Question Will it work? New GPU with old Workstation (RTX 4070 + Dell Precision Tower 7810)

[Crabman2023]

Hi everyone,

After three days of trying to figure this out I am still not sure if buying a new GPU will make sense for me.

I'm a video editor and need more (GPU) power than I currently have, but I'm not sure if buying a new GPU will be enough or if I need a new system. I usually edit in Davinci Resolve, which is heavily relient on GPU, rather than CPU.

I'm currently working with:
System Precision Tower 7810
Motherboard Dell 0KJCC5 A00
Processor Dual Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2667 v3 (@)3.20GHz, 3201 MHz, 8 core('s), 16 log.processor(s)
GPU NVIDIA Quadro P4000
Memory 64GB (DDR4)
Bus Specs

• PCI slot (slot 6)
• PCIe x16 slot (PCIe 2.0 wired as x4) (slot 5)
• PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (slot 4) 75w
• PCIe 2.0 x1 slot (slot 3)
• PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (slot 2) 75w
• PCIe x16 slot (PCIe 3.0 wired as x8) (slot 1)

See motherboard here: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/nl-nl/precision-t7810-workstation/precision_t7810_om_pub/system-board-components?guid=guid-54ecaabe-423b-496a-b3b7-1923e632590e&lang=en-us edit: (copy paste. Sorry, don't know why it doesn't work by clicking)

The upgrades that I was thinking of making are:

- Replacing the GPU from Quadro p4000 to either RTX 4070 (if worth it) or RTX 3060 OC 12G (a lot cheaper)

- getting a PCIe to 2x M2 (NVMe) adapter + 2 x M2 1TB NVMe SSD


I foresee a few problems, but maybe I'm overthinking it:
- I wonder if my CPU's will form a bottleneck for these newer GPU's. However when I run a benchmark test they perform pretty good : https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/63405466
- Then there is an issue of power supply. I currently have 2x 6pin PCIe cables that are meant for the GPU, but both the 4070 and 3060 require one single 8 pin (6+2) connection, The 4070 requires 200W of power and the 3060 170 W. My PSU is rated at 825W so it should be able to handle it? The question is however If the connection on the PSU is a regular 8 pin PCIe connection or something else:

And this is what the current cable looks like, it's an 8 pin??? (but only 6 of the 8 pins seem to be connected on the PSU side) to 2x 6(m) cable, :

- Last uncertainty is if it wil work to also install a PCIe to m2 NVME adapter or if it will be too much to handle for the system.


So in short my questions are:
- Can/should I make this upgrade or is it not worth it?
- Can I use a standard 8 pin (m) to 8 pin (m) PCIe cable from PSU to PGU? Or a dual 6 pin (f) to single 8 pin as I already have two 6 pin (m) cables that I can use (m) (I worry this might not be as safe?)?
- Can I place also the PCIe to m2 NVME adapter, or wil I be overloading the system

Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks

 

[XxDarkMario20xX]

Not worth upgrading and should really spend the money on new motherboard and CPU and PSU and Ram first and then GPU. 4070 is not going to work with the PSU because its cheap and and not very good and if you plug in 4070 or other gpu then PSU will just break

 

[BFG-9000]

I usually edit in Davinci Resolve, which is heavily relient on GPU, rather than CPU.

Hello Johannes,
I know people believe this, but much of Resolve does not actually use the GPU so the bottleneck limiting your workflow is almost always CPU. The only time the GPU is heavily involved is when applying GPU Effects such as noise reduction, film grain, lens flare, etc. Fusion is barely affected by GPU so is unlikely to improve your situation.

While your present GPU is almost a GTX 1070 and Resolve can use RTX cores, look at the small difference between RTX 2080 and RTX 4090 in Fusion:

Resolve is also known to respond remarkably well to multiple GPUs so look at the RTX 2080 vs. two RTX 3090 or three RTX 3080:

Not much difference, is there? I don't know about prices in Amsterdam, but it looks to me like just a GPU would be a bad investment if you only wanted to use Fusion.

 

[Crabman2023]

Hello Johannes,
I know people believe this, but much of Resolve does not actually use the GPU so the bottleneck limiting your workflow is almost always CPU. The only time the GPU is heavily involved is when applying GPU Effects such as noise reduction, film grain, lens flare, etc. Fusion is barely affected by GPU so is unlikely to improve your situation.

While your present GPU is almost a GTX 1070 and Resolve can use RTX cores, look at the small difference between RTX 2080 and RTX 4090 in Fusion:

Resolve is also known to respond remarkably well to multiple GPUs so look at the RTX 2080 vs. two RTX 3090 or three RTX 3080:

Not much difference, is there? I don't know about prices in Amsterdam, but it looks to me like just a GPU would be a bad investment if you only wanted to use Fusion.

Thank you so much for this reply and for the sheets, this is very helpful.

It made me wonder if it would be worth it to pop in another p4000, but unfortunately my motherboard does not support it I think.

Ah well, time to save for a new one!

 

[DSzymborski]

If you're saving up for a new one, I would avoid the Dell Workstations. While they tend to be of pretty good quality, especially compared to the more consumer-targeted Dell PCs, you're always going to run into constraints like cramped cases and proprietary power supplies and motherboards. Without those issues, you'd be looking at an upgrade rather than a new build.

 

[Crabman2023]

If you're saving up for a new one, I would avoid the Dell Workstations. While they tend to be of pretty good quality, especially compared to the more consumer-targeted Dell PCs, you're always going to run into constraints like cramped cases and proprietary power supplies and motherboards. Without those issues, you'd be looking at an upgrade rather than a new build.

I see your point. When I bought this second hand workstation 3 years ago I didn't have time to deep dive into all the details and over the years I've gotten out of touch with pc technology. However next time I'll definitely take my time to build a solid workhorse myself.