Nvidia’s most powerful graphics card, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, was just overclocked past all expectations, hitting almost double its original power draw.
The GPU was unlocked to 890 watts, up from the 450-watt default standard. While this is undeniably exciting, don’t try this at home — you could wreck your card.
Unlock 3090Ti power limit to 890W！ pic.twitter.com/6VtyEF184I
— MEGAsizeGPU (@Zed__Wang) May 5, 2022
MegaSizeGPU shared a screenshot from GPU-Z showcasing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card that has managed to hit an 890-watt power limit. This was achieved using XOC BIOS, something that is typically used for extreme overclocking, and that is exactly what we’re seeing here — after all, the card’s base power is 450 watts.
According to VideoCardz, this BIOS is usually the go-to for breaking overclocking records, and during those attempts, liquid nitrogen cooling is used to make sure the system can even hit such numbers. Obviously, trying to use XOC BIOS to this extent, under regular conditions, would most likely break the graphics card, and the chances of it being repaired under warranty are next to zero. Make sure not to try doing this yourself unless you are okay with possibly causing irreversible damage to your card with no chance of getting your money back.
Not every version of the RTX 3090 Ti will work with this BIOS, but according to the source, Asus TUF GPUs indeed support it. The best option for XOC BIOS will always be a card with dual 16-pin power connectors, such as Galax HOF or EVGA Kingpin. Cards with a single PCIe Gen 5 connector cannot hit 890 watts as this one did — they max out at 600 watts. However, they can still be overclocked to some extent.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Alongside the news of the extreme 890-watt overclock, VideoCardz shared screenshots from Chiphell, showing an EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 graphics card unlocked to hit 614 watts via the XOC BIOS. Asus TUF was very close behind at 615 watts, with the GA102 GPU alone consuming a massive 496 watts.
Although Nvidia’s RTX 3090 Ti comes with standard 450-watt power, there are custom versions that can hit higher numbers. However, a lot of them are locked to a power limit of fewer than 500 watts. As an example, the liquid-cooled versions of the Asus RTX 3090 Ti Strix graphics card maxes out at 516 watts. Compared to the insane 890-watt overclocking we’re seeing here from MegaSizeGPU, those seem like rookie numbers, but it’s still a lot for any graphics card.
It’s almost hard to believe that some versions of the upcoming RTX 4090 may require this kind of power by default, but that’s what the rumors are telling us right now. Until the next generation of graphics cards is released, however, these numbers will be reserved for extreme overclockers.