The RTX 40 Series: Pursuit For More Power

With the advent of Q4 coming around the corner, there is still a lot of excitement surrounding the newest lineup of consumer and business graphics cards like the RTX 40 series waiting to hit the market. Most information related to hardware specifications and timetables is from Twitter leakers.

The most cards we have information on at this point are the RTX 4090, 4080, and 4070, with varying specs regarding GPU die, clock speeds, and, most importantly, power consumption.

A common theme with the RTX 40 series is its increased power consumption rate with the current generation of PSUs. Power supply manufacturers have been working in the background to create a new form of PSU to handle the future generations of GPUs.

MSI released a product statement for their newest generation of PSUs. They have designated it the “Meg Ai” series featuring the latest 16-pin PCIe power connector over the conventional 8-pin and an intelligent PSU module able to communicate with the motherboard for a theoretical GPU power limit of 1200W under this new design.

Image Source: MSI

The primary reason PSUs have undergone this redesign for included connectors is that the power capabilities per cable need to increase(300W→600W per PCIe power connection) and reduce transient load stress. Transient loads are a process where the power draw between the PSU and GPU reaches above its desired spec, causing the system's overcurrent protection to kick in. These spikes have become apparent in higher-end GPUs like the recent RTX 3080, 3090, and 3090Ti. Here is an excellent Gamers Nexus video showing an in-depth walkthrough of the issues encountered during recent development.

Most PSU and GPU manufacturers are moving to give the public more information regarding the latest GPUs' performance to hit the market in Q4. Until then, it's an exciting time for planning to get a PC for gamers and productivity users alike!

Written By William Wilson

Header Photo Credit: Pavan Bhakta