Running an EVGA GTX 950 in a HP Compaq 8300 Elite CMT

[Jay146912]

I want to run a EVGA GTX 950 in a HP Compaq 8300 Elite CMT i7 3770. EVGA 950 has a 6-pin power plug but the PSU is a proprietary PSU without any Pci-e 6-pin plug or any 4 pin molex connectors to convert with an adapter to the Pci-e 6 pin. The GPU has total power draw of 110 watts and draws around 12 amps. The slot in the 8300 is 75 watts. So the only way to provide extra power to the GPU's 6 pin pci-e would be use a dual 15 pin male to 6 pin pci-e adapter cable that I see advertised a lot. The power supply is 320 watt with three 12+. One is +12 Vmain /16A, another is +12 Vcpu/16A and the other one is +12 Vsb/1.3A. So my question I can't find an answer to. I want to make sure it's okay to use 2 of the PSU's 15 pin female sata power connectors (both not from the same run as there are two different sata wire runs, one to the DVD/RW and the other to the HD) to a dual sata 15 pin male to 6 pin pci-e adapter. The card from what I understand isn't power hungry and it needs 35 additional watts as the slot has 75 watts of power to provide. Will the 15 pin sata's provide the extra power? Thanks for your help!

Motherboard - http://www.ebay.com/itm/371480782230?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D371480782230%26_rdc%3D1

Power Supply - http://www.ebay.com/itm/191712926657?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[clutchc]

Normally, that is not recommended. Unlike the Molex power connectors the SATA power connectors are not designed to carry much current. But with a card of that low power demand, I personally would be tempted to try it. But that's just me. The 90W card will draw ~7.5A from the +12V rail when maxed out.

If the card is designed to pull its main load from the PCIe buss FIRST, then the load thru the SATA adapters would be minimal. Of course we don't know that.

The other issue is the small +12V rail ratings. We don't know how the SATA daisy chains are split up in the PSU. If the are split between the 2 x higher amp branches, it will be marginal but acceptable. If they are split any other way, not good.

Check the nameplate on the PSU and see if they state the wattage for the +12v rails combined. And what is the PSU's total wattage? Generally if the PSU has no 6 pin connector, it is not designed for that kind of load.

Btw, I'm running a 60W GTX 750 Ti on a 240W Dell PSU in a Optiplex 790 SFF. Maxed out the card and GPU at 100% useage and stayed below the +12V max amp capacity as stated on the PSU nameplate. So, there's that...

 

[Jay146912]

Normally, that is not recommended. Unlike the Molex power connectors the SATA power connectors are not designed to carry much current. But with a card of that low power demand, I personally would be tempted to try it. But that's just me. The 90W card will draw ~7.5A from the +12V rail when maxed out.

If the card is designed to pull its main load from the PCIe buss FIRST, then the load thru the SATA adapters would be minimal. Of course we don't know that.

The other issue is the small +12V rail ratings. We don't know how the SATA daisy chains are split up in the PSU. If the are split between the 2 x higher amp branches, it will be marginal but acceptable. If they are split any other way, not good.

Check the nameplate on the PSU and see if they state the wattage for the +12v rails combined. And what is the PSU's total wattage? Generally if the PSU has no 6 pin connector, it is not designed for that kind of load.

Btw, I'm running a 60W GTX 750 Ti on a 240W Dell PSU in a Optiplex 780 SFF. Maxed out the card and GPU at 100% useage and stayed below the +12V max amp capacity as stated on the PSU nameplate. So, there's that...

I added a link to pictures of the PSU and Motherboard. It gives the info on the PSU. What do you think. Wow...Different! So this card will draw 90 watts and ~7.5A. Also my Son's 8300 (Same PC) has the EVGA 750 TI SC and runs great. New Egg has the EVGA GTX 950 SC for $139. The same as the 750 Ti SC in price. For the same $$ why not explore as this is where I've gotten to.

 

[clutchc]

Going by the PSU nameplate in the link you posted, that PSU has the 1.3A rail assigned to the motherboard, one of the 16A rails assigned to the CPU, and the other for everything else. If you can get a SATA to 6-pin adapter that allows you use more than one SATA power connector, I'd be temped to do it, myself.
It appears the total wattage of the 320W PSU is almost entirely devoted to the +12V rails. The PSU is nearly within the 350W minimum recommended by Nvidia for that card: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-950/specifications
So now it is just the current carrying capacity of the SATA power connectors that is an issue. But paralleling at least 2 of them should be enough for the difference in current draw beyond what the slot provides... imo.

But like anything you do that is beyond the manufacturers' recommendations, you do it at your own risk.

 

[KazoWAR]

Did you ever try running a GTX 950 on the HP 320w psu? how did it turn out? I have the same psu and I am wondering if I can get a 950 or if I am going to have to settle on a 750 ti. also i was thinking if it might help if you use one sata plug from each cable instead of using the 2 inline satas on a single cable.

 

[Mani_2016]

Normally, that is not recommended. Unlike the Molex power connectors the SATA power connectors are not designed to carry much current. But with a card of that low power demand, I personally would be tempted to try it. But that's just me. The 90W card will draw ~7.5A from the +12V rail when maxed out.

If the card is designed to pull its main load from the PCIe buss FIRST, then the load thru the SATA adapters would be minimal. Of course we don't know that.

The other issue is the small +12V rail ratings. We don't know how the SATA daisy chains are split up in the PSU. If the are split between the 2 x higher amp branches, it will be marginal but acceptable. If they are split any other way, not good.

Check the nameplate on the PSU and see if they state the wattage for the +12v rails combined. And what is the PSU's total wattage? Generally if the PSU has no 6 pin connector, it is not designed for that kind of load.

Btw, I'm running a 60W GTX 750 Ti on a 240W Dell PSU in a Optiplex 780 SFF. Maxed out the card and GPU at 100% useage and stayed below the +12V max amp capacity as stated on the PSU nameplate. So, there's that...

I added a link to pictures of the PSU and Motherboard. It gives the info on the PSU. What do you think. Wow...Different! So this card will draw 90 watts and ~7.5A. Also my Son's 8300 (Same PC) has the EVGA 750 TI SC and runs great. New Egg has the EVGA GTX 950 SC for $139. The same as the 750 Ti SC in price. For the same $$ why not explore as this is where I've gotten to.

Hi, Did you upgraded to EVGA GTX 950 and it worked? , I am planning to do the same upgrade to my elite 8300 cmt.

 

[desolator314]

Normally, that is not recommended. Unlike the Molex power connectors the SATA power connectors are not designed to carry much current. But with a card of that low power demand, I personally would be tempted to try it. But that's just me. The 90W card will draw ~7.5A from the +12V rail when maxed out.

If the card is designed to pull its main load from the PCIe buss FIRST, then the load thru the SATA adapters would be minimal. Of course we don't know that.

The other issue is the small +12V rail ratings. We don't know how the SATA daisy chains are split up in the PSU. If the are split between the 2 x higher amp branches, it will be marginal but acceptable. If they are split any other way, not good.

Check the nameplate on the PSU and see if they state the wattage for the +12v rails combined. And what is the PSU's total wattage? Generally if the PSU has no 6 pin connector, it is not designed for that kind of load.

Btw, I'm running a 60W GTX 750 Ti on a 240W Dell PSU in a Optiplex 780 SFF. Maxed out the card and GPU at 100% useage and stayed below the +12V max amp capacity as stated on the PSU nameplate. So, there's that...

I added a link to pictures of the PSU and Motherboard. It gives the info on the PSU. What do you think. Wow...Different! So this card will draw 90 watts and ~7.5A. Also my Son's 8300 (Same PC) has the EVGA 750 TI SC and runs great. New Egg has the EVGA GTX 950 SC for $139. The same as the 750 Ti SC in price. For the same $$ why not explore as this is where I've gotten to.

Hi, Did you upgraded to EVGA GTX 950 and it worked? , I am planning to do the same upgrade to my elite 8300 cmt.

Zotac makes a low power variant of the GTX 950 (no 6 pin plug): https://www.zotac.com/us/product/graphics_card/geforce%C2%AE-gtx-950-low-power-0

But I would recommend you buy a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti, no need to upgrade your power supply!