Separate PSU for GPU?

[Yoshimoshi]

Hello,

I was wondering if it was possible to have two psu for my desktop. Supposively my mother board only supports up to 330 watts. It's my understanding that if u apply to much power to ur motherboard it could try the components. I wanted to upgrade my gpu and with 330 watts in extremely limited so I thought of maybe doing a separate psu just for my graphics card. The new power supply would be for the gpu and only the gpu and the second psu for the rest of the system? Is this possible? I thought that the motherboard controlled how much power goes to which component and that this was not possible. What would happen if I got a 500 watt power supply for my gpu, would that be a problem? Like a component connected to the motherboard being connected to a separate power supply that would be to much power if that same power supply was used for the whole system would be OK? Or could I just get another 330 watt power supply for the gpu to keep the same wattage with the mother board? What if the gpu needs only 110 watts and I have a 500 watt power supply would that fry the gpu? Or does the gpu only draw as much power as needed from the power supply? Apparently this isn't the case for the mother board were to much power is bad and it won't take only what is needed I guess? Sorry for my limited knowledge thanks for any help u can provide.

 

[clutchc]

You can run 2 PSUs with your system. Many people do it, so have I. Just use the new PSU for the gfx card only. Use one of these to turn on the 2nd PSU when the system starts, and shut off when the system shuts down: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201037

But there's no reason I can think of that would keep you from just getting a new (bigger) single PSU.

 

[Yoshimoshi]

Well ii thought that if I got a bigger power supply to much power to the motherboard could be dangerous? Its not true? So that's why I thought of getting a separate one so I could get a larger one. With a power supply just for the gpu, what would happen if I got like a 200 watt power supply and the gpu only needs a max of 120 would that hurt the gpu to apply to much power?

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

The motherboard itself has no real power requirements. It only needs the proper CPU and motherboard power connectors and it will draw only what it needs from the PSU. What makes you think that your motherboard can only handle 330 watts?

 

[Yoshimoshi]

Oh I asked people on the dell chat thingy and they said the max is 330 watts and that the board wasn't tested to handle more. I have a alienware x51 r2 which has a max of 330 watt power supply supposedly. The psu is an external AC power supply like a laptop. I could just get a bigger one?

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Unfortunately no... We assumed you had a standard desktop. Your pretty much boned in the PSU department. You could do a second PSU, but it's real sloppy. Or you could rebuild into a standard case. You would need to get a PSU, motherboard, case and mybe RAM.

 

[clutchc]

Edit: I see now you finally let us know what your system consisted of. That makes all the difference.

 

[Yoshimoshi]

I don't care if the gpu is out of the case it's OK and doesn't matter to me, but I can go higher than 330 watts or no? It's OK if its outside the case I don't mind.

 

[clutchc]

I don't care if the gpu is out of the case it's OK and doesn't matter to me, but I can go higher than 330 watts or no? It's OK if its outside the case I don't mind.

You won't be able to use the 24 pin splitter to turn on/off the new PSU. If they were 2 conventional desktop PSUs you would be OK. But with that power brick you have, no guarantees. All you can do is try.

 

[Yoshimoshi]

I wanted to upgrade to a gtx 960 I currently have a gtx 745 4, Idk how but the alienware x51 r3 comes built with the gtx 960 and comes with a 330 watt power supply, how is that possible to run a gtx 960 on a 330 watt power supply?

 

[clutchc]

I wanted to upgrade to a gtx 960 I currently have a gtx 745 4, Idk how but the alienware x51 r3 comes built with the gtx 960 and comes with a 330 watt power supply, how is that possible to run a gtx 960 on a 330 watt power supply?

The GTX 960 is only a 120W card. But does that power brick provide any PCIe 6/8 pin connectors to feed the card with?

 

[Yoshimoshi]

Could I just leave the 330 watt psu plugged into the system? And have a second power supply hooked up to the gpu and just flip the switch on the psu hooked up to the gpu to turn it on when I want to go on my computer?

 

[clutchc]

Could I just leave the 330 watt psu plugged into the system? And have a second power supply hooked up to the gpu and just flip the switch on the psu hooked up to the gpu to turn it on when I want to go on my computer?

You'll need to jumper the green and one of the black wires on the PSU's 24 pin cable for the permissive to allow starting.

 

[Yoshimoshi]

Yea it does. I have them in my case. I thought that the gtx 969 recommended 400 watts, but I can run it in my system as is with a 330 watt power supply?

 

[Yoshimoshi]

What do u mean by permissive?

 

[clutchc]

Yea it does. I have them in my case. I thought that the gtx 969 recommended 400 watts, but I can run it in my system as is with a 330 watt power supply?

You can try. It will either shut down, reboot, or fry the brick if it can't handle the load.
Permissive is the signal the PSU sees when you press the power button on the PC. In effect, you are temporarily shorting the green and black wire on the 24 pin cable from the PSU. (I'm talking desktop PSUs here). If you want to maunually turn your 2nd PSU on and off, you'll need to stick a jumper between the green and black wire on the 24 pin connector.
http://en.community.dell.com/cfs-file/__key/communityserver-discussions-components-files/3514/8562.atx_2D00_power_2D00_bypass.jpg

 

[Yoshimoshi]

Ah ok thanks for all ur help