MSI MEG-Ai Power Supplies: Three times higher peak power due to future graphics cards

The next generation of GPUs will probably be a real challenge for current power supplies. Even the current GeForce RTX 30 series isn’t without issues here, huh gamersnexus recently declared again. If a card is power capped at 300W, short spikes can generate a load of up to a factor of two or more, i.e. 700 to 800W.

MSI is preparing a new generation of power supplies with the MEG models. To be more precise, these are the MEG Ai1300P and MEG Ai1000P models, which, depending on the naming, are designed for a maximum output power of 1,000 and 1,300 W respectively. The power supplies also have a switch to toggle between single-rail and multi-rail operation.

In an internal presentation @g01d3nm4ng0 has posted, MSI says that these models can withstand short-term spikes corresponding to twice the total output power, but the focus is particularly on the graphics card supply, where even spikes corresponding to three times can be intercepted. . PCIe 5.0 support via the additional power supply via the 12VHPWR connection is mandatory for a next generation of power supplies.

Voltage and current spikes are not a new phenomenon. They even happen quite often, and just because a 125W power cap is announced for processors or 300W for graphics cards, that doesn’t mean a lot more power can’t be accessed for a short while. It depends on the measurement interval you are talking about. If you look closely, we’re talking about a few milliseconds, then the component supply exceeds the specifications quite significantly in some cases. However, these are fairly short peak loads. The power limit is maintained again for a certain time.

These load spikes can already become a problem in the current generation. With the powerful models of the GeForce RTX 30 series, there were more and more reports of users complaining about systems suddenly shutting down. A 750 or 850W PSU is enough on paper to power such a system, but if the load spikes mentioned occur, this may simply be too much for the PSU and safety circuitry, so be sure for it to turn off.

For the upcoming GeForce RTX 40 cards, expect 450W board power, if not more, for the higher-end models. Peak loads should be correspondingly high, which is why power supply manufacturers are preparing for this.