[SOLVED] I can't plug in my graphics card

[Carpenters Cafe]

Hello and thank-you for reading my post,
I bought a refurbished Dell Optiplex SFF 9020 Intel i7 with 8GB of RAM and 500 GB HDD.

The machine is running Windows 10 and it's working OK.

I then bought an MSI NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti.

I don't know how to plug it in and get it working. Please don't misunderstand, I would ordinarily know how to install these devices.

The manufacturer didn't supply the correct cable but neither did they say what cables were needed. All they did was to provide some comical diagram that very unhelpful.

I know some graphic cards don't need additional power but I believe this one does as it has a black rectangular-shaped plug. This requires a male-plug with six pins.
On the motherboard, close to the expansion port itself there is a 3-pin female socket. I believe this could be a power supply socket but I can't find a plug that is six pin male to 3 pin male on the internet. I also saw through another post, a warning not to plug this device into the motherboard because it could 'kill' the motherboard and maybe the device. The advice was this device must be plugged directly to the main PSU. This is where it gets interesting. I took the machine to pieces only to find there are no spare power plugs. All the leads coming of the main PSU go to various ports on the motherboard. I was wondering if I could use P4 (the one that goes into the DVD) as I don't need to use the DVD drive but I don't know if would supply enough power but even if it does then I would need one of these cables, which I don't know the name of and it must change to a six pin male adapter on the other side. I think it might be a SATA power cable but I would need to be able to plug in P4 into an adapter/extender that would become a six pin male on the other side.
An alternative would be to change the PSU. That worries me because it really needs to be the same size exactly so it can fit and be clipped into the machine. Dell uses these snap-lock devices as opposed to screws.

I am wondering if it would be worth me considering buying a PC that supports the device rather than pursue the current course of action.
If all I need is a cable, please provide me with a link.

 

[Ralston18]

This:

"The manufacturer didn't supply the correct cable but neither did they say what cables were needed. All they did was to provide some comical diagram that very unhelpful. "

Where did you buy the card?

Does the following link present the "installation manual" that you received?

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/vga/Installation-Guide-NV.pdf

 

[prateek320i]

Dell’s website didn’t supply any knowledge base about PSU variant used.
The six pin male plug you’ve thought is the required power cable indeed, supplies +12VDC.
GPU with higher power rating needs separate cables [6 pin, 8 pin, 6+8 pin or 8+8 pin].
These cables are supplied with any modular or non modular PSU.
Try this, open case and figure each cable. Try finding 6 pin or 6+2 pin (8 pin) cable coming out from PSU. If the ‘PCIe cable’ is missing, then you need to buy thing similar to this https://amzn.to/3r3E5Zd


My suggestion: SATA connectors aren't really designed for the power video cards consume. There's 3 contacts inside each SATA connector that carry 12v, and they're rated for 1.5A per contact, so in total you have a maximum permitted of 4.5A ... which means a 3 x 1.5A x 12A = 54w
The 6pin pci-e connector is supposed to transfer up to 75w to the video card, so if you use a simple adapter that has a single SATA connector at one end, it's not going to end well.
Even with 2 SATA connectors, you'd still transfer nearly 40w through each connector, and while in theory each SATA connector is rated for 54w (so it should be safe), in practice a lot of SATA connectors these days are manufactured using cheaper methods which can cause the SATA connectors to fail in horrible ways when there's significant amount of power going through them (let's say more than 20w). Your card consumes about 75 watts. Thus it would be better to upgrade PSU. Try any 450 watt PSU from EVGA or Corsair.

 

[Carpenters Cafe]

This:

"The manufacturer didn't supply the correct cable but neither did they say what cables were needed. All they did was to provide some comical diagram that very unhelpful. "

Where did you buy the card?
Amazon
Does the following link present the "installation manual" that you received?

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/vga/Installation-Guide-NV.pdf

Yes, it's all about the other end of the cable. The PSU's connections are all used up. I was hoping the little black socket (with 3 pins), next to the blue-coloured expansion port, is there to provide power to devices plugged into the expansion port. If so, I can't find such a cable. It would need to be 6 pin male for the end that fits into the gpu and female 3 pin to plug into the motherboard.

This:

"The manufacturer didn't supply the correct cable but neither did they say what cables were needed. All they did was to provide some comical diagram that very unhelpful. "

Where did you buy the card?
Amazon
Does the following link present the "installation manual" that you received?

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/vga/Installation-Guide-NV.pdf

Yes, but I have only 1 six pin female socket on the device. It doesn't say where the other end of the cables are coming from. The PSU's connections are all used up, there are no spare. I would have to replace the psu if that's the answer. That would be quite daunting because the PSU has to be a very specific size. Dell use this click & lock system, no screws. There is a small black socket, with 3 pins (male) close to the blue-coloured expansion port. I was hoping this would be to provide extra power for devices plugged into the expansion port. The cable needs to be 3 female pins to plug into it. I can't find a cable that is 3 female socket pins one end and six pin male the other.

 

[Ralston18]

Going back to my question: where did you buy the MSI NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti?

Did the link I provided in Post #2 match?

It would be all too easy to just start using adapters, splitters, or other cables to make the physical connections between PSU (or some other potential power source) and the GPU.

Physically, you may well find a way to get everything connected, But you must have the correct voltages at the correct pins.

Otherwise, as @prateek320i noted, the results may not end well.

Consider, do to lack of cables, proper documentation, etc. that you may have received a counterfeit/fake GPU.


Does the following NewEgg PSU match the PSU in your Dell?

Check all of the Model and Part Numbers.

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Prod...Vr1PVCh0JBAZWEAQYAiABEgKem_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[geofelt]

Your graphics card is a full height card.
Is it going to fit in the SFF version of the 9020?
The card is a factory overclocked unit that requires an aux 6 pin pcie power connector.
Your 225w psu will not have one, and even using adapters, it is not going to be strong enough anyway.

A normal low profile GTX1050ti without the need for aux power could work.
But, considering the insane prices of graphics cards, you should probably keep the graphics card and work with that.
The motherboard looks to be proprietary so I would not think too much about moving to a standard case and psu.
I think it would be best to return the pc if you can and look into something else.