CalcuGrid

What PSU do I need for a Core i5-14600K?

550 W to 1000 W, depending on the graphics card beside it. With a GeForce RTX 4070 the answer is 650 W.

Where the watts go — Core i5-14600K with GeForce RTX 4070

Power draw by component for a Core i5-14600K build
Component Power
Core i5-14600K at its ceiling181 W
GeForce RTX 4070 board power200 W
Motherboard25 W
Memory module x26 W
NVMe SSD7 W
Case fan x36 W
Continuous draw425 W

The recommendation of 650 W sits that draw at 65% of the supply's rating. The target is 80%: supplies lose capacity as they age, and a graphics card's millisecond transients have to come from somewhere.

Why the answer is a range

A Core i5-14600K is sold as a 125 W processor and draws 181 W when it boosts. Intel calls the second figure Maximum Turbo Power, and it is what the chip pulls whenever it turbos. Sizing a supply against the 125 W on the box is short by 56 W — 45% — before the graphics card is counted at all.

With a GeForce RTX 4070 the system draws 425 W at full tilt, which calls for 650 W. Across the 34 cards below the answer ranges from 550 W to 1000 W: with this processor it is the graphics card that moves the number, not the other way round.

What the box would have told you

Size a supply against the 125 W on this processor's box and, paired with GeForce RTX 3090, you would buy 650 W. That build draws 575 W at full tilt — 88% of the unit you just bought, with nothing left for ageing or for the card's transients. It needs 750 W.

It happens on 30 of the 34 cards here, by as much as 100 W. On the rest the graphics card is light enough that the undercount does not cross a supply size, which is luck rather than a method.

Supply sized from the Core i5-14600K TDP against what the build needs
Graphics card Sized on TDP Actually needed Short by
RTX 3090650 W750 W+100 W
RTX 3080 Ti650 W750 W+100 W
RTX 3080650 W750 W+100 W
Radeon RX 9070 XT600 W700 W+100 W
RTX 5070 Ti600 W700 W+100 W

Core i5-14600K with every graphics card

Power supply needed for a Core i5-14600K with each graphics card
Graphics card System draw PSU needed Set by
GeForce RTX 5090800 W1000 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 4090675 W850 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti675 W850 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 5080585 W850 WCard maker
Radeon RX 7900 XTX580 W800 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 3090575 W750 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti575 W750 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3080575 W750 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER545 W750 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4080545 W750 WCard maker
Radeon RX 7900 XT540 W750 WCard maker
Radeon RX 9070 XT529 W750 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti525 W750 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER510 W700 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti510 W700 WCard maker
Radeon RX 7800 XT488 W700 WCard maker
Radeon RX 7900 GRE485 W700 WCard maker
Radeon RX 7700 XT470 W700 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti515 W650 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 5070475 W650 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER445 W650 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 3070445 W650 WCard maker
Radeon RX 9070445 W650 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4070425 W650 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti425 W600 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti405 W600 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 3060395 W550 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti390 W550 WCard maker
Radeon RX 7600390 W550 WCard maker
Radeon RX 9060 XT385 W550 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 5060370 W550 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 5050355 W550 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 3050355 W550 WCard maker
GeForce RTX 4060340 W550 WCard maker

Frequently asked questions

What PSU do I need for a Core i5-14600K?
It depends entirely on the graphics card: 550 W with the lightest here, 1000 W with the heaviest. Paired with a GeForce RTX 4070 the answer is 650 W.
How many watts does a Core i5-14600K actually draw?
181 W at its ceiling, not the 125 W on the spec sheet. Intel publishes the higher number as Maximum Turbo Power; the lower one is a thermal design target, and the gap between them is 56 W.
Is the 125 W TDP the number to size a PSU against?
No. TDP describes what the cooler has to remove under a sustained load, not what the socket can pull in the moment it boosts. Using it here would leave you 56 W short.
Does a Core i5-14600K need a bigger PSU than its TDP suggests?
Yes — 56 W more, before the graphics card. That is the difference between a supply that copes and one that trips under a load spike.
What happens if I size my PSU from the 125 W TDP?
You would buy a supply that is too small on 30 of the 34 cards here, by as much as 100 W — often a whole size, sometimes two.

A sizing estimate, not a measurement. It adds the processor's power ceiling, the graphics card's rated board power and an itemised allowance for the rest of the system, then leaves headroom so the supply is not running at its limit. Real draw depends on the board's power profile, how far the parts are overclocked, and how a particular graphics card handles transient spikes. Treat a result within 50 W of a supply's rating as a reason to choose the next size up.

Data on this page last verified . How these figures are calculated

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