[SOLVED] Dell Optiplex Power supply

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Feb 12, 2020
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PC specs
Dell OptiPlex 7070
i7 9700 (65 watt)
8GB RAM
1TB hdd
DVD r/w



I've bought new Dell Optiplex 7070 tower, for home use, and I also order (not arrived yet) the gtx 1650 low profile that consumes 75watt. the reason why I got the graphics card is just to make my pc animation smoother as well as to play 4k movies.
but the main reason for purchasing a new pc is because I'm preparing for my ccnp certfication, which requires me to use the "GNS3" emulator, if anyone familiar with it, its very RAM hungry.

the dell comes with a 260w power supply which according to few people it will work just fine with the graphics card I just bought (zotac gtx 1650 lp)

first question is, if I'm going to go beyond and upgrade the ram to 64GB (because ram is cheap and why not?!) and also upgrade the hard drive to SSD while keeping the old 1tb hdd while running the gpu will this make any issues for the my pc? I know there are many calculations, and I've already gone through few of them, before posting this topic, but I need another opinion, here is my calculation and let me know if I did anything wrong
CPU usage 65w
GTX 1650 75w
64GB RAM 20w-ish
HDD and motherboard and the reset of devices (30w-ish ??)

Total of 190w, which won't exceed the 260 of the OEM power supply.
but I'm not sure because from few videos and articles I read, said a 260 dell oem will barely able to run a lp graphics card with simple setup like 8gb ram and i5 cpu, and I'm worried as I'm going full upgrade to the ram and adding new hard drive.

my next question is, if I found that I need an upgrade, and I did already find a compact psu higher than 400w and fit inside my case but the issue is, the dell motherboard that comes with 7070, has a 6 pin board power plug. I did find a converter from 6 https://www.moddiy.com/products/Del...Main-Power-24-Pin-to-6-Pin-Adapter-Cable.html
this one if I'm not mistaken might be compatible with the dell 7070 tower motherboard, but is a convert a good idea? does it have more power or a risk of frying the board?

apologies if my questions are very stupid, even though I work in IT, but I have no experience when it comes to electricity and power consumption, and I just want my dell optiplex to be working fine, I really like the sleek design of it, and I don't want a pc that looks like amusement park setting next to my desk.

Thank you in advance, and if you find that my topic is duplicated, I would appreciate guiding me to find my answer.
 
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Solution
For PSU:

Intel's spec for the I7 9700 is that it will output 65w heat at the base clock. When it turbos up to a higher clock speed under load, it will output more heat which is a consequence of the CPU drawing more power, possibly over 100w. Also, Nvidia recommends at least a 300w PSU, which you don't have.

You will be pushing it with the wattage required but you probably can get by with it. Just watch out for unexpected restarts caused by overloading the PSU.

If you do use the other PSU, as long as that adapter is wired correctly for your system there shouldn't be any issues.

For RAM:

Just make sure your model of machine supports your desired ram about and your good to go. Ram doesn't contribute a lot to power...
You should be fine, the 1650 is a relatively low power card to begin with, do you have 7070 SFF model? To my knowledge there is also a full tower one. But your GPU should be fine, but I wouldnt upgrade to 64GB of RAM if you dont need it (and mix-matching RAM isnt usually a great idea).

With the topic of converting 8 pin to 6 pin, it should be fine, but Im not the most knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like that.

I ran a 1050 Ti LP in my HP SFF system two years back, and added 12 gigs of RAM and it worked like a charm, but your mileage may vary.
 
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You should be fine, the 1650 is a relatively low power card to begin with, do you have 7070 SFF model? To my knowledge there is also a full tower one. But your GPU should be fine, but I wouldnt upgrade to 64GB of RAM if you dont need it (and mix-matching RAM isnt usually a great idea).

With the topic of converting 8 pin to 6 pin, it should be fine, but Im not the most knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like that.

I ran a 1050 Ti LP in my HP SFF system two years back, and added 12 gigs of RAM and it worked like a charm, but your mileage may vary.
No I have the full tower they call its "Optiplex 7070 tower" not that big though.
Thank you for your confirmation, I hope so it will be fine, and I already informed about not mixing different sizes of ram, what I will first I will confirm the stability of the system after installing the gpu then I'll upgrade the ram.. and then I will add an ssd, if it didn't work I will just remove the hdd and keep one drive only! thanks oldcracc for your confirmation :) made me less worried about my upcoming gpu
 
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For PSU:

Intel's spec for the I7 9700 is that it will output 65w heat at the base clock. When it turbos up to a higher clock speed under load, it will output more heat which is a consequence of the CPU drawing more power, possibly over 100w. Also, Nvidia recommends at least a 300w PSU, which you don't have.

You will be pushing it with the wattage required but you probably can get by with it. Just watch out for unexpected restarts caused by overloading the PSU.

If you do use the other PSU, as long as that adapter is wired correctly for your system there shouldn't be any issues.

For RAM:

Just make sure your model of machine supports your desired ram about and your good to go. Ram doesn't contribute a lot to power consumption.

Just some comments:

I would strongly consider using an SSD in any new PC just to speed everything up. They are decently priced nowadays and will make the PC much faster.

Also, perhaps it was not the best choice to buy a proprietary prebuilt with then intent to upgrade multiple parts almost immediately. You could have just built one.
 
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Reactions: oldcracc
Solution
PC specs
Dell OptiPlex 7070
i7 9700 (65 watt)
8GB RAM
1TB hdd
DVD r/w



I've bought new Dell Optiplex 7070 tower, for home use, and I also order (not arrived yet) the gtx 1650 low profile that consumes 75watt. the reason why I got the graphics card is just to make my pc animation smoother as well as to play 4k movies.
but the main reason for purchasing a new pc is because I'm preparing for my ccnp certfication, which requires me to use the "GNS3" emulator, if anyone familiar with it, its very RAM hungry.

the dell comes with a 260w power supply which according to few people it will work just fine with the graphics card I just bought (zotac gtx 1650 lp)

first question is, if I'm going to go beyond and upgrade the ram to 64GB (because ram is cheap and why not?!) and also upgrade the hard drive to SSD while keeping the old 1tb hdd while running the gpu will this make any issues for the my pc? I know there are many calculations, and I've already gone through few of them, before posting this topic, but I need another opinion, here is my calculation and let me know if I did anything wrong
CPU usage 65w
GTX 1650 75w
64GB RAM 20w-ish
HDD and motherboard and the reset of devices (30w-ish ??)

Total of 190w, which won't exceed the 260 of the OEM power supply.
but I'm not sure because from few videos and articles I read, said a 260 dell oem will barely able to run a lp graphics card with simple setup like 8gb ram and i5 cpu, and I'm worried as I'm going full upgrade to the ram and adding new hard drive.

my next question is, if I found that I need an upgrade, and I did already find a compact psu higher than 400w and fit inside my case but the issue is, the dell motherboard that comes with 7070, has a 6 pin board power plug. I did find a converter from 6 https://www.moddiy.com/products/Del...Main-Power-24-Pin-to-6-Pin-Adapter-Cable.html
this one if I'm not mistaken might be compatible with the dell 7070 tower motherboard, but is a convert a good idea? does it have more power or a risk of frying the board?

apologies if my questions are very stupid, even though I work in IT, but I have no experience when it comes to electricity and power consumption, and I just want my dell optiplex to be working fine, I really like the sleek design of it, and I don't want a pc that looks like amusement park setting next to my desk.

Thank you in advance, and if you find that my topic is duplicated, I would appreciate guiding me to find my answer.
I think that PSU might be a bottleneck. Although the CPU stays at 65 watts even at the turbo speeds, (that's how processors work, they have specific power limits unless overclocked), power draw by the VRMs and chokes might take that up to 100 Watts! Yes, 100 Watts! And the motherboard alone will use another 60W or so (including the RAM) and the VGA alone will use another 80W. (That's 300 watts already, way beyond the rated draw )
Also, if the specific VGA has a 6 pin power socket, that's where you get stuck. These Dell OEM power supplies comes with no six pin connector. They are designed just to run the under the given specs. Hence the 260W limitation. And the rest of the stuff will draw around 30 watts or more.
So the upgrade is at your own risk. My experience says not to do it cos you might end up frying the PC or some parts like the Hard Disk. I'm thinking of buying the same, but will downgrade the CPU for longevity.
 
You should be able to swap that power supply with that adapter or one that the company specifies for your model. Then you'd have more than enough wattage for your upgrade and no worries.

Dell power supplies can handle a lot though. I regularly put 95w processors in power supplies and motherboards designed for 65w. The Dells take a beating and keep running. 😀