[SOLVED] unusual question ; enable power saving

[wensystem3]

I know many questions are about disabling power saving but i want to enable minimum power use 'most' of the time.
Why?
I just bid on a suitable GPU.. (older model but up to it and in my budget) GTX 760 and after winning the bid found out later (I know.. schoolboy error)that it is one hungry beast.. around 170 Watts! I did use the calculator on a few site and they all estimate my system will need 321 +/- 4 Watts

Mt PSU is well up to it but I still don't want the GPU revving at full throttle all of the time for the admittedly few times a week/month I'll be using it for... makes sense?

So will this model (Palit 4 Gb DDR GTX 760) be able to adjust, power usage down, either manually or automatically?

I do the odd video processing and hopefully that too will benefit from the cores available but again my main use for the abilities will be minimal.

appreciate your views/knowledge

 

[Eximo]

GPU will only draw that much power when you give it a job to do. Otherwise it will run as low as 80Mhz and sip power.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Power supply calculators estimate based on every part being under load. It's likely that your system will really consume 100W less though this is based on my experience between using those calculators and actually measuring the power consumption using a Kill-A-Watt. I was never actually able to get my computer to consume half of what a power supply calculator said I should expect despite running something like Crysis 3

In any case, as mentioned, the GPU will downclock if it's not doing anything intensive.

 

[wensystem3]

Thanks Eximo and hotaru.hino

This is very comforting to know.. I actually started getting paranoid and looking at larger PSUs!

grateful

 

[wensystem3]

PS.. powering this GTX 760;

I have not received the card yet but on one of the the photos in the auction it shows two sets of 6 pin connectors (3x2) i do see a 6-pin connector coming from my PSU but only one.. does it need two of these then?

i can't find a manual for this item.. only a Pailit 730 and that doesn't cover this power connector (well I'm thinking it is a power connector.. LOL

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

The Palit GTX 760 needs 2 x 6-pin PCIe power cables according to this page

If your PSU only has 1 x 6-pin, you will need to replace the PSU.

 

[wensystem3]

The Palit GTX 760 needs 2 x 6-pin PCIe power cables according to this page

If your PSU only has 1 x 6-pin, you will need to replace the PSU.

Thanks for the link.. useful.

are these adapters not a good idea?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...9.m570.l2632&_nkw=sata+to+8+pin&_sacat=182094

It would be a shame to have to replace the PSU (3 months old) as it seems over specified otherwise.

thanks

 

[InvalidError]

are these adapters not a good idea?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...9.m570.l2632&_nkw=sata+to+8+pin&_sacat=182094

Some SATA connectors are well-made and will pass 10A without severe issues while others will melt and possibly start a fire. How lucky do you feel?

If you choose to go down this path, keep a close eye on the SATA connector's temperatures for the first few hours of stress-testing. You may also want to slowly wiggle the connector while under load to verify that it is making good contact under all circumstances, not just barely working by pure luck more than anything else.

 

[wensystem3]

I decided to do as you advised... keep an eye on the connector .

I also decided to buy just one branded adapter (2x SATA into 6 pin) for one one the Card's sockets and use the single original connector in the second one.

 

[wensystem3]

I'm pleased to say everything is working great..

I can improve on case temp by fitting a fan to it.. The 120mm 'Be Quiet' fan I purchased by mistake a year ago, is too large for the case.. It looks more like 100mm.

Not so popular out there..

 

[wensystem3]

For information:

I installed the GPU-Z utility.. very interesting to see what is actually drawing power and from where.. although the card is supposed to draw up to 170w.. it is not all coming from the 2 x 6 pin sockets!

Most of the power (from a single source) is coming from the motherboard PCIe slot.

In fact the draw from socket 1 and 2 are not even. I'm getting only 25w from socket 1 and 31w from socket 2 when at full use. At 5v this is approx. 5 and 6 amps over the connectors; Not the 170w/5v = 34 amps i was expecting..... thankfully

might help someone

 

[Eximo]

Yes, PCIe x16 slots are rated for about 75W of 12V power, also supplies 5V, and 3.3v if I am not mistaken. Though I think only 3.3V is used, been a while.

PCIe power connectors only carry 12V, so your calculations there would be 2 and 2.5 ish amps.

 

[wensystem3]

Great info!

That's even better... much less load.

Thanks