Powering a GTX 1060 from an old PSU

[HeLiOn]

Hello.

Back in January I upgraded my GPU. I went from a GTX 1060 3GB from MSI to an RTX 2080 SUPER from Gainward (In case someone was wondering).
Recently I received an old PC from my cousin. I had plans to convert it to a NAS, but I changed my mind. I now want to use it as a secondary PC, if I can.
So I figured, since it doesn't have a dedicated GPU, I could put my old 1060 to work.

The problem is, the PSU doesn't have a 6 pin connector. It does have a Molex available, and I know that there are adapters from Molex to 6 Pin.
My question is: Will it be worth to try and power the 1060 from this PSU, or not? 
I attached this picture with the PC and the data sheet present on the PSU.

The PC also consists of:
- Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33;
- CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G3250 @ 3.20GHz;
- RAM: 4 GB DDR3 (kinda short, but I plan to extend to 8);

- 1 Hard Drive.

 

 

[Oswin]

doesnt seem like a good idea, did i read that wrong or is the PSU only capable of sending 228 watts on the 12v rail?

[HeLiOn]

2 minutes ago, Oswin said:

doesnt seem like a good idea, did i read that wrong or is the PSU only capable of sending 228 watts on the 12v rail?

Not sure. I'm not experienced with PSUs. Here's a more closer picture of that data sheet:

 

[svmlegacy]

20 minutes ago, HeLiOn said:

Not sure. I'm not experienced with PSUs. Here's a more closer picture of that data sheet:

 

23 minutes ago, Oswin said:

doesnt seem like a good idea, did i read that wrong or is the PSU only capable of sending 228 watts on the 12v rail?

I'm reading the same thing, only 228 W. The 1060 is 120 W TDP (Max 126 W) , G3250 TDP 53 W (Max 65 W ish), making the 12 V load there at very least 191 W... Plus VRM efficiency, mobo loads, fans...

 

OP, you'll really want to look at a different, more reputable PSU.

 

Edit: G3250 doesn't have Turbo Boost, (D'oh) so it doesn't follow PL2. It's hard to tell by the datasheet if it still follows PL1 (TDP) or not. Regardless, 53 W is the thermal design power, so that only shaves 12 W or so. Plus, this is Haswell, and I don't know if AVX is enabled on this chip.

Edited July 30, 2020 by svmlegacy

[HeLiOn]

6 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

OP, you'll really want to look at a different, more reputable PSU.

Roger that. Anything specific I should look for?
I want to still use the 1060 its full potential if I can, but I don't plan to upgrade anything else from now on.
I'll run some good old games on a big TV and play movies, nothing more.

[svmlegacy]

6 minutes ago, HeLiOn said:

Roger that. Anything specific I should look for?
I want to still use the 1060 its full potential if I can, but I don't plan to upgrade anything else from now on.
I'll run some good old games on a big TV and play movies, nothing more.

I'd reccomend tier C or better from this list, 400 W at least.

The reason your PSU is rated at 450 W is because it has over-inflated the +5V rail (36 A!!), which is pretty much only used for HDD's, references and other small stuff. Once upon a time it was used for CPU's, but not since the 4/8-pin EPS became a thing.

 

Most reputable PSU's supply their rated power on the +12 V rail alone nowadays, ~ 30 A on a 400 W unit.

[Oswin]

16 minutes ago, HeLiOn said:

Roger that. Anything specific I should look for?
I want to still use the 1060 its full potential if I can, but I don't plan to upgrade anything else from now on.
I'll run some good old games on a big TV and play movies, nothing more.

i'd look for a 450 watt unit at the B tier or above from the list that @svmlegacy linked. do you have a budget for the PSU? i can provide you with options if you need.

[HeLiOn]

12 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

I'd reccomend tier C or better from this list, 400 W at least.

Stocks in my country are limited, but I found this piece.
https://www.deepcool.com/product/powersupply/2017-10/10_7114.shtml

Looks powerful enough, and from what I can see, I should be able to connect that EPS 8 pin 12V connector to the 4 pin I have on the motherboard.
(please do correct me if I'm wrong so I don't fry anything..)

I wouldn't spend more than 35 EUR on a PSU for this PC.

[svmlegacy]

7 minutes ago, HeLiOn said:

Stocks in my country are limited, but I found this piece.
https://www.deepcool.com/product/powersupply/2017-10/10_7114.shtml

Looks powerful enough, and from what I can see, I should be able to connect that EPS 8 pin 12V connector to the 4 pin I have on the motherboard.
(please do correct me if I'm wrong so I don't fry anything..)

I wouldn't spend more than 35 EUR on a PSU for this PC.

Usually PSU's get stuck in tier D for a reason, but I can't seem to find the reason for this particular PSU. It's likely much better than the unit you have, and it will certainly provide the power requirements.

 

Yes, 8-pin EPS can be split and plugged into a 4-pin. No risk of damage.

 

If tier C is not an option, I'd still say this is a reasonable improvement.

[HeLiOn]

 

12 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

Usually PSU's get stuck in tier D for a reason, but I can't seem to find the reason for this particular PSU. It's likely much better than the unit you have, and it will certainly provide the power requirements.

 

If tier C is not an option, I'd still say this is a reasonable improvement.

I also found this one: https://deepcool.com/product/powersupply/2014-02/10_689.shtml

Their DA series are mentioned in Tier C...
The price difference isn't that steep, and maybe it will hold a possible CPU upgrade. (if I ever find a second hand CPU that fits)

[akio123008]

I'd say just give it a go. It's just a secondary PC, and given that it's not a very fancy system I don't see the need for a fancy power supply.

The load is within the spec; 191 watts on a supply of 228, a 37 watt overhead and you're unlikely to reach that load anyway because in most games the 1060 is going to be bottlenecked by the 3250 saving you a good 40 watts.

 

 

Even if it wouldn't work, the computer wouldn't work properly, not the end of the world. In that case at least you tried.

 

I fully agree with everyone supporting good quality power supplies, and certainly you shouldn't buy crappy and cheap stuff. However, if you already have a unit laying around that has worked fine for years and there isn't any evidence that it's bad, why would you throw away a bunch of money and get something expensive.

[HeLiOn]

Thank you, I'm going for it. It should arrive Monday, if everything goes well.
Just out of curiosity, I did a search on newer CPUs, there's an i3 that's even more capable and eats even less power.
It's not a priority at all, but this PC should live even longer, if I get my hands on one of those later down the line.
Whatever the case may be, it won't be sitting around getting dust and moth.

 

Thanks a lot for your support, guys.

[svmlegacy]

28 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

The load is within the spec; 191 watts on a supply of 228, a 37 watt overhead and you're unlikely to reach that load anyway because in most games the 1060 is going to be bottlenecked by the 3250 saving you a good 40 watts.

I'm going to make a point in saying that my numbers were partial. Again, it didn't account for CPU VRM efficiency, fans, drives, etc, which pushes the system ever closer to the rated spec.

 

191 W was merely the two major components, which already constitutes 85% rail load. The validity of the spec is also in question.

 

I'd hate to see it fail under the much larger load, and take out a working system. No name PSU's are notorious for not having much in the way of protection, afterall. This is why I consider 35€ a reasonable insurance for a decent platform and good GPU.