Would 260W PSU be sufficient for 2 x 40W max video cards?

[ss88]

I'm considering buying a Dell Optiplex 5060 MT (mini-tower), which comes with a 260W PSU (non-standard form factor, so swapping out to larger wattage PSU not feasilbe). And I'd want to run 2 x Nvidia Quadro video cards, each of which has a max draw of 40W.

Would this combination work?

 

[Nobu]

If it's that model specifically, it already comes with a 1650. Combined with a modern Intel processor, under heavy load, it might already be close to the limit. If it were just the two 50w GPUs and a 4-6c midrange CPU, it might be okay. Would have to check the spec of the specific CPU you want.

 

[kaneO]

To close for my comfort.

 

[GotNoRice]

That would be pushing it pretty close IMO. A 260w PSU is incredibly small. I'd say it would depend more on what CPU the system is running. For example, if it has an i5 or i7 with 6+ cores, that's going to use a lot more power than an i3 or low-end "Pentium" CPU with 2 or 4 cores, leaving less for your GPUs.

If it's that model specifically, it already comes with a 1650. Combined with a modern Intel processor, under heavy load, it might already be close to the limit. If it were just the two 50w GPUs and a 4-6c midrange CPU, it might be okay. Would have to check the spec of the specific CPU you want.

That spec page doesn't list specs unique to any specific model, it basically just lists what the motherboard is capable of. That's why CPU is listed as "Intel Gen8 i3/i5/i7; Pentium" instead of listing a specific CPU.

It's not a given that this would come with a discreet GPU. In fact, when you look at the actual manual, there is no mention in the entire manual about a Geforce 1650, it only talks about integrated video. The specs page also has an asterisk next to where it mentions dedicated GPU, with this warning:

Dedicated GPU warning: Check if your particular power supply model has enough power. Additionally some PSUs don't come with an auxiliary PCIe power connector and you may need to buy a SATA to PCIe power adapter.

https://dl.dell.com/topics/pdf/optiplex-5060-desktop_specifications_en-us.pdf

 

[ss88]

If it's that model specifically, it already comes with a 1650. Combined with a modern Intel processor, under heavy load, it might already be close to the limit. If it were just the two 50w GPUs and a 4-6c midrange CPU, it might be okay. Would have to check the spec of the specific CPU you want.

It's the Optiplex 5060, but I'd get it without any graphics card (or sell any graphics card that came with it), and install the 2 Quadro cards.

 

[ss88]

That would be pushing it pretty close IMO. A 260w PSU is incredibly small. I'd say it would depend more on what CPU the system is running. For example, if it has an i5 or i7 with 6+ cores, that's going to use a lot more power than an i3 or low-end "Pentium" CPU with 2 or 4 cores, leaving less for your GPUs.

I'd probably be looking to get the 8th gen i5 or i7.

It's for a trading computer, hence the 2 x Quadro cards, which are much lower power draw than high end gaming cards.

Sounds like I should rethink my plan, and get a model with a larger PSU.

 

[kirbyrj]

If you could swap in a TFX PSU with an adapter for the Dell motherboard and maybe some slight modification, it might be worth it.

Otherwise, I'd just buy a different model to avoid the PSU issue, especially if you haven't bought one yet.

 

[ss88]

If you could swap in a TFX PSU with an adapter for the Dell motherboard and maybe some slight modification, it might be worth it.

Otherwise, I'd just buy a different model to avoid the PSU issue, especially if you haven't bought one yet.

Not worth the effort to rig a PSU into this proprietary form factor case.

Yeah, I'll stick with Dell XPS line for my next PC. The OEM PSU in this line is 460W, so there's plenty of power for my relatively modest power needs.

 

[GiGaBiTe]

If you could swap in a TFX PSU with an adapter for the Dell motherboard and maybe some slight modification, it might be worth it.

The Dell PSU is not TFX, it's proprietary. It's not even close to any standard PSU size. You're also not making an adapter to make it work on the proprietary motherboard because no current PSU has a +12vsb rail, and you can't boost the +5vsb rail on a normal PSU because the power requirements on +12vsb are far too high.

A separate PSU would have to be used for +12vsb, and possibly some additional logic if the +12vsb rail is switched on one of the 12v pins.

 

[gigaxtreme1]

Maybe something like this.
Slim PC power supply.

 

[kirbyrj]

Maybe something like this.
Slim PC power supply.

That's what I was referencing above with TFX, but GiGaBiTe says that it isn't possible. I mean, I've seen plenty of Dell PSU adapters on fleabay and Amazon which makes me believe a TFX PSU could be modded to work, but he is usually on point with this kind of thing.

 

[GiGaBiTe]

Maybe something like this.
Slim PC power supply.

Won't work, here's why: (best image I could find of the label)

In Dells' 12VO power supplies, there's a +12vsb rail with a max current rating of 2.5 amps. No current ATX, SFX, TFX, etc. power supply that follows the ATX power spec has a +12vsb rail, just a +5vsb and +3.3vsb.

The only way to shoehorn a normal power supply in would be to have a secondary +12v power supply that could supply 2.5 amps or more for the +12vsb rail. To complicate things even more, the +12vsb rail may be switched on one of the common +12v pins, which is what ATX does with +5vsb (sometimes) and +3.3vsb (almost always), when the power supply turns on, those rails go away and are provided by the normal +5v and +3.3v rails.

+5vsb is supposed to have its own dedicated pin (pin 9 on the 20/24 pin Minifit Jr. connector), but I've seen many power supplies do naughty things where it's switched. +3.3vsb shares a pin with one of the other +3.3v wires, on some power supplies you can see this where two wires are crimped to the same +3.3v pin.

If +12vsb on Dells' 12VO isn't switched, you could easily make an adapter by either having an external wall wart, or one of those cheap Chineseium mains to +12v modules internal to the machine and do some creative wiring. It wouldn't be too difficult to modify a PSU to share the IEC plug and have power come out to the +12v module. But it's a lot of fuss for proprietary nonsense that shouldn't exist to begin with.

 

[ss88]

Won't work, here's why: (best image I could find of the label)

Do you happen to know how much power Dell PCIe x4 slots provide? Specifically looking at XPS 8930 (a model in XPS tower/desktop line from a few years ago) with 1 PCIe x16 slot and 1 PCIe x4 slot. I want to run 2 x Nvidia Quadro P620 graphics cards; these cards are rated for 40W max power draw, and I'm guessing they draw quite a bit less than 40W in normal use. I haven't had any issues powering a similar card (Nvidia NVS 510, which has 35W max draw) from the PCIe x16 (wired as x4) slot in my XPS 8900 tower PC.

 

[GiGaBiTe]

Do you happen to know how much power Dell PCIe x4 slots provide? Specifically looking at XPS 8930 (a model in XPS tower/desktop line from a few years ago) with 1 PCIe x16 slot and 1 PCIe x4 slot. I want to run 2 x Nvidia Quadro P620 graphics cards; these cards are rated for 40W max power draw, and I'm guessing they draw quite a bit less than 40W in normal use. I haven't had any issues powering a similar card (Nvidia NVS 510, which has 35W max draw) from the PCIe x16 (wired as x4) slot in my XPS 8900 tower PC.

According to the PCIe spec:

PCIe x1 - 10W
PCIe x4 - 25W
PCIe x8/x16 - 75W

Though the different power modes for different slot lengths don't make any sense. All of the power is supplied through the front tiny keyed part of the connector, and all PCIe slots have this.

How much you can actually draw depends on how good the motherboard design is. There have been cases of melty PCIe slots and burned boards, but that tends to be rare.

 

[defaultluser]

Why are you adding a second video card to the system? Just want to add more outputs, or do you really need the extra performance?

If it's the added outouts, then you can just use onboard video for everything except 3d.

 

[ss88]

Why are you adding a second video card to the system? Just want to add more outputs, or do you really need the extra performance?

If it's the added outouts, then you can just use onboard video for everything except 3d.

Running 6 monitors.

I've learned from experience and from this forum not to enable and use both integrated and discrete GPUs (too many stability issues, and stability is a top priority).

 

[DanNeely]

Won't work, here's why: (best image I could find of the label)

View attachment 418878

In Dells' 12VO power supplies, there's a +12vsb rail with a max current rating of 2.5 amps. No current ATX, SFX, TFX, etc. power supply that follows the ATX power spec has a +12vsb rail, just a +5vsb and +3.3vsb.

The only way to shoehorn a normal power supply in would be to have a secondary +12v power supply that could supply 2.5 amps or more for the +12vsb rail. To complicate things even more, the +12vsb rail may be switched on one of the common +12v pins, which is what ATX does with +5vsb (sometimes) and +3.3vsb (almost always), when the power supply turns on, those rails go away and are provided by the normal +5v and +3.3v rails.

+5vsb is supposed to have its own dedicated pin (pin 9 on the 20/24 pin Minifit Jr. connector), but I've seen many power supplies do naughty things where it's switched. +3.3vsb shares a pin with one of the other +3.3v wires, on some power supplies you can see this where two wires are crimped to the same +3.3v pin.

If +12vsb on Dells' 12VO isn't switched, you could easily make an adapter by either having an external wall wart, or one of those cheap Chineseium mains to +12v modules internal to the machine and do some creative wiring. It wouldn't be too difficult to modify a PSU to share the IEC plug and have power come out to the +12v module. But it's a lot of fuss for proprietary nonsense that shouldn't exist to begin with.

There is no 3.3vsb in any ATX standard. Standby is 5 volts in the old spec, and 12 volts in the new 12VO one. The double 3.3v wire pin is for voltage monitoring/adjustment by the PSU; and most newer designs also have a double wire 5 and 12v pin to monitor those.

Adapter cables to connect ATX 2.x PSUs to 12VO mobos exist. In theory you could hack one of them up to make an 3rd party 2.x PSU work with the system by extracting the circuit in the cable that increases the standby voltage and splicing it into a custom made adapter cable. I'm not convinced it'd be worth the effort though.

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...r-Supplies/ATX12VO-Adapter-Cable/p/CP-8920272