RTX 2070 Power Consumption: How Much Power Does The RTX 2070 Use?
Last updated on February 25th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
The RTX 2070 GPU is a great graphics card the use if you are looking for a budget-friendly card that still produces decent performance.
An upside with purchasing a 20 series card like the RTX 2070 GPU, is that these cards usually have a relatively lower power consumption than the newer 30 series GPUs.
In this article, we will go through and look at the amount of power the RTX 2070 uses, and what kind of power supply you will need if you decide to build a PC using this GPU.
How Many Watts Does an RTX 2070 Use?
The RTX 2070 has a TGP of 185W. It typically produces 185W during gaming and only 9W when idle.
The wattage that this card uses can change depending on how powerful your gaming setup is and the types of games and tasks you are doing.
For example, if you use more than one monitor expect your graphics card to have a higher idle power consumption.
Typically, with an extra monitor the idle power consumption will be under double what you would see with just one monitor.
In this instance, the Geforce RTX 2070 graphics card will produce around 17-18 Watts of power when idle in a dual monitor setup.
When looking at a GPU’s power consumption, you want to look at the TGP (Total Graphics Power) because this shows the maximum power draw you will usually get when using your GPU for intensive tasks such as gaming.
You might also hear the phrase “TDP” which can be used interchangeably with TGP. The difference is essential in that TDP is the total power consumption of a component, and TGP is the total power consumption of a GPU specifically.
However, it is not actually the true maximum of the graphics card. The true maximum of the RTX 2070 is around 215 Watts. This is still fairly low when compared to other GPUs.
Your GPU will only go over the normally rated TGP when it is overclocked or if it has a power spike when it is doing a very intensive task.
This spike will force the RTX 2070 to produce a lot more power over the couple of seconds that the spike happens.
RTX 2070 Power Consumption Compared to Other GPUs
The GPUs power consumption is compared using TGP. It is essential to know and compare your graphics cards to other similar models because it will help you get a grasp on the amount of power your system is going to use.
Here is a comparison of a few graphics cards that are around the performance range of the RTX 2070.
| GPU | TGP |
| RTX 2060 Super | 175 Watts |
| RTX 2070 | 185 Watts |
| RTX 2070 Super | 215 Watts |
As you can see from this table, the RTX 2070 has a pretty low TGP meaning it is a pretty power-efficient card. Although this card is fairly old it still produces pretty decent performance even when you compare it to the newer generation GPUs.
If you are looking for a power-efficient card that still has decent performance then the RTX 2070 might be the right graphics card for you.
If you want to compare more graphics cards on their power consumption and TGP I have provided a database where you can look at dozens of different GPUs and their power consumption, that way you don’t have to do the research yourself.
Check out the Database.
I have also provided the average power consumption when gaming, as well as the average power consumption when idle, that way you can get a better understanding.
What Power Supply Do I Need to Use For an RTX 2070?
I would recommend that you try to get a power supply unit that is 600 watts. If you go on Nvidia’s page you can see that they say that the RTX 2070 would be able to run on a 550-watt power supply, however, that is the bare minimum.
When purchasing a power supply for your computer you want to keep in mind that every piece of hardware in your system also has a certain level of power consumption, not just your graphics card.
Although not as powerful as a graphics card, all of these little components add up and can exceed the wattage of your PSU very quickly.
That’s why you want to be safe and grab a PSU that has around a 20% increase in extra wattage than you planned for your system. This usually equates to a PSU that is around 50-100 watts more than what the manufacture which in this case is Nvidia recommends.
By doing this you will not only know for sure that your PSU will be able to support powering your whole system but it will also be safe from any power spikes that happen when you are gaming.
If you also want to save on your electricity bill, then you should purchase a power supply that is at least 80 plus Bronze certified, with the best rating being 80 plus Gold certified.
You should read: “How Do Power Supply Ratings Work?”
RTX 2070 FAQ
How Much Power Does an RTX 2070 Use?
The RTX 2070 has a TGP rating of 185 watts which means it uses around 185 watts of power per hour.
How Much Power Does an RTX 2070 Use When Idle?
When idle the RTX 2070 will use around 9 watts of power, but the idle wattage will pretty much double for every monitor you have. So, if you have 2 monitors the idle power consumption will be around 17 or 18 watts.
Can a 2070 Run on a 550 Watt Power Supply?
On Nvidias website it says that the RTX 2070 GPU can run on a power supply that is 550 watts. However, I would recommend you get at least a 600-watt power supply, that way you future-proof your build in case you want to overclock or do any upgrading in the future.
