Graphics Card Power Cable

[tmhanser]

I'm trying to add an nVidia graphics card to a Dell Optiplex 960. This particular card requires an extra power cable from the power supply to the card itself, and the plug, as most of you are aware, is unique to graphics cards.

This particular Dell box has two spare power cords that I can see - one is positioned for a spare physical hard drive, which I intend to use. The other is the short cable, small plug that looks as though it's for a floppy drive - remember those?

Is there no way to cable up this nVidia graphics card to an Optiplex 960?

Do they make a power cable extension or converter to go from the smaller plug (floppy drive) to the video card power jack?

Am I asking too much of the power supply itself?

Thanks.

 

[Pedroc1999]

Dell system often pack crap psu. Look for the white label and find the atx+12 amps and report back

 

[tmhanser]

atx+12 amps not found! I looked carefully.

From the Dell web site:

Mini-Tower:

305W Standard Power Supply
255W 88% Efficient Power Supply, ENERGY STAR 5.0 compliant, Active PFC

The power supply indicates 305w on the white label.

As there is no power cable reserved for a video card, I'm going to punt and put a spare ATI Radeon card in.

FWIW, I had an older Dell Precision 380that DID have this video cable ready to go. But that was a full-size case, and not a Mini-Tower.

Thanks.

 

[Pedroc1999]

How many Molex does the psu have, these ar white longish cables with 4connectioms?

 

[tomhanser]

The only white Molex is the small floppy drive connector that I mentioned earlier. It's at the end of its own, short cable coming from PS.

There are only two other power cables coming from PS, both have black SATA power connections, two are in use (optical and main HD.)

Thanks!

 

[Pedroc1999]

What card are you trying to power. You will not be able to power the card assuming its need a pcie 6pin connector. You could consider getting a hd7750. It requires no extra power connector and occupies only 1 slot. This is problably the most powerfull card you can buy that doesnt need and extra power connector

 

[tomhanser]

Quadro FX 3450, needed to run AVID video editing software. It's older, but it works (but that fan is a bit too loud.)

This isn't a critical project, I'm just knocking together what parts I have in a used Dell box. (I'm actually experimenting with a Hackintosh, if you know what I mean.)

A new card would be nice, but I have to consider the cost right now, and the feasibility of this project.

Maybe it's the older video cards that require an additional power cord? Did this go away?

Thanks!

 

[Pedroc1999]

All medium/high end cards require a extra connector-with exeption of the 7750 which is low endish but still very decent. I have no idea how it would compare to that card though as i have no experience with that kind of card

 

[tomhanser]

The hd7750 might be my only hope, as I have NO extra power cable available from the PS.

Thanks for your continued support.

 

[Pedroc1999]

Well, your current card is actually minimaly slower than the INTEL HD4000, which is an IGPU. Yours is ranked at 368 while the 7750 is at 90, this translated to quite a bit improvment. Your card is pretty ancient (No offense to you in anyway (i got a X1600 pro so laugh all you like!)) Some can be found as low as £60 and it would be worth it.

 

[tomhanser]

Again...there are NO video cards available now that don't require the extra power cable? None?

Except for the HD7750?

 

[Pedroc1999]

There are other lower end cards but the 7750 is the best ypu can get with no extra connector

 

[tomhanser]

Update:

Apparently there are adapter cables that might solve my problem:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CLPHstWC-LQCFal7QgodDgYA1w

Assuming my 305w power supply will support this additional load?

Thanks again.

 

[Pedroc1999]

Well... All depends on how many watts your card pulls. Those adapters can only provide a quarter of a pcie connector. A normal.pcie connector adapter needs 2x molex. A molex adapter splits it into 2x hdd so... You only recieve half of that, half it again due to 2x molex and you have a quarter which may or may not be enough. A pcie lane can carry 75watts a d so can a pcie connector. So your card can draw upto 150watts. I recommend not using it with a card over 95/100 watts as this may cause your psu/adapters to burn put and take your card/whole system with it...

 

[mfenn]

Update:

Apparently there are adapter cables that might solve my problem:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CLPHstWC-LQCFal7QgodDgYA1w

Assuming my 305w power supply will support this additional load?

Thanks again.

The FX 3450 is positively ancient, but it only draws about 83W fully maxed out. That's only 8W more than the 75W limit from the PCIe slot itself, so you won't be adding too much load above what a 7750 draws.

If you can spare a SATA data cable, then yes you can use that adapter you found. Actually, you can get a Y adapter to hook up two drives to another one of your SATA power connectors and end up with the same net number of SATA power connectors. Don't hook the GPU up to the Y cable, only use that for drives.

 

[Pedroc1999]

In that cases you should br OK with that adapter.

 

[tmhanser]

I've decided to go with an nVidia card that doesn't require a power cable. The HD7750 is a possibility, but a bit more than what I want to spend on this project.

The nVidia GeForce 8600 GT is one possibility, if I can find one online or at a local used computer store in the Seattle area. The 8400 model is a possibility, also, and has twice the VRAM. (Not sure about the naming convention - why would a lower number have twice the VRAM?)

Regardless, AVID software requires an nVidia graphics card and I need one WITHOUT a required power cable.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Pedroc1999]

I think the strongest nvidea card that doesnt need a connector is the gt640

 

[lehtv]

Correct. Too bad that GTX 650 requires additional power even though it's no faster than a 7750.

 

[mfenn]

I've decided to go with an nVidia card that doesn't require a power cable. The HD7750 is a possibility, but a bit more than what I want to spend on this project.

The nVidia GeForce 8600 GT is one possibility, if I can find one online or at a local used computer store in the Seattle area. The 8400 model is a possibility, also, and has twice the VRAM. (Not sure about the naming convention - why would a lower number have twice the VRAM?)

The answer is that the naming convention is absolute nonsense that's intended to trick people who don't know much about video cards. I would definitely avoid anything from the 8000 series, it's just too old. The current generation is the GT(X) 600, and here's how far the 8000 series is from that:

8000 -> 9000 -> GT(X) 200 -> GT(X) 400 -> GT(X) 500 -> GT(X) 600

Regardless, AVID software requires an nVidia graphics card and I need one WITHOUT a required power cable.

Thanks, everyone.

You can use a couple of adapters to power a video card that needs external PCIe power. See my previous post for details.