Corsair hints next-gen GPUs may be significantly more power-hungry

zohaibahd

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Forward-looking: Corsair wants to put concerns about powering next-gen graphics cards to rest. The company says its range of PSUs will be more than capable of powering the next generation of graphics cards. However, the real story here is the company's bold confidence – a hint that Corsair might have the inside scoop on what Nvidia and AMD have cooking for their next high-end GPU launches.

In a recent announcement, Corsair stated that its "range of power supplies will fully support the highly-anticipated next generation of graphics cards." Not that we expected them to say otherwise, but between the lines we can infer that the 12v-2x6 GPU power connector standard will be sticking around for at least one more cycle.

More significantly, Corsair anticipates that systems equipped with next-gen GPUs will require total power draws ranging from 750W to a whopping 1500W. To put that in perspective, the RTX 4090 – one of the most power-hungry GPUs currently available – has a TDP of 450W.

If and when those new GPUs drop, Corsair says that it has you covered with multiple options across its lineup. The fully modular RMe series with Gold-certified efficiency tops out at 1000W for "high-performance builds." If you prefer quiet operation, the RMx models have noise-dampening 140mm fans and are available up to 1200W. For the power-hungry enthusiasts, Corsair's flagship HXi series offers Platinum-rated efficiency and "top-tier electrical reliability" in capacities up to 1500W.

What caught our attention is that given Corsair's confidence and its assurance that these power supplies are future-proof, it suggests that the company may have insider knowledge about what Nvidia and AMD are planning for their next wave of high-end GPU launches.

Currently, most users pair the RTX 4090 with an 850W PSU. Doubling that recommendation to Corsair's maximum supported 1500W may seem excessive, but the announcement indirectly hints that next-gen GPUs will have higher TGPs. Earlier rumors from September suggested that the RTX 5090 could draw up to 600W.

Beyond this, issues with the 12VHPWR connector – which caused some RTX 4090 connectors to melt – might be pushing PSU manufacturers to go overkill. Nvidia has attributed the melting issues to user error though, caused by connectors not being plugged in fully, or so they say.

All said, Corsair's grand pronouncements about their readiness may be our first big tease that these power-hungry GPUs are indeed headed our way soon. With the RTX 5080 and 5090 rumored for a CES 2025 unveiling, we should find out what's at play soon enough.

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With this rate I think in near future we will have some 1500-1800W PSUs selling along with a plug-in mini espreso machine so that gamers can enjoy a coffee more conveniently during a gaming session. We can keep go on with a mini separated fan, mini refrigerator, etc cause why not if they have a 2000- 2500W power PSU xD xD
 
Well, isn't this something we've known for a while now? Corsair isn't saying anything new... Just another PR post to advertise their PSUs.

Just hope Corsair isn't right about that "up to 1500w" stuff for single GPU's..
 
If PC power consumption keeps climbing, sales are going to be limited to people who can afford to upgrade the electrical infrastructure of their home. When a 120 volt 15 amp breaker isn't enough for the average gaming PC, what are we going to do? Expect the average gamer to upgrade their house?
 
If PC power consumption keeps climbing, sales are going to be limited to people who can afford to upgrade the electrical infrastructure of their home. When a 120 volt 15 amp breaker isn't enough for the average gaming PC, what are we going to do? Expect the average gamer to upgrade their house?
Exactly. I already have issues with my current PC, which is not even close to the power of a 4090...
 
With this rate I think in near future we will have some 1500-1800W PSUs selling along with a plug-in mini espreso machine so that gamers can enjoy a coffee more conveniently during a gaming session. We can keep go on with a mini separated fan, mini refrigerator, etc cause why not if they have a 2000- 2500W power PSU xD xD
We had 2KW PSUs in the late 2000s. It's not a new thing.
If PC power consumption keeps climbing, sales are going to be limited to people who can afford to upgrade the electrical infrastructure of their home. When a 120 volt 15 amp breaker isn't enough for the average gaming PC, what are we going to do? Expect the average gamer to upgrade their house?
No one is forcing you to buy the halo GPUs. You can buy 65 watt CPUs and 150 watt GPUs just as easily as 6 years ago.

But it's easier to whine about people being allowed to push the limit of performance.
Nvidia GPUs*
AMD will bring TDP and consumption to the ground.
By falling further behind in performance. Genius!

Performance per watt is like some ancient greek to you guys eh?
 
Both teams are in the same boat
ancient greek is more simple and needs lil less power - only your brain
 
I am not sure if it is taken out of context here, but 750W to 1500W may be total system power draw. I do expect power draw of next gen Nvidia GPUs to increase, but 1500W makes no sense. It may be the GPU requires 2x power connectors.
 
+150 watts. I am wondering what case and the amount of fans will be needed for this hot thing.
Is it going to be the first card that people will return simply because of the enormous heat and noise?
 
We had 2KW PSUs in the late 2000s. It's not a new thing.
No one is forcing you to buy the halo GPUs. You can buy 65 watt CPUs and 150 watt GPUs just as easily as 6 years ago.

But it's easier to whine about people being allowed to push the limit of performance.
By falling further behind in performance. Genius!

Performance per watt is like some ancient greek to you guys eh?
Don't be so quick to assume someone doesn't know what they are talking about without taking the time to comprehend what they are saying. I am not some novice who doesn't know what they are talking about. I have worked in Data Center Infrastructure Operations for nearly 15 years and I have been a PC building enthusiast since the early 90s.

I am talking about the future. If power consumption continues to increase at the current rate, this will not be halo GPUs, it will be cheaper GPUs. I'm trying to highlight how these power increases are not sustainable and eventually another solution will need to be found. In recent years performance per watt improvements have drastically slowed as it becomes more and more difficult to shrink the manufacturing process. The current solution has been to increase power consumption, or decrease performance. Things are already coming to a head.
 
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Don't worry, performance per dollar will remain stagnant with nVidia, only top 1% richest gamers will have to change Their PSUs. They can handle It.
 
Don't worry, performance per dollar will remain stagnant with nVidia, only top 1% richest gamers will have to change Their PSUs. They can handle It.
This is a trend I continue to see in the tech industry along with many others. Product pricing is shifting toward catering to a minority of rich people while increasingly alienating more and more people from the market. This started getting bad years before covid and the rapid inflation we've seen in the aftermath. There's a lot of reasons for this, but I think a lot of it has to do with industries becoming increasingly monopolized by just a few companies, consumers having less choice, and technology stagnating. At the same time, people in general seem to be much less price conscious than they used to be and are purchasing things they can barely afford more than they used to.
 
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We had 2KW PSUs in the late 2000s. It's not a new thing.
No one is forcing you to buy the halo GPUs. You can buy 65 watt CPUs and 150 watt GPUs just as easily as 6 years ago.

But it's easier to whine about people being allowed to push the limit of performance.
By falling further behind in performance. Genius!

Performance per watt is like some ancient greek to you guys eh?
*Focusing on the market that appeals to 80-90% of users. RDNA4 with monolithic design will improve performance and efficiency metrics in its segment: mid-end, below $500-600;
Basically... 8800XT = 7900XT within 250w TDP, 30-40% faster than 7800XT, translates into >30-40% better efficiency, and performance per dollar.

By increasing TDP by 20%, Nvidia is expected to deliver 20-30% more gaming performance with a massive chip priced above U$2000. This performance boost could be even higher in games with extremely heavy RT, particularly those currently running at 25-30 FPS on the 4090. Well, this would yield a 20% improvement in efficiency.

While overall power efficiency may not differ significantly, Nvidia is pushing boundaries with an excessive 550-600W TDP, all to run RT games at just 40 FPS.
 
Blackwell is clearly poor design as datacenters are having major thermal issues with racks with 72 B100's shutting down due to excessive heat. Sure desktop will use a lot less pwoer but it doesn't bode well for 5090 users. Maybe they couldn't care less, but Huang is going after performance numbers ahead of efficiency.

RDNA4 will beat out 7900XT/XTX and still use less power apparently (as it should, being a mid-tier part). Unless AMD does another poor release with bad drivers, lied about performance and FSR4 is years away I'll be getting 8800XT for sure to replace my 6800XT. 5070 will have to be a large upgrade over 4070 Super and by all reports it's not, to be worthwhile.
 
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