A graphics card is an essential piece of hardware for any PC gamer. It is responsible for rendering the images on your screen, so it’s important to choose a powerful card that can handle the demands of your favorite games.
Since It’s no secret that gamers require a lot of horsepowers to run the latest and greatest games such as high-end graphics cards, processors, and memory in order to enjoy an immersive gaming experience.
Moreover, It’s also responsible for rendering and editing the videos and images for your streaming purposes, because nowadays gaming is much more than simply booting up a game and enjoying the story.
Technology nowadays is so advanced that you can even play and stream at the same time while you are connected with your friends and audience altogether.
So, if you’re planning on building a gaming PC, it’s important to make sure that your power supply can handle the graphics card you choose.
But what if you already have a powerful graphics card and your power supply can’t keep up?
In this article, we’ll explore what happens when your power supply isn’t strong enough to support your graphics card and offer some tips on how to avoid this problem.
What Happens If Power Supply Is Not Enough For Graphics Card
Diagnosing why your power supply might not be enough for your graphics card can be tricky. Usually, the first symptom is that your games will start to stutter or lag.
This is because the graphics card is not getting enough power and is struggling to keep up with the demands of the game.
Another symptom is that your PC will randomly reboot or shut down. This is because the graphics card is drawing too much power and causing instability in the system.
If you’re experiencing either of these symptoms, then it’s time to take a look at your power supply.
1. System randomly reboot
2. PC shut down
3. Stuttering games
4.”Blue Screen of Death” error(BSOD)
5. Damaged hardware
6. Fried wires
7. Fire
What Can You Do If Your Power Supply Isn’t Enough For Your Graphics Card?
Here are some of the important things that you can do if your power supply isn’t enough for your graphics card.
1. 12-Volt Rail Check
Another thing to check is the amperage of the 12-volt rail. The 12-volt rail is responsible for supplying power to the graphics card, and most cards require at least 30 amps. If your power supply doesn’t have enough amps on the 12-volt rail, then it’s also not enough to support your graphics card.
2. Cable Connector Validation
Finally, you should check the connector types and make sure that they are compatible with your graphics card. Most graphics cards require at least one six-pin PCIe power connector, but some higher-end cards can require up to two eight-pin connectors.
If your power supply doesn’t have the correct connectors, then it won’t be able to supply enough power to your graphics card.
These Methods Doesn’t Help? Here Is A Couple Of Fixes
Here are a couple of workarounds,
1. Time For An Upgrade?
The next method is to upgrade your power supply to a higher wattage unit. This is the most straightforward solution, but it can be expensive if you need to buy a completely new power supply.
Get at least a 750-watt power supply for a high-end graphics card
2. Underclocking
Another option is to underclock your graphics card. This means lowering the clock speed of the GPU and memory, which will reduce the power consumption of the card.
This can be done in the graphics card settings, and it’s often easy to find a sweet spot where the card is still powerful enough for gaming but doesn’t consume too much power.
3. Get An Efficient PSU
Finally, you can also try to increase the efficiency of your power supply by using a higher-quality unit. This won’t necessarily increase the wattage or amperage, but it will make sure that your power supply is able to deliver its full power to your components.
Higher-efficiency power supplies are more expensive, but they can be worth the investment if you’re having trouble with your current unit.
Power Supply has the following forms of efficiency 80%, 85%, 90%, and so on, these are rated as White, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and so on. If you have an 80% efficiency power supply, 20% of the power it pulls from the outlet is wasted as heat.
An 85% efficiency power supply only wastes 15%. That doesn’t sound like much, but it can make a big difference when you’re talking about hundreds or even thousands of watts.
Final Word
No matter what solution you choose, it’s important to make sure that your power supply is up to the task of powering your graphics card. A weak power supply can cause all sorts of problems, ranging from stuttering games to random shutdowns.
By following the tips in this article, you can make sure that your power supply is up to the task of powering your graphics card and are well aware of what happens if power supply is not enough for graphics card.