Should I get a new Power Supply?

[FizzyThePiggy]

I was looking to upgrade an old Gateway machine. I was most likely going to put a GTX 1650 Super in it. It currently has a 300w PSU and according to PC Part-picker, with all of my components from my PC, it adds up to 271w. Should I get a new PSU? I was going to use a Molex to 8 pin adapter to power it like Linus said in the upgrading pre-builts video. Thanks! And if I should get a new PSU what should I get? It's currently a standard ATX PSU.

[wall03]

6 minutes ago, FizzyThePiggy said:

I was looking to upgrade an old Gateway machine. I was most likely going to put a GTX 1650 Super in it. It currently has a 300w PSU and according to PC Part-picker, with all of my components from my PC, it adds up to 271w. Should I get a new PSU? I was going to use a Molex to 8 pin adapter to power it like Linus said in the upgrading pre-builts video. Thanks! And if I should get a new PSU what should I get? It's currently a standard ATX PSU.

Get a better PSU. It is aging and might be very bad for your components. Get a new PSU maybe 450W from CORSAIR. It will have better efficiency and you will have room to OC down the link

[Guest]

1 hour ago, FizzyThePiggy said:

I was looking to upgrade an old Gateway machine. I was most likely going to put a GTX 1650 Super in it. It currently has a 300w PSU and according to PC Part-picker, with all of my components from my PC, it adds up to 271w. Should I get a new PSU? I was going to use a Molex to 8 pin adapter to power it like Linus said in the upgrading pre-builts video. Thanks! And if I should get a new PSU what should I get? It's currently a standard ATX PSU.

It's very old.  And Gateway was never known to use quality PSUs.

 

You should definitely not be using it for any reason.

 

And Molex to 8-pin PCIe is a HORRIBLE idea, regardless of what Linus says.

 

[SenKa]

15 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

And Molex to 8-pin PCIe is a HORRIBLE idea, regardless of what Linus says.

I would argue the issue is more with the execution of those adapters being overall very poor, rather than the actual prospect being bad, as the 12v1 line *should* be quite robust. However, the adapters utterly suck, and OP's old gateway sure isnt running a high quality PSU from the factory.

[Spotty]

1 hour ago, jonnyGURU said:

And Molex to 8-pin PCIe is a HORRIBLE idea, regardless of what Linus says.

It's worse than that, Linus suggests SATA to PCIe in the video. D'oh

Around the 10min mark.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, SenKa said:

I would argue the issue is more with the execution of those adapters being overall very poor, rather than the actual prospect being bad, as the 12v1 line *should* be quite robust. 

Doesn't matter how "robust" the +12V rail is.  A Molex and or SATA only has a single +12V lead.  

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, Spotty said:

It's worse than that, Linus suggests SATA to PCIe in the video. D'oh

Around the 10min mark.

 

Canadian schools didn't teach about Ohm's law.

 

[Drenlin]

14 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

Doesn't matter how "robust" the +12V rail is.  A Molex and or SATA only has a single +12V lead.  

Correct me if I'm wrong, you know a lot more about this than me, but even with a single 18 gauge lead the voltage drop on his setup should still be within spec, shouldn't it? Somewhere around 1-1.5% at load?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Drenlin said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, you know a lot more about this than me, but even with a single 18 gauge lead the voltage drop on his setup should still be within spec, shouldn't it? Somewhere around 1-1.5% at load?

The weak point isn't the wire.  It's the connector pin in the adapter.

 

 

[Drenlin]

12 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

The weak point isn't the wire.  It's the connector pin in the adapter.

I don't see any point in his setup where there's only one pin carrying that load?

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, Drenlin said:

I don't see any point in his setup where there's only one pin carrying that load?

The adapter he's being suggested to use.

 

[Drenlin]

11 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

The adapter he's being suggested to use.

 

He used two SATA adapters, though, and SATA connectors have three +12V pins each unless you mean the internal bit. His adapters use two +12V leads, so a combined four +12V pins on the other end of those.

Assuming those SATA connectors meet spec (big assumption, I know), he'd be able to pull a bit over 100 watts through them combined. Even accounting for further losses through the Y adapter and less-than-ideal construction, it seems like providing ~50W to the card isn't terribly unreasonable?

[Guest]

I don't know where you got your numbers from.  A single, tiny SATA pin on the drive connector edge does not support almost 3A each.  It's typically half that.

 

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#sata

 

Even peripheral ("Molex") connectors are more robust at 5A:

 

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#peripheral

 

SATAs used for anything other than drives catching fire is not an unusual site:

 

 

What cracks me up is when users do this and they blame the PSU and try to RMA it as "defective".

 

[Drenlin]

35 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

I don't know where you got your numbers from.  A single, tiny SATA pin on the drive connector edge does not support almost 3A each.  It's typically half that.

You just linked me to a site that confirms the connector to have three 12V pins (13, 14, 15) that each support 1.5 amps of 12V, total 4.5A/54W.

Theoretically, Linus's setup with two SATA connectors could pull up to 108W. He's using less than half of that.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Drenlin said:

You just linked me to a site that confirms the connector to have three 12V pins (13, 14, 15) that each support 1.5 amps of 12V, total 4.5A/54W.

I know.  You were saying TWICE THAT (100W).

 

It's still not a good idea.  Margin of error is just too high.  I've seen way to many burnt adapters in my years.

 

[Drenlin]

Just now, jonnyGURU said:

I know.  You were saying TWICE THAT (100W).

 

Because he used two SATA connectors.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Drenlin said:

Because he used two SATA connectors.

Oh... I read your post wrong. 

 

Yes.  All of these adapters use 2 x SATA or 2 x Molex.

 

Still wouldn't do it. 

 

[Drenlin]

42 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Still wouldn't do it. 

Yeah I mean, it's not ideal and I certainly wouldn't put it on that new 1660 like Linus did, but working on a shoestring budget a ~100% margin of error for power delivery to an older secondhand card doesn't seem so bad I think?

What annoys me though is that he didn't explain that setup at all, and the links at the bottom are just Amazon/Newegg searches rather than links to specific adapters. A lot of those are super sketchy looking. Someone seeing this video could end up putting a crappy SATA -> 6-pin adapter into that 960 he showed there, and making a copy of your picture.

[Guest]

Just now, Drenlin said:

What annoys me though is that he didn't explain that setup at all, and the links at the bottom are just Amazon/Newegg searches rather than links to specific adapters. A lot of those are super sketchy looking. Someone seeing this video could end up putting a crappy SATA -> 6-pin adapter into their GTX 960 or what have you and making a copy of your picture there.

That's the other thing.

 

Nobody uses Molex pins and connectors.  And not all vendors use pins that meet Molex's spec.  Believe it or not, even getting a housing that meets UL 94V for flammability is an ASK. You have to ASK for it as a manufacturer buying from a vendor in China.  So unless the part comes from a known good vendor (StarTech, Cable Matters, etc.) I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.