Is it safe to power GPUs rated higher than PSU capacity with Afterburner?

[dan_729]

I got into mining recently, and realized that I could make the GPUs a lot more efficient with some software tweaks (MSI Afterburner).

 

Which got me thinking: if I set the power limit to a low %, is it safe to power the system with a PSU that meets these new power requirements? (i.e. Set GPUs power limit from 300W to 150W > Feed the system with -150W rated PSU for each GPU)

 

I'm wondering if its safe to power 6 x 3070 limited to 120W via Afterburner with a 1000W PSU

[Entropy.]

12 minutes ago, dan_729 said:

I got into mining recently, and realized that I could make the GPUs a lot more efficient with some software tweaks (MSI Afterburner).

 

Which got me thinking: if I set the power limit to a low %, is it safe to power the system with a PSU that meets these new power requirements? (i.e. Set GPUs power limit from 300W to 150W > Feed the system with -150W rated PSU for each GPU)

 

I'm wondering if its safe to power 6 x 3070 limited to 120W via Afterburner with a 1000W PSU

Iirc in theory yes, but you may be loosing a fair bit of performance from the gpus. I doubt the psu you have has even 6 8 pins if you decide to go down that route, however, and getting a splitter I'd say really isn't a good idea. 

[porina]

1 hour ago, dan_729 said:

I'm wondering if its safe to power 6 x 3070 limited to 120W via Afterburner with a 1000W PSU

In theory, it should be ok. The power limit is board power, so that's 720W there leaving 280W for everything else before you reach PSU rating.

 

There is some concern about the power peaks that were reported at the initial 3080 launch, where ultra-short power spikes were tripping more sensitive PSU power limiters even though the average was within specification. I don't know if that also applies to the 3070 so that might cause problems.

 

You also have to be very careful not to put a big power load into the GPUs before you set the lower power limit. In theory the PSU will probably self-protect if you forget to do that.

 

48 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Iirc in theory yes, but you may be loosing a fair bit of performance from the gpus. I doubt the psu you have has even 6 8 pins if you decide to go down that route, however, and getting a splitter I'd say really isn't a good idea. 

Mining doesn't depend on core power so much so lower power limit generally doesn't affect it much. Splitters are mainly bad if you use them at high power, but at reduced power, it can be gotten away with. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, dan_729 said:

I got into mining recently, and realized that I could make the GPUs a lot more efficient with some software tweaks (MSI Afterburner).

 

Which got me thinking: if I set the power limit to a low %, is it safe to power the system with a PSU that meets these new power requirements? (i.e. Set GPUs power limit from 300W to 150W > Feed the system with -150W rated PSU for each GPU)

 

I'm wondering if its safe to power 6 x 3070 limited to 120W via Afterburner with a 1000W PSU

Why wouldn't it be "safe"?  You're demanding less power from the PSU than it's capable of outputting.  That's certainly "safer" than the other way around.