What PSU do I need for RTX 3080 in 2024? Here’s what we suggest

How big of a power supply do you need to feed the hungry beast?

Sebastian Kozlowski

Reviewed By: Talal Musa

Fact Checked By: Jack Goodall

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Generational releases have been increasing the power need of components, so you may be wondering what PSU do I need for RTX 3080? The Nvidia RTX 3080 came out as a great success in September 2020, flying off the shelves but also suffering from the GPU shortage. Meaning even though gamers were hungry for them it was mainly scalpers or crypto miners that ended up with them instead. That’s passed us by now, especially since the 40-series is here to stay.

There is plenty of stock around – even still for 30-series cards, especially ever since we saw GPUs returning to MSRP more or less. AMD Radeon and Nvidia selections still differ in price, but you may have found your choice of 3080. With that new 3080, you’re going to need a good power supply to keep it going. That’s where we see what you need to fulfill its needs. As with the power behind it you want to make sure you’re not losing out on performance from your new card.

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What PSU do I need for RTX 3080?

There are multiple versions of the 3080 now so we first take a look at the original RTX 3080 10 GB. That card was released with a 320W graphics card power. For it Nvidia recommends a 750 W power supply, however, this is for a system with an i9-10900K processor and a Founder’s Edition card. So if you have a much more powerful CPU and more additions to your build you may require more.

Now there is also an RTX 3080 12 GB version, a more recent addition to the lineup. Coming out in 2022 about one and half years since the original it offers more VRAM. Which does in turn also increase the power consumption of the card by 30W up to 350W. However, the bump in power doesn’t increase the required system power according to Nvidia which still suggests a 750 W power supply.

Lastly, there is a further improved version with the RTX 3080 Ti. Comparing the 3080 vs 3080 Ti there is a change in GPU to a fuller variant. Along with more memory giving it some better bandwidth. And similarly, with the higher performance, it also increases the required power to the same as the Ti. With the 350 W TDP it also only asks for a 750 W PSU to run.

Is 750W power supply enough for the RTX 40 series?

With a recommended power supply of 750W for two quite powerful components, is the newer 40-series even more power-hungry? Well, the high-end RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450W, while the RTX 4080 and 4070 have 320W and 200W respectively. The 4090 is definitely the outlier here, as the lower-spec cards have gotten even more efficient. There’s 30W difference between the 3080 12GB and 4080 16GB (the 4080 being lower), so a 750W is enough for the RTX 4080, but not quite enough for the flagship.

So yes, it’s enough for most cards in the range – mostly importantly it’s enough for the 3080’s equivalent successor. That means that any power supply you pick up for the RTX 3080 is great enough for the RTX 4080, or below – you’re better off looking at our best 1000W PSUs if you’re interested in upgrading to the 4090.

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