Now that RTX 30-series video cards are available at near-MSRP prices, the time for building gaming PCs has returned! But if you aren’t up to date with current video cards, you might be wondering what type of power supply you’ll need for that new RTX 3000 series video card.
When NVidia first announced the RTX 3000 series, people were speculating that the power requirements for the new cards would be a little bit different than what consumers were used to. Some people claimed the 30-series GPUs would take a single 8-pin power cable, some claimed one card needed three 8-pin connectors, and others threw out weird combinations of 6-pins and 8-pins. As it turns out, these rumors probably came about due to a new type of power connector NVIDIA opted to use on the cards, but we’ll get into that later.
But now that we are several years away from launch, we fully know the power requirements of the RTX 3000 series and you can know exactly what your new card will require without having to guess.
How many 8-pin connectors do 30-Series cards need?
As it turns out, some of the new 30-Series GPUs require two of the PCIe 8-pin connections (otherwise known as “6+2” connectors), while others require three – and even within the 3080 product line specifically, the power connection needs vary depending on the specific card. We’ve broken down the most relevant information below, to help you plan out your upgrade and make the purchase that’s best for you.
Note: This information is pulled directly from NVIDIA’s official spec sheet for the new 30-series graphics cards, as well as official spec sheets from various manufacturers.
NVIDIA
| Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition | Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080 Founders Edition | Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090 Founders Edition |
| One PCIe 8-pin power cable (1x PCIe 8-pin) | Two PCIe 8-pin power cables (2x PCIe 8-pin) | Two PCIe 8-pin power cables (2x PCIe 8-pin) |
| Thermal Design Power (TDP): 220W | 320W | 350W |
| Required system power: 650W | 750W | 750W |
MSI
| GeForce RTX 3090 GAMING X TRIO 24G | GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X 24G | GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING X TRIO 10G | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GAMING X TRIO |
GeForce RTX 3070 VENTUS 2X |
| 3x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 3x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin |
| Thermal Design Power (TDP): 370W | 350W | 340W | 310W | 220W |
| Required system power: 750W | 750W | 750W | 750W | 650W |
ASUS
| ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24G Gaming | ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 10G Gaming | ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3070 8G Gaming V2 OC Edition | ASUS TUF RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC |
| 3x PCIe 8-pin | 3x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin |
| Thermal Design Power (TDP): 750W | 320W | 220W | 290W |
| Required system power: 850W | 850W | 750W | 600W |
EVGA
| EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 XC3 GAMING | EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 GAMING | EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 GAMING | EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING |
| 2x PCIe 8-pin | 3x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 3x PCIe 8-pin |
| Thermal Design Power (TDP): 350W | 350W | 320W | 290W |
| 750W | 750W | 750W | 750W |
GIGABYTE
| AORUS GeForce RTX 3090 XTREME 24G | GIGABYTE Gaming OC GeForce RTX 3080 10GB (rev. 2.0) (LHR) | GIGABYTE AORUS GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8GB | GIGABYTE Gaming OC GeForce RTX 3070 8GB | GIGABYTE Eagle OC GeForce RTX 3060 12GB |
| 3x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 3x PCIe 8-pin | 1 x PCIe 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin | 1x PCIe 8-pin |
| Thermal Design Power (TDP): 350W | 320W | 290W | Not provided | 170W |
| Required system power: 850W | 750W | 600W | 750W | 550W |
RTX 4000 Series Power Requirements – What Do We Know So Far?
The power requirements of the upcoming RTX 4000 series video cards have yet to be announced, though that hasn’t stopped leaks and speculation. Leakers let slip that the RTX 4080 would have a TDP of 450W, while rumors peg the RTX 4070 at 300W TDP. Those numbers hint at some pretty spicy power supplies to meet the minimum requirements. In fact, commenters and rumor articles speculate that a 1000W power supply could be required on mid-range cards and 1500W for the high-end RTX 4090.
For more information on how to choose a new power supply for your build, you can read our PSU guide.
