What Power Supply Do I Need for a GTX 980?

A GeForce GTX 980 needs a good-quality power supply of at least 500 watts with two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. That’s NVIDIA’s official minimum for a typical system. For most builds, a 550 to 650 watt unit gives you comfortable headroom, and if you plan to run two GTX 980s in SLI, look at 750 to 850 watts.

The card itself only draws about 165 watts. The rest of that 500W figure covers your processor, the other parts in your PC, and a safety margin. Below, you’ll see how to size a power supply for your exact build and what to check besides the wattage.

GTX 980 power specs at a glance

Here are the numbers that matter for the reference design GTX 980.

Custom versions from brands like ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, GALAX, MSI, and Zotac sometimes change the power setup. The GALAX GeForce GTX 980, for example, requires a 500W minimum with at least 42 amps on the 12V rail. Factory-overclocked models may use an 8-pin connector and draw more than 165 watts, so always check the exact model you own.

Why does a 165W card need a 500W power supply?

The 500W figure is for the whole computer, not just the graphics card. It assumes a fairly power-hungry system, built around a high-end Core i7 processor, plus a motherboard, memory, drives, and fans.

It also leaves room for three things:

• Power spikes. Graphics cards can jump above their rated power for very short moments during heavy scenes.
• Weak power supplies. A cheap unit labeled 500W may not deliver that much cleanly, especially on the 12V line the graphics card uses.
• Aging. Power supplies lose some capacity over the years as their parts wear.

In practice, a complete gaming PC with a GTX 980 and a mainstream processor usually pulls somewhere around 300 to 350 watts from the wall under full load. A quality 500W unit handles that with room to spare. The official figure is a safe floor, not a sign the card needs 500 watts on its own.

How to work out the right wattage for your build

You can estimate your own number in a few minutes.

• Start with the graphics card: 165W for a reference GTX 980. Use the higher figure from your card’s spec sheet if it’s a factory-overclocked model.
• Add your processor’s power rating (TDP). You’ll find it on the maker’s spec page. Many quad-core chips from the GTX 980 era sit around 84 to 91W. Newer 6-core and 8-core chips often range from 65 to 105W.
• Add about 75 to 100W for everything else: motherboard, memory, SSDs, hard drives, fans, RGB lighting, and USB devices.
• Multiply the total by 1.4 to 1.5. This gives you headroom for spikes and keeps the power supply running in its efficient middle range, where it also stays cooler and quieter.

Here are three worked examples.

Overclocking changes the math. An overclocked processor can draw far more than its rated TDP, and an overclocked GTX 980 can add 20 to 40 watts on top of its normal draw. If you plan to push either one, move up a size.

Quick rule: if you’re unsure, a quality 600W to 650W unit covers almost any single GTX 980 build, including overclocked ones, and leaves room for a future graphics card upgrade.

Recommended power supply by build

Buying a little bigger costs only a small amount more and makes your next upgrade easier. Many current mid-range graphics cards, such as the GeForce RTX 5070, have a recommended system power of 650W. A 650W unit bought now covers both your GTX 980 and a likely replacement.

Check the 12V rail, not just the wattage

The graphics card and processor get almost all their power from the 12-volt output of the power supply. That output is what really decides whether a unit can run your card.

Look at the label on the side of the power supply. It lists how many amps each voltage line can supply. For a GTX 980 system, look for about 38 to 42 amps or more on the 12V line. To see why, multiply amps by volts:

• 42A x 12V = 504W available on the 12V line.
• A GTX 980 at 165W needs about 14 amps by itself (165 ÷ 12).

Most modern units from good brands put nearly all their capacity on 12V, so a quality 550W unit often provides 45 amps or more there. Older or cheaper designs may split their power across 3.3V and 5V lines and offer much less on 12V, even with a higher wattage printed on the box.

Some power supplies spread 12V power across several “rails,” each with its own limit. If yours does, the label shows amps for each rail. Plug the graphics card’s two connectors into rails with enough capacity, following the power supply’s manual.

How to check the power supply you already have

Before you buy anything, find out what’s already in your PC. Software can’t read a power supply’s rating, so you’ll need to look at the unit itself.

• Shut down the PC, switch off the power supply, and unplug the power cord.
• Remove the side panel of the case.
• Find the label on the power supply. It’s usually on the side facing out or on top.
• Note the brand, model, total wattage, and the amps listed under +12V.
• Count the PCIe power connectors. They are usually labeled PCI-E or VGA and have 6 or 6+2 pins.

If the label is hard to read, search the model number online to find the spec sheet.

Pre-built PCs need extra care. Office and home desktops from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and similar brands often ship with 250W to 400W power supplies and no PCIe power connectors at all. Some also use custom shapes that don’t accept a standard ATX replacement. Check the case size and power supply format before planning a GTX 980 upgrade on one of these systems.

Does a bigger power supply make games run faster?

No. A power supply only delivers what the parts ask for. A 1000W unit won’t give a GTX 980 more frame rates than a 550W unit, as long as both are good quality and can meet the card’s needs.

What a better power supply does give you is stability. Clean, steady power helps prevent crashes, shutdowns, and random restarts, especially when the card or processor is overclocked. Oversizing by a huge amount is mostly wasted money, though, since power supplies are less efficient at very light loads.

What does a GTX 980 cost to run?

The card’s power use is modest by today’s standards. At its full 165W rating, a GTX 980 uses 0.165 kWh per hour of heavy gaming. If you game three hours a day, that’s about 15 kWh a month for the card alone. At an electricity price of 15 cents per kWh, that works out to roughly $2.25 a month. The full system adds more, so a whole GTX 980 gaming PC under the same use might cost around $4 to $5 a month to run.

Which power connectors does a GTX 980 need?

The reference GTX 980 uses two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Each one supplies up to 75 watts, and the motherboard slot adds another 75 watts. That gives the card up to 225 watts of available power, which is plenty for its 165W rating.

Custom cards vary:

• Some use one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector.
• A few high-end overclocking models use two 8-pin connectors.
• Some compact designs use a single 8-pin connector.

Look at the top edge of your card to see which sockets it has. Most modern power supplies include 6+2 pin connectors. These have a detachable two-pin section, so the same plug fits either a 6-pin or an 8-pin socket. Just leave the extra two pins unattached for a 6-pin socket.

A few safety habits help:

• Avoid adapters that turn Molex or SATA power plugs into PCIe connectors. They aren’t built for sustained graphics card loads and can overheat.
• Use two separate PCIe cables if your power supply has them, rather than one cable with two plugs. For a 165W card, a single daisy-chained cable is usually fine, but separate cables spread the load.
• Push each connector in until it clicks. A half-seated plug can cause crashes and black screens.

Quality matters more than size

A well-built 550W power supply is a safer choice than a poorly built 750W one. When shopping, check these points:

• 80 Plus rating. Bronze is fine for a budget build. Gold runs cooler and wastes less power, which helps if the PC is on for long hours.
• Brand and model reputation. Well-known power supply makers offer lines of different quality. Look up reviews of the exact model, not just the brand name.
• Warranty length. Five to ten years usually signals better internal parts.
• Protection features. Look for over-current, over-voltage, short-circuit, and over-temperature protection.
• Age of your current unit. A power supply that has run daily for eight or more years has lost some capacity. If you’re reusing one that old with a used GTX 980, consider replacing it.

Modular or semi-modular power supplies, where you attach only the cables you need, also make installation easier and improve airflow in the case.

What about two GTX 980s in SLI?

Two GTX 980s in SLI draw about 330 watts for the graphics cards alone, before the processor and the rest of the system. Plan for a quality 750W to 850W unit with four PCIe power connectors (or more, for custom cards with 8-pin sockets), and at least about 60 amps on the 12V line.

Keep in mind that SLI support in games has faded. NVIDIA stopped adding new SLI profiles to its drivers at the start of 2021, and most newer games either ignore the second card or run worse with it. For most people today, a single newer graphics card is faster, quieter, and uses less power than two GTX 980s.

Signs your power supply isn’t enough

An underpowered or failing power supply often causes problems only under load, which makes it easy to blame the graphics card instead. Watch for:

• The PC shuts off or restarts during games but runs fine on the desktop.
• The screen goes black or the game crashes when a heavy scene loads.
• Coil whine or clicking from the power supply under load.
• Crashes that stop when you lower graphics settings or cap the frame rate.
• A burning smell, which means you should shut down immediately and replace the unit.

If you see these signs, check that all connectors are fully seated, then test with a known-good power supply before replacing the graphics card.

Is a GTX 980 still worth building around?

It depends on what you play. The GTX 980 still handles many older games and lighter titles at 1080p. Its 4GB of video memory is a real limit in newer games, and it lacks hardware for ray tracing and DLSS upscaling.

Driver support is the bigger factor. NVIDIA’s final Game Ready driver for Maxwell-based cards like the GTX 980 arrived in October 2025. These cards now get only quarterly security updates, which run through October 2028 under NVIDIA’s support plan for Maxwell GPUs. New games won’t receive optimizations or bug fixes for this card.

If you already own a GTX 980, it’s a fine card for a budget or retro gaming PC. If you’re buying a power supply anyway, choosing a 650W unit keeps the door open for a modern card later.

Conclusion

A GTX 980 needs at least a 500W power supply with two 6-pin PCIe connectors and roughly 38 to 42 amps on the 12V line. For most single-card builds, a quality 550W to 650W unit is the sweet spot, while SLI needs 750W to 850W. Check your card’s exact connectors, pick a reputable 80 Plus unit, and your system should run games without shutdowns or crashes under load.

Frequently asked questions