jankerson
 
Get a HIGH QUALITY PSU.
 
A few examples:
 
Corsair RMX 850 or HX(i) 850
 
EVGA P2 or T2 850

Is there an actual way to tell high quality PSU's other than just what people have tried if there's a lot more to them than just wattage and efficiency? I've seen the lists in the past, just trying to learn more about how to evaluate quality of components rather than just waiting for someone else to try it.

jacoffey85

jankerson
 
Get a HIGH QUALITY PSU.
 
A few examples:
 
Corsair RMX 850 or HX(i) 850
 
EVGA P2 or T2 850

Is there an actual way to tell high quality PSU's other than just what people have tried if there's a lot more to them than just wattage and efficiency? I've seen the lists in the past, just trying to learn more about how to evaluate quality of components rather than just waiting for someone else to try it.

 
You can look at the tier lists like this one:
 
https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/
 
THey also have a spread sheet in the 1st post to start the research.
 
Then also look up professional teardown reviews like what is on Toms Hardware, Aris is one of the best who really knows what he is talking about.
 
Customer reviews like on Amazon or Newegg etc are irrelevant. 

jacoffey85

jankerson
 
Get a HIGH QUALITY PSU.
 
A few examples:
 
Corsair RMX 850 or HX(i) 850
 
EVGA P2 or T2 850

Is there an actual way to tell high quality PSU's other than just what people have tried if there's a lot more to them than just wattage and efficiency? I've seen the lists in the past, just trying to learn more about how to evaluate quality of components rather than just waiting for someone else to try it.

I can vouch for 1300W Prime Platinum, not only you have good amount of headroom, but its approved by Seasonics to work flawlessly with 3000 series cards. Reason I'm pointing at that unit because it's price is compatible with other units  with lower wattage, but Seasonic is a superior product.

jankerson
You can look at the tier lists like this one:
 
https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/
 
THey also have a spread sheet in the 1st post to start the research.
 
Then also look up professional teardown reviews like what is on Toms Hardware, Aris is one of the best who really knows what he is talking about.
 
Customer reviews like on Amazon or Newegg etc are irrelevant. 

Thanks for the recommendation of Aris. His "PSU 101" article was very informative and made a lot of sense, but in the end it seemed like the general message was the better the design, the better it is able to eliminate RFI and EMI which goes hand in hand with power factor and efficiency. It's been a while since I've had to do major load balancing with regenerative power supply units and rectifiers, but I do remember major unbalancing between line and load (hence the term LLC) can create a lot of problems with transient voltage spikes due to unwanted EMI and a big drop in efficiency and power factor. The list does seems to coincide with top tiers for the most part being Titanium & Platinum PSU's (with a few exceptions) and going lower from there. 

AWK16
I can vouch for 1300W Prime Platinum, not only you have good amount of headroom, but its approved by Seasonics to work flawlessly with 3000 series cards. Reason I'm pointing at that unit because it's price is compatible with other units  with lower wattage, but Seasonic is a superior product.

I decided to go with the EVGA SuperNova P2 1200W. I know from having to size power supplies in industry for electrical systems, the general rule of thumb is to go 1.5x whatever your calculated max sustained load is. This allows for the 1.25x OCP that the IEC standard sets and gives you a little more room for expansion down the road. I'm looking at around 800-850W sustained with the new card so 1200W should give me that 50% overhead to allow for power fluctuations and the Platinum rating is a good sign of the quality as well.
 
Thanks for all of your help!

100% the PSU, I was running a 3090 eagle on my 750w Evga at 2050mhz no worries. Swapped over to the FTW3 ultra and it would crash. Hx1200 installed today and have had no problems yet. The 3090 Eagle is now running on a 650w Evga PSU no worries. These EVGA cards are thirstyyyyy.

jankerson

grirvan
Sounds like their specs should have listed exact power supplies that are compatible then, otherwise for all of us that were fortunate enough to get one of these cards early on, it is a crap shoot whether our power supplies will work.

 
Not really.
 
MOST as in almost all top tier PSUs work fine with the 3000 series.
 
If you look at the list of known working PSUs you will notice they are all top tier units.
 
https://forums.evga.com/We-need-to-have-a-thread-of-what-PSU-people-have-and-RTX-3080-or-3090-and-is-WORKING-m3118557.aspx
 
 
And then there is the PSU tier list to look at on Linus's forum.
 
https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/
 
But even that isn't perfect, it still does come down to what people will actually buy. It is a good place to start researching however.
 
Yes, I said research, and yes it is important, and I mean professional/teardown reviews.
 
A PSU isn't just an after thought or the last thing on the list to think about and cut cost on as so many people believe and actually do. 
 
With all of the notoriously bad information and recommendations out there it's really no surprise some are having problems.
 
I saw literally tons of bad recommendations and bad information seconds after the cards were announced. 
 
The same type people that always give bad information about PSUs in general.
 
 

This has been extremely valuable information. I have gone back to this and been studying as well as still battling my issue.
The weird part is I have narrowed my problem down to one Steam game and have uninstalled, reinstalled, changed game settings, etc. and I still get computer re-boots mid game.
Can transient spikes be worse/unique to one particular game? 
Also, I see you are running a Corsair AXI 1600W.
Aside from the overwhelming list of power supplies ranging from multi/single-rail switchable, multi-rail and single-rail, if I am going to break down and install a new power supply, I want to buy one of the best.
Any advice on how to narrow that down and whether multi/single?

grirvan

jankerson

grirvan
Sounds like their specs should have listed exact power supplies that are compatible then, otherwise for all of us that were fortunate enough to get one of these cards early on, it is a crap shoot whether our power supplies will work.

 
Not really.
 
MOST as in almost all top tier PSUs work fine with the 3000 series.
 
If you look at the list of known working PSUs you will notice they are all top tier units.
 
https://forums.evga.com/We-need-to-have-a-thread-of-what-PSU-people-have-and-RTX-3080-or-3090-and-is-WORKING-m3118557.aspx
 
 
And then there is the PSU tier list to look at on Linus's forum.
 
https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psucultists-psu-tier-list/
 
But even that isn't perfect, it still does come down to what people will actually buy. It is a good place to start researching however.
 
Yes, I said research, and yes it is important, and I mean professional/teardown reviews.
 
A PSU isn't just an after thought or the last thing on the list to think about and cut cost on as so many people believe and actually do. 
 
With all of the notoriously bad information and recommendations out there it's really no surprise some are having problems.
 
I saw literally tons of bad recommendations and bad information seconds after the cards were announced. 
 
The same type people that always give bad information about PSUs in general.
 
 

This has been extremely valuable information. I have gone back to this and been studying as well as still battling my issue.
The weird part is I have narrowed my problem down to one Steam game and have uninstalled, reinstalled, changed game settings, etc. and I still get computer re-boots mid game.
Can transient spikes be worse/unique to one particular game? 
Also, I see you are running a Corsair AXI 1600W.
Aside from the overwhelming list of power supplies ranging from multi/single-rail switchable, multi-rail and single-rail, if I am going to break down and install a new power supply, I want to buy one of the best.
Any advice on how to narrow that down and whether multi/single?

 
Multi or single rail is up to you.
 
As far as PSU models go I can recommend the following personally:
 
850W or higher.
 
Corsair HX or HXi
Corsair AX or AXi
Corsair RM, RMX or RMi
 
 
I have personally tested the HX 850, HXi 850 and AXi 1600 with my 3080 FTW3 Ultra and use all 3 currently.
 
 
 
 

Thank you. I know we have bantered a bit back and forth, but you have been a big help.
BTW, how about my question of transient spikes relative to certain games?
Any thoughts on that?
I am not having any crashing issues other than on one Unity engine game.

grirvan
Thank you. I know we have bantered a bit back and forth, but you have been a big help.
BTW, how about my question of transient spikes relative to certain games?
Any thoughts on that?
I am not having any crashing issues other than on one Unity engine game.

I can't see how transient spikes would be related to one or more game. 

jankerson
I can't see how transient spikes would be related to one or more game. 

It's pretty easy, some games demand more total power, depending on the voltage/load of the game. I can get consistent shut downs with Shadow of the Tomb Raider as I see a total system wattage (585 watts) in that game more than any other test I've done; Doom, 3DMark, etc.... 
 
Question for all: I can pickup a Corsair RM850x or an EVGA 1000 G+ at Best Buy, which one would you recommend? Edit: the EVGA is 180mm in length, that's a long boi. Going to try the Corsair I guess.