RTX 4080 Power Consumption: How Much Power Does The RTX 4080 Use?
Last updated on February 25th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Right now, the RTX 4080 graphics card is one of the best GPUs Nvdia has to offer. This card is a step up from the last gens 30-series cards’ performance.
It has optimized not only performance but its power consumption as well, reducing the power consumption quite a bit from the last generations.
In this article, I have created a guide on the power consumption of the RTX 4080 graphics card.
How Many Watts Does an RTX 4080 Use?
The RTX 4080 TGP 320W, typically produces 251W during gaming and only 13W when idle.
The wattage that this card uses can change depending on how powerful your gaming setup is, as well as 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 4080 graphics card will produce around 25 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 4080 is around 490 Watts. This is very high but only occurs in extreme cases.
A GPU like this will only reach these high levels of power consumption under heavy overclocking, or when you hit a very powerful performance spike.
This spike will force the RTX 4080 to produce a lot more power over the couple of seconds that the spike happens.
RTX 4080 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 4080.
| GPU | TGP |
| RTX 4070 Ti | 285 Watts |
| RTX 4080 | 320 Watts |
| RTX 3080 | 350/320 Watts |
As you can see from this table, the RTX 4080 has a fairly high power consumption or TGP, but you can also see comparing it to Nvidia last gen 30 series cards that the new 40 series cards are starting to get slightly better power consumption at there performance levels.
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 4080?
I would recommend that you try to get a power supply unit that is 900 watts. If you go on Nvidia’s page you can see that they say that the RTX 4080 would be able to run on an 850-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.
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 4080 FAQ
How Much Power Does The RTX 4080 Use?
The RTX 4080 has a TGP of 320 watts which is the base maximum for this card, however, this can be increased when overclocked or put in a very intense situation. In these situations, the RTX 4080 will exceed its maximum TGP for only a few seconds.
How Much Faster is The 4080 Than The 3080?
It all depends on what game you play, but after testing, we can see that the RTX 4080 produces almost double the performance that the RTX 3080 produces, however, this will change depending on what you are doing and what games you are playing.
To take away from this, the 4080 is a massive step forward from the previous generation RTX 3080.
is 850 Watts Enough For The RTX 4080?
An 850-watt power supply would be enough to support the RTX 4080 at the bare minimum, but I would recommend you go 50 watts higher and get a 900-watt power supply. That way it gives you any wiggle room just in case you want to overclock in the future or you need any future upgrades.
