CalcuGrid

What PSU do I need for a Core i7-13700K?

550 W to 1200 W, depending on the graphics card beside it. With a GeForce RTX 4070 the answer is 650 W.

Where the watts go — Core i7-13700K with GeForce RTX 4070

Power draw by component for a Core i7-13700K build
Component Power
Core i7-13700K at its ceiling253 W
GeForce RTX 4070 board power200 W
Motherboard25 W
Memory module x26 W
NVMe SSD7 W
Case fan x36 W
Continuous draw497 W

The recommendation of 650 W sits that draw at 76% 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 i7-13700K is sold as a 125 W processor and draws 253 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 128 W — 102% — before the graphics card is counted at all.

With a GeForce RTX 4070 the system draws 497 W at full tilt, which calls for 650 W. Across the 34 cards below the answer ranges from 550 W to 1200 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 5090, you would buy 1000 W. That build draws 872 W at full tilt — 87% of the unit you just bought, with nothing left for ageing or for the card's transients. It needs 1200 W.

That is not a quirk of this pairing. On all 34 cards here, sizing from the stated TDP lands you a smaller supply than the build calls for — by as much as 200 W at the top end.

Supply sized from the Core i7-13700K TDP against what the build needs
Graphics card Sized on TDP Actually needed Short by
RTX 50901000 W1200 W+200 W
RTX 4090800 W1000 W+200 W
RTX 3090 Ti800 W1000 W+200 W
RTX 3090650 W850 W+200 W
RTX 3080 Ti650 W850 W+200 W

Core i7-13700K with every graphics card

Power supply needed for a Core i7-13700K with each graphics card
Graphics card System draw PSU needed Set by
GeForce RTX 5090872 W1200 WThis build
GeForce RTX 4090747 W1000 WThis build
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti747 W1000 WThis build
GeForce RTX 5080657 W850 WBoth agree
Radeon RX 7900 XTX652 W850 WThis build
GeForce RTX 3090647 W850 WThis build
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti647 W850 WThis build
GeForce RTX 3080647 W850 WThis build
GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER617 W800 WThis build
GeForce RTX 4080617 W800 WThis build
Radeon RX 7900 XT612 W800 WThis build
Radeon RX 9070 XT601 W800 WThis build
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti597 W750 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti587 W750 WThis build
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER582 W750 WThis build
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti582 W750 WThis build
Radeon RX 7800 XT560 W700 WBoth agree
Radeon RX 7900 GRE557 W700 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 5070547 W700 WThis build
Radeon RX 7700 XT542 W700 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER517 W650 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3070517 W650 WBoth agree
Radeon RX 9070517 W650 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 4070497 W650 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti497 W650 WThis build
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti477 W600 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3060467 W600 WThis build
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti462 W600 WThis build
Radeon RX 7600462 W600 WThis build
Radeon RX 9060 XT457 W600 WThis build
GeForce RTX 5060442 W600 WThis build
GeForce RTX 5050427 W550 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 3050427 W550 WBoth agree
GeForce RTX 4060412 W550 WBoth agree

Frequently asked questions

What PSU do I need for a Core i7-13700K?
It depends entirely on the graphics card: 550 W with the lightest here, 1200 W with the heaviest. Paired with a GeForce RTX 4070 the answer is 650 W.
How many watts does a Core i7-13700K actually draw?
253 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 128 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 128 W short.
Does a Core i7-13700K need a bigger PSU than its TDP suggests?
Yes — 128 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 34 of the 34 cards here, by as much as 200 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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