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With the introduction of Nvidia's Ampere GPUs, high Wattage PSUs have come into the spotlight again. Surely you won't need a 1650W monster for a single RTX 3080, and since Nvidia only offers NVLink to the super expensive RTX 3090, there is no point in installing a pair of RTX 3080s into a system, for gaming purposes, at least. That said, the RTX 3080 is power limited at 320W or 350W in real-life, and we have already started seeing implementations with higher power limits where power consumption can reach 450W. This is why Nvidia recommends an 850W power supply if you plan to use a potent CPU and at least 1000W if you go with an AMD Threadripper or an Intel HEDT CPU.
Where could a 1650W monster be used, you might wonder? If you want to use two RTX 3080/3090s along with a power-hungry CPU, even 1200-1300W PSUs will have a hard time. This is where PSUs with 1500W and higher Wattage come into play, and given the high-efficiency readings under light loads, there are no compromises even under light utilization scenarios.
The SilverStone DA1650-G is a great addition to the high-wattage PSU category. Like Formula 1 race cars, the Corsair AX1600i and the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500W are out of reach for most users because of their stiff price tags. On the other hand, the DA1650-G is like an American muscle car, offering huge power levels at a fair price. On top of that, its overall performance is pretty high, and it also manages to score high in areas that matter, like load regulation, transient response, and ripple suppression at 12V. With a few changes, it can get even better, but this is something for future product revisions.
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Disclaimer: Aris Mpitziopoulos is Tom's Hardware's PSU reviewer. He is also the Chief Testing Engineer of Cybenetics and developed the Cybenetics certification methodologies apart from his role on Tom's Hardware. Neither Tom's Hardware nor its parent company, Future PLC, are financially involved with Cybenetics. Aris does not perform the actual certifications for Cybenetics.
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