[SOLVED] Optiplex 7020 MT with ASUS GTX 1650 won't power up or boot

Jun 11, 2021
2
0
10
Hi, I'm trying to help my son "build" his first computer. He plays Minecraft mostly, but wants to play Raft and City Skylines as well.
He bought a used, but functioning Dell Optiplex 7020 MT, i7-4790, 3.6ghz, 8GB RAM, running Windows 10. The original PSU says 290W.
He got this graphics card: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce® GTX 1650 OC Edition 4GB GDDR6 (https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard...-Cards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GTX1650-O4GD6-P-GAMING/)
We bought a dual-SATA to 6-pin power cable.
I installed the card in the blue PCIe slot and connected the extra power cable. The computer would not respond when I pushed the power button (yes, it was plugged in).
The computer would respond and boot up if I unplugged the 6-pin connector, but the GTX 1650 card wouldn't work.
I tried to install the card drivers, hoping that might help, after downloading from the Asus site, within the GeForce Experience it says I should update the driver, but clicking doesn't seem to update it since it still asks to be updated after going through the install screens.
This didn't help the computer power up when reconnecting the 6-pin.
Would love any suggestions on how to make this work.
Thanks!
 
Solution
Absolutely. The motherboard is not designed to deliver 75W from those connections. Even if they are passing through 12V, those little connectors might start a fire trying to run a GPU.

Rule #1 when building a PC, NEVER adapt power from SATA connectors. 4-pin Molex is slightly more acceptable, but even then, don't do it.

Right power supply for the right job.

I have adapted a Dell 9020 motherboard to serve as a gaming rig before. If you run into difficulties, feel free to post here again.
How exactly did you connect the PCIe power cable?

That PSU doesn't have any, so you adapted from the motherboard SATA connections? That would be very ill-advised as the motherboard is not built to deliver that much power, only for drives.

I recommend this:

https://www.amazon.com/Longdex-24-Pin-Supply-Adapter-Motherboards/dp/B07XRKT7SH

Plus a larger power supply. Something like:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MWG3911

And, then the fun part. If you can't cram the PSU into the current chassis, you should buy a cheap case.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CLIZ698

There will be some difficulty in hooking up the front panel connectors, so you may have to hotwire the PSU to turn on with power.
 
How exactly did you connect the PCIe power cable?

That PSU doesn't have any, so you adapted from the motherboard SATA connections? That would be very ill-advised as the motherboard is not built to deliver that much power, only for drives.

I recommend this:

https://www.amazon.com/Longdex-24-Pin-Supply-Adapter-Motherboards/dp/B07XRKT7SH

Plus a larger power supply. Something like:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MWG3911

And, then the fun part. If you can't cram the PSU into the current chassis, you should buy a cheap case.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CLIZ698

There will be some difficulty in hooking up the front panel connectors, so you may have to hotwire the PSU to turn on with power.
Thanks for these recommendations. I did adapt the motherboard SATA connections with a dual-SATA to 6-pin cable. Do you think that's what's preventing it from powering up or does the powering up problem point to a different issue?
 
Absolutely. The motherboard is not designed to deliver 75W from those connections. Even if they are passing through 12V, those little connectors might start a fire trying to run a GPU.

Rule #1 when building a PC, NEVER adapt power from SATA connectors. 4-pin Molex is slightly more acceptable, but even then, don't do it.

Right power supply for the right job.

I have adapted a Dell 9020 motherboard to serve as a gaming rig before. If you run into difficulties, feel free to post here again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joseph_138
Solution
I put a 1650 super in a dell 7050 powered via sata adapter.
It ran fine for 6 months.
I upgraded to a 3060 and it ran fin for 2 months and now wont boot. Nw DEELL psu coming to see if it resolves it.
Im putting the 3060 into one of my other miners now and will just use the Dell for regular stuff with a 1050ti if I get it resolved
 
I put a 1650 super in a dell 7050 powered via sata adapter.
It ran fine for 6 months.
I upgraded to a 3060 and it ran fin for 2 months and now wont boot. Nw DEELL psu coming to see if it resolves it.
Im putting the 3060 into one of my other miners now and will just use the Dell for regular stuff with a 1050ti if I get it resolved

A new power supply won't help you. The only PSU I have been able to find for that model is a 240W unit. A 3060 requires a 450W. SATA is not intended to power video cards. You'll just keep burning out PSU's by trying to run a 3060 off of it, and may eventually burn out parts on your motherboard. You should have checked the specs of the PSU before you bought the video card. You should also never draw power from SATA because you could cause hard drive corruption. Power from SATA, lose all your data.
 
Last edited:
I put a 1650 super in a dell 7050 powered via sata adapter.
It ran fine for 6 months.
I upgraded to a 3060 and it ran fin for 2 months and now wont boot. Nw DEELL psu coming to see if it resolves it.
Im putting the 3060 into one of my other miners now and will just use the Dell for regular stuff with a 1050ti if I get it resolved


Does the 7050 still work? or did it die? i am planing to do the same thing.