As hardware gets more powerful and power hungry, makers of power supplies have to keep up to offer relevant PSUs to interested parties, and to that end, we see even more and more powerful PSUs at every Computex. If last year we thought that 2,800W was crazy, then this year we see that several manufacturers have managed to build 3,000W+ power supplies.
Seasonic introduced the Prime PX-2300, a 3,200W 80+ Platinum ATX 3.1 model, at the show, beating Asus’s 3,000W PSU that the company showcased earlier this week. The new unit features four 12V-2×6 connectors for high-performance gaming or AI/HPC GPUs, and to that end, it powered a server running four Nvidia datacenter-grade graphics cards and an AMD datacenter processor during the demonstration.
Such a setup is common for datacenter environments, though as this is an ATX-standard PSU, it can perfectly fit into a workstation, or even into a gaming desktop, though 3.2kW of power is an overkill for the vast majority of machines that are out there.
But as if 3200W is not enough, Super Flower stole Seasonic’s thunder with a 3,300W PSU. In fact, Super Flower again displayed the most powerful PSU at Computex — the Leadex SF-3300F14HP. This 3300W monster is also fully ATX 3.1 compliant, offers five power rails, and is capable of supplying power to high-end processors and four GPUs using four 12V-2×6 connectors. The company expects to start its mass production late this year, so expect its wide availability in late 2025 – early 2026. As for pricing, the company’s current-generation flagship 2800W PSU costs some $899. Since the new 3300W does not really replace the previous-gen, but rather enhances the product lineup, expect it to exceed the $1,000 mark.
In any case, such high-output power supplies are not universally deployable due to electrical limitations. In North America, typical 120V/15A outlets can only support PSUs up to around 1800W (though keep in mind that the ratings of power outlets are made for peak loads, not continuous loads, so 1600W or less is a more realistic target). So, in the U.S., these CPUs are good for facilities with upgraded power circuits. By contrast, a European 16A/230V outlet (not in all countries and not in all homes, though) can easily support PSUs rated at 3,000W+, depending on efficiency and continuous load.
Despite the limited market, demand for such PSUs exists in areas like AI research, custom GPU compute systems, and advanced desktop workstations. Users owning such machines are likely to invest in the necessary infrastructure to support PSUs delivering over 3kW of power, and the cost of infrastructure greatly exceeds the costs of actual PSUs.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
