Computers are necessary for daily life in today’s technologically advanced world. We rely heavily on these gadgets to perform numerous duties, whether for work, gaming, or leisure.
The motherboard is the primary hub of a computer, connecting all components and providing smooth communication. Have you ever wondered, however, “How many watts does a motherboard use?”
The answer is “it depends,” but “not much,” compared to other components. A modern motherboard’s power usage peaks at roughly 45-80 Watts but begins at around 25-40 Watts.
This post will examine how many watts a motherboard needs, its significance, and typical questions about this important computer component. Let’s get started.
How Many Watts Does A Motherboard Use?
It is quite difficult to determine how many watts a motherboard uses. This is due to the quantity of components on the motherboard as well as the performance of the components, particularly the CPU. A motherboard may consume between 25 and 40 watts. Modern motherboards consume 45-80 Watts.
The maximum power supplied by a 24-pin motherboard power cable is 300 Watts. Still, thankfully, your motherboard will not be pushing that to full utilization. However, suppose you’re using an expansion card powered by the motherboard instead of (or in addition to) an additional cable to the PSU directly to the card.
That power will come from that PCIe slot (and eventually from the ATX Power connector). But we’re still talking about whatever you’ve connected to your motherboard.
Your motherboard will comfortably operate in the 45–80 Watt range while there is no CPU, RAM, or GPU; only high-end boards must operate at 50+ Watts.
So, the amount of power phases, type of voltage regulator, integrated chipsets and modules (e.g., on-board sound, on-board Wi-Fi, add-on USB connectors, add-on SATA connectors, etc.), and BIOS power saving features all have an impact on motherboard power usage.
Is There a Maximum Wattage for Motherboards?
In general, the maximum wattage for a certain motherboard is unknown; instead, the maximum wattage is defined by the specific:
- Processor
- CPU cooler,
- power supply, and so on
However, most motherboards are designed to run at a partial wattage all of the time. It would be best if you always utilised the lowest wattage feasible.
This is because it can harm your motherboard. Most motherboards have a power-limiting setting to protect themselves. Your motherboard will burn out if you exceed this power limit.
When overclocking your system, you should use extreme caution. Overclocking your motherboard is never a good idea. It can damage.
If you use a motherboard rated for more than the maximum power, you risk damaging it. It may overheat and shut down as a result of this.
How Much Power Does a Gaming Motherboard Consume?
It depends on the game you are playing and how many watts a gaming motherboard uses. If you’re playing a game that requires a lot of resources and is demanding, you should seek a motherboard that uses fewer watts.
Two factors influence the wattage of a motherboard.
- Graphics card
- Power supply
The graphics card determines how much power the motherboard uses. You can save money on electricity with a graphics card that consumes fewer watts.
The wattage is also affected by the power supply. If your power supply consumes more watts, look for a motherboard with fewer watts.
Now let’s talk about how much power PC components use.
How Much Power Consumption of PC Components in Watts?
Let’s discuss the power requirements of your CPU, motherboard, video card, hard drives, and other devices.
There are two key benefits to understanding the power consumption of PC components:
- You can make an informed selection about the wattage of your computer power supply.
- You may see which components consume the most power and reduce your electricity expenditures.
We’ll go through the normal power usage of PC components in your computer case while they’re active. The CPU, motherboard, RAM, graphics card, hard drives (HDD, SSD), optical drives, and even case fans are included.
CPU Power Usage:
CPU Type | Power Consumption Range (Watts) |
Intel Low-End CPU (Core i3) | 55 to 73 |
Intel Mid-End CPU (Core i5) | 73 to 95 |
Intel High-End CPU (Core i7) | 77 to 95 |
Intel Top End CPU (Core i7-E) | 130 to 150 |
AMD Low-End CPU (2 cores) | 65 to 95 |
AMD Mid End CPU (4 cores) | 65 to 125 |
AMD High-End CPU (8 cores) | 95 to 125 |
The days of Intel and AMD competing for faster clock speeds and significant performance advantages at the expense of everything else are long gone.
Today’s CPU manufacturers are more concerned with minimizing CPU power consumption while maintaining or improving performance. Their emphasis has switched from sheer performance to increased power economy and integrated graphics.
The following elements influence a CPU’s power requirements: number of cores (and threads), clock speed, voltage settings, and manufacturing method (in nanometers).
RAM Power Usage:
RAM Type | Voltage | Power Consumption Range (Watts) |
DDR2 RAM | 1.8 V | 3 to 4.5 |
DDR1 RAM | 2.5 V | 4 to 5.5 |
DDR3 RAM | 1.5 V | 2 to 3 |
The power requirements of RAM modules are minimal. DDR3 RAM consumes less power than DDR2 or DDR RAM because of its lower operating voltage. Higher clock speeds also result in higher power consumption (for example, DDR3 RAM running at 2,133 MHz consumes more power than DDR3 RAM running at 1,600 MHz).
Surprisingly, the amount of RAM has little or no effect on PC component power usage. A 4 GB DDR3 RAM stick will consume roughly the same amount of power as an 8 GB DDR3 RAM stick (assuming they have the same clock speed).
Power Use of the Video Card:
Graphics Card Category | Load Power Draw Range (Watts) | Idle Power Draw Range (Watts) |
Low-End Graphics Card (Under $125) | 25 to 86 | 5 to 10 |
Mid End Graphics Card ($125 to $250) | 110 to 164 | 8 to 13 |
High-End Graphics Card ($251 to $400) | 162 to 258 | 12 to 20 |
Top End Graphics Card (Above $400) | 240 to 350 | 39 to 53 |
Simple graphics cards replace CPUs as the major power consumers of PC components as CPU power consumption declines with each new iteration.
We have divided video card power consumption into idle and load power draw to help you understand the power consumption of PC components.
- Idle Power Draw: The computer is booted into a clean installation of Windows and then left idle (power savings disabled). Once the power draw is stabilized, measurements are taken.
- Load Power Draw – Maximum power consumption recorded during a video card stress test (the most popular being Furmark). These figures are quite helpful in determining the wattage of your power source.
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Hard Drive Power Usage:
Drive Type | Power Consumption Range (Watts) |
2.5″ Hard Disk Drive (HDD) | 0.7 to 3 |
Solid State Drive (SSD) | 0.6 to 2.8 |
3.5″ Hard Disk Drive (HDD) | 6.5 to 9 |
A solid-state drive sometimes uses less power than a hard disk drive, as is a common misconception about the power consumption of PC components.
As the table above shows, the difference in power consumption between an SSD and a 2.5″ HDD is insignificant. While 2.5″ HDDs are more widespread in laptops, they may be easily installed on any desktop computer.
Solid-state drives still utilize less power than 3.5″ hard disk drives (plus, they are orders of magnitude faster and less susceptible to physical damage).
Power Consumption of the Optical Drive:
Drive Type | Power Consumption Range (Watts) |
SATA DVD Drive | 15 to 27 |
SATA Blu-ray Drive | 25 to 30 |
The power consumption of optical drives when burning a DVD or Blu-ray disc is shown in the table above. Because optical disks consume only 1.5 to 5 Watts of power while idle, they contribute very little to the total power consumption of PC components.
Power consumption of the case fan:
Fan Type | Power Consumption Range (Watts) |
80 mm Case Fan (2,000 RPM) | 0.6 to 1.8 |
80 mm Case Fan (3,000 RPM) | 2.4 to 3 |
120 mm Case Fan (1,200 RPM) | 0.6 to 2.3 |
120 mm Case Fan (2,000 RPM) | 3.6 to 6 |
140 mm Case Fan (1,000 RPM) | 0.9 to 1.7 |
140 mm Case Fan (2,000 RPM) | 4.2 to 6 |
Most people overlook the power consumption of PC components when considering power consumption. While case fans don’t normally add much to the power requirements of PC components, it does matter in specific cases, such as:
- Creating a NAS or HTPC (where every watt counts)
- High-end systems with five or more fans.
Case fan power consumption is affected by fan speed (measured in RPM), fan size (80 mm, 92 mm, 120 mm, 140 mm, and 200 mm), and whether or not it contains LED lights.
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Why Motherboards Typically Use Little Power?
Motherboards consume little power on their own. This is because your motherboard is more or less the “backbone” of your PC system, connecting everything else rather than a component with processing capability.
That “backbone” role is required, so don’t underestimate the relevance of a motherboard, even if it doesn’t consume much power on its own.
There may be more variation in motherboard power requirements than you might imagine. High-end motherboards typically consume 50-80 Watts of power for inbuilt RGB lighting, additional fan or RGB headers, and even Voltage Regulation Modules (VRM) enhancements.
You can typically detect which components on a motherboard consume a lot of power or are projected to consume a lot in specific conditions. In some cases, these components are equipped with heatinks, heat pipes, and active cooling (fans).
The chipset is unquestionably a component with a high power drain. Using a lot of NVMe SSDs and SATA storage connected to the chipset via chipset-PCIe lanes can significantly increase a chipset’s power usage. Even if the chipset has an operational fan, it is usually turned off and rarely spins up.
Even if we’re talking about a large power draw, this is at most 10w on an X570 chipset, as recently tested by der8auer. Of course, if you’re using a TRX40 chipset or overclocking your CPU, the extra strain on the VRMs and other components can result in higher power draw, up to roughly 80 watts at most.
VRMs are one of the most crucial components of any motherboard. Although your CPU may be one of the most power-hungry parts of your computer, it still requires carefully controlled voltage to function properly and avoid overheating.
For this reason, VRMs must filter and “clean” the power coming from your 8-pin CPU power cable before it is used by your CPU and exhausted as heat.
VRMs on higher-end boards, particularly those designed for CPU overclocking, see an increase in power phases and heatsink size to accommodate this higher performance.
However, in the correct PC configuration (mid-range or high-end), an 80-watt motherboard will not be the most power-intensive component in the machine, with the 700-1000-watt PSUs prevalent in high-end PCs remaining unaffected by motherboard power requirements.
Wrapping up:
It’s crucial to comprehend how much power a motherboard uses because doing so will enable you to design an effective power strategy for your system.
For your motherboard, you can also utilize a power meter. If you are planning to overclock your system, knowing the actual power usage of your motherboard will help you assess whether it is worthwhile.
If you intend to overclock your system, keep in mind that the power consumed by the CPU can easily exceed 100 watts, while the power consumed by the motherboard can be as low as 30 watts. I’m sure you’ve figured out how many watts a motherboard consumes.
The electrical load of the motherboard might vary greatly depending on the number of PCI slots and the types of devices you intend to attach to it. The motherboard must consume less power to connect to the power source with little load.
FAQs:
Q1. How much power supply do I need for my motherboard?
The motherboard chipset consumes 5-10 watts. Regular Intel CPUs are intended for regular power consumption – and typically self-adjust between 65 and 170-200 watts or so. K CPUs and Z motherboards are intended for people who want to overclock and push their CPUs beyond 200 watts.
Q2. Can a 1000W PSU fry a motherboard?
It’s possible but not likely. The motherboard is more likely to be harmed than the power supply. The quality of the components will determine this.
Q3. Is there a problem with the motherboard power generation?
The power consumption of a motherboard is frequently overlooked, but if it becomes too high, it can quickly empty the battery on your laptop, or if you are using a desktop, it might harm the motherboard and even spark a fire.