Lost all hope, will my Psu power my graphics card

[Ayron Rozentals]

Hello, [disclaimer : i have shortened the links for practicality]

I have been desperately searching the internet for information regarding the powering of graphics cards using peg/6pin/8pin - the terminology goes on forever - and my standard psu. I have read that it is extremely important to have the correct power supply as frying my mobo isn't what im looking for XD.

My problem is as follows :
I have a 450watt max psu with no direct 6 pin connector.(XGR GT-450ATX )(http://goo.gl/509PzV)
and an Asus GTX 750 ti 2gb Oc card, which needs a 6 pin connector.(http://goo.gl/LbtcBA)

Now many resources have suggested that I upgrade my psu to a 500w with a direct 6pin/8pin/peg cable, but the reason i specifically purchased the card was because Nvidia's selling point on the GTX 750 ti was the extremely low power consumption. Though this isnt the ref card.

I have read up that it is possible to draw the power needed for the card using a cheap cable : Molex to 6 pin. But Im weary of doing this until i am certain that my current psu(XGR GT-450atx).

Asus them selves say that the card draws "up to 150w" (http://goo.gl/LbtcBA)

According to Game Debate the card doesn't even need 450w psu ( http://goo.gl/hx6quL)
as they say the card only draws 60watts but if u read the comments one person mentions the "150w" thing i did.

I am extremely confused as to what to do, i have literally been searching the web(trying to be student frugal) looking for answers but non come up with my card in question.

current rig specs :
- Pentium G3220 (3.0ghz - ave cons : 53w according to intel)
- 4gb Ram
- 1tb Western Didgital Blue hdd
- Dvd drive
- Fans - cpu, and a small extractor fan.

(I personally dont think that the above will consume all 450w of my psu)

Please Help,
Thanks

 

[herrwizo]

This PSU is a very bad quality to start with, so I understand your fears. Noone can tell you or predict how will this work since one would need to know the exact output at +12v rail that this PSU is capable of, and with cheap PSUs this is usually a lie. But an educated guess would be that your card draws nowhere near 150W; it is just an overclocked 750Ti, a slight overclock cannot more than double the card's consumption. I'd say it consumes up to 80-90W MAX (and this is likely overrated as well). I am sure the graphics card manufacturer's "up to 150W" is nowhere near in reality.

So I'd say it should work with molex to 6 pin.

That being said, a good quality PSU like Seasonic or XFX is ALWAYS a good investment. Likely the best as well, since you can move it to your new rig once you decide to upgrade in several years.

 

[TheMasterCow]

Alright, I got your covered.

Basically 6-pin can draw up to 75watts while a 8-pin can pull 150watts total. The motherboard itself provides 25watts through the PCIE slot which is why you can get away with video cards and other cards not using a power connector.

The GTX 750 Ti with a 6-pin cannot pull more than 100watts but in fact the card only uses at most 55 watts on full load. Even with a cheap power supply (I didn't look up yours, just saying) using a G3220 with a GTX 750 Ti, your only looking at 200watts max with a overclock. I have the same setup with a EVGA 750 Ti and the CPU @ 4.7ghz. I barely pull 200watts from the wall with a Antec 430w PSU.

So in short, just connect a molex to 6-pin and call it a day. If you ever get a different video card, I would swap that psu out for sure.

On a side note, I have seen cheap power supplies go out and take the whole computer with it. If you are concerned swap it out for a good brand and low wattage. No need to get a 800watts psu for that.

 

[herrwizo]

The motherboard itself provides 25watts through the PCIE slot.

Actually, this applies only to x4 and x8 cards. x16 slots can provide up to 75W. The additional 6pin is here, but is likely barely required due to card slightly exceeding the PCI-E specs.

 

[Ayron Rozentals]

Thanks for the answers i am going to buy a molex to 6 pin then. and ill tell you all how it goes 😀 how do i make all of them the answer 😛

 

[Ayron Rozentals]

I have installed the card and hooked up the cable to the card. Everything is running smoothly so far. The EVGA 750ti doesnt require external power as far as I know. The only requirement the box says is : Minimum 400W psu (with a minimum 12V current rating of 20A). the sticker says 12V 16A. I will run the 2molex to 6pin for as long as I can.