How to know if my PC has enough power for a new graphics card

notsoawesomedude18

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So a couple years ago I bought an Alienware X51. The specs are i7 4770, GTX 745, and 8GB of RAM. I'm looking into getting a new graphics card for it since the 745 isn't really cutting it for me anymore (I'm getting either the GTX 1070ti or the 1080). I only have two problems. 1 is that the pins inside my computer to connect to the graphics card only have 6 pins, and I believe the 1070ti and the 1080 require 8 pins. Also, I don't know if my PC provides enough power (watts) to support one of these graphics cards and I'm not too sure how to figure this out. Anyone know how I could possibly figure this out?
 
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max gpu for that system is a blower style gtx 1060 6gb

you will need to make sure you have the 330w power brick

if you want more gpu power you are also going to need to get a new case, swap all the guts into it and buy a new standard sized power supply

notsoawesomedude18

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That's the problem, I don't remember this information and I don't know how to find it out. It doesn't seem to be in my system properties or anything
 

maxalge

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max gpu for that system is a blower style gtx 1060 6gb

you will need to make sure you have the 330w power brick

if you want more gpu power you are also going to need to get a new case, swap all the guts into it and buy a new standard sized power supply
 
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notsoawesomedude18

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Ok my PC is the Alienware X51 R2, with 8GB of RAM, i7 4770 and GTX 745. Would I be able to use a 1070 ti with it? I watched a video on this topic by someone who owns the X51 and he said that with the X51 R2, the power board in it allows 170/180W to the graphics card. On nvidia's website it says that the 1070ti requires 180W graphics card power.
 

maxalge

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no, gtx 1060 WITH the 330w power brick


if you want a better gpu read the steps above in my previous post


this is why you dont buy pre-builts
 

notsoawesomedude18

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Ok thanks for the help. Do you know how the 1060 compares to the 1070ti in terms of performance? Also, I already have a bigger case that a friend gave to me so I could probably swap everything into another case if I need to. In that case, would I also need to get a different power board (as well as the bigger power supply)? From what I understand, the power board in my PC determines the power distribution to all the components and I believe the one in my PC only allows 175W to the graphics card so?
 

maxalge

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perfrel_1920_1080.png



you would keep the power brick to run the guts, the extra power supply would be to run the gpu alone
 

notsoawesomedude18

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Ah, I see. Thanks again for the help
 

notsoawesomedude18

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One more question. Since I don't know much about PCs and stuff, could you recommend any extra power supplies for this purpose?
 

maxalge

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https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139201&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=


more than enough to run a gtx 1070 ti for your purposes

make sure whatever card you buy does not require more than a single 8-pin or single 6-pin pcie cable