What power supply does the RTX 3080 Ti need?

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is rated 350 W. How big a power supply it needs depends on the processor beside it: at their makers’ limits, processors draw anything from 81 W to 253 W. Each size below is at least a quarter more than the whole PC draws at full load.

Worth knowing

• The RTX 3080 Ti is known for brief power spikes far above its 350 W rating, which switched some older power supplies off mid-game. If yours shuts down under load, an ATX 3.0 or 3.1 power supply, or one a size up, usually cures it.
• Factory-overclocked versions can be rated above 350 W. If the card's box asks for a bigger power supply than this, go by the box.
• Many motherboards lift Intel's power limits by default. With them lifted, the Intel processors above can draw more in heavy all-core work such as rendering, though rarely in games. If yours is set that way, go one size up.

More on the RTX 3080 Ti

• Best CPU for the RTX 3080 Ti
• Power supply for the Radeon RX 7900 XTX
• Power supply for the RTX 3090
• Power supply for the Radeon RX 6950 XT
• Power supply for the RTX 4080 SUPER

How this is worked out

Each figure is the most the part draws at its maker’s default settings: the graphics card’s board power, and the processor’s package power limit (AMD) or maximum turbo power (Intel). About 60 W is added for the rest of the PC — motherboard, memory, drives and fans — and the size is the smallest common one at least a quarter above that total, so the power supply runs at no more than 80% of its rating even then. Games rarely load both parts fully at once, so this is the most the PC will ask for, not what it draws all the time.

The wattage on the label only means something on a good power supply: choose a maker you know, and look for a review of that exact model.