the stock BIOS and clocks, and there is no voltage offset in Afterburner. The power limit is already set to 100%.
Could the card be reporting power incorrectly, possibly because a previous owner modified it, or is there another explanation?
2 Answers
A previous owner may have performed a shunt modification. That can cause the GPU’s onboard power telemetry to report substantially less power than the card is actually drawing, while giving the card more apparent overclocking headroom. Stock BIOS information does not necessarily rule out a physical shunt modification. The only reliable way to verify the number would be measuring total system draw with an external power meter, ideally comparing it against the old card under the same workload. If temperatures and benchmark performance are normal, the low software reading alone is not necessarily a problem.
Since the card performs normally and reaches expected boost clocks, the reported wattage may simply be inaccurate rather than representing its actual consumption. A CPU bottleneck is possible in some tests, but it is less convincing here because the same system and test previously showed nearly 200W with the other card. You could try removing the driver completely with DDU in Safe Mode, clearing the driver cache, and installing the latest driver again. Also check the hotspot temperature, since unusually high temperatures could affect boost behavior.
The system uses a Ryzen 5 3600, and the old card reached about 200W in this exact setup. I did a clean driver installation, although I have not tried DDU yet. The hotspot reaches roughly 90°C in FurMark.
GPU-Z still shows the stock BIOS and normal stock clocks, with no voltage offset in Afterburner. The card boosts near 2000MHz in Time Spy and scores above average, so the shunt-mod explanation could fit if the sensor is under-reporting rather than the GPU truly using only 100W.