The following graphics cards from Nvidia promise to be particularly power-intensive. This pushes the company and its partners to rework the cooling of cards, while users will likely have to choose more powerful power sources.
In recent years, the trend in the world of graphics cards has been towards reducing power consumption, and the GeForce RTX 4090 should be no exception. Approach first with TBP [total board power, ou puissance maximale que la carte va consommer, ndlr] From 850 watts, the latest rumors state that the TBP is “only” 600 W for the AD102 GPU which will equip the GeForce RTX 4090. This is an increase of 150 watts over the RTX 3090 Ti. For its part, the card for gamers, GeForce RTX 4080, with a TBP of 450 watts, is expected to be 130 watts up compared to its predecessor.
Of course, this is currently an estimate of Nvidia’s Founder Edition model. Partners tend to offer modded and overclocked versions, so they may offer higher TBP programs. Thus, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Fouder Edition has a 450W casing, but goes as high as 516W for some dedicated models.
These thermal envelopes raise two problems. The first is cooling. Nvidia should stick with fans with the possibility of increasing them from two to three, but rumors point to the possibility of using an AIO water-cooling system between partners.
The second problem, the scaling of the power supply. This huge amount of power would require a power source capable of providing sufficient power. If you add a 12th-generation Intel processor, not to mention, many observers believe that a high-quality 1,000-watt power supply will be needed to power a GeForce RTX 4090-equipped configuration. Eventually, 1,000 to 1,200-watt power supplies may become the new standard For highly advanced configurations.
Workstations are not immune to it
The next line of professional cards is also expected to be updated with the AD102 GPU. The top model, the RTX L6000 or RTX L8000, should see a TBP increase to 320 or even 375 watts.
If this remains well below the indicators shown by the GeForce RTX 4090, it is nevertheless a 25% increase over the previous model.
Until Nvidia officially announces the GeForce RTX 4000s, we have to be careful with leaks. But if confirmed, it will likely be necessary to plan to purchase a new power supply, if only to take advantage of the 12 + 4 pin 12VHPWR connector that the new graphics cards will be equipped with.
