I’m new to PC gaming and have a question about power supplies. I was wondering if I should buy a power supply that’s 3.0 or if it really needs to be 3.1 to work with next-gen GPUs like the 5060 or 5070. I’ve heard that using a 3.0 might pose risks, like the cables melting. Can someone clarify this for me?
3 Answers
Either one will work just fine for the next-gen GPUs, but just make sure your PSU has a modular 12VHPWR cable (the 12+4 pin). Going with 3.1 is especially nice for handling bigger power demands, like if you plan on overclocking a future 5080 or 5090.
I’ve got an ATX3, Corsair AX1200i, and while it doesn’t support ARGB on my Aorus motherboard, it still does fine for PCIe and CPU power. Another PSU, an ATX4 from a brand called Aresgame, works well with ARGB, so it really depends on your load and what your system needs.
As long as your power supply can handle the power demands of your GPU, even a 3.0 version should be okay. The melting issue with the 16-pin connectors is more about your PSU’s quality and load capacity than the version number. Just be sure to check that.
