HELP PSU requirement

SpeedBird999 · October 26, 2020

Hi to everyone

I was looking to upgrade my pc on the GPU side. I use it as a mix of workstation (cad and stuff) and games. Current GPU is an Nvidia Quadro P4000. The possibile upgrade is an AMD Radeon Pro WX8200. Note: i know this particular card makes little sense in price/performance, but i'm getting it as enterprise/company surplus, so the price isn't really a factor.

The question is: i currently have a 550W 80 plus bronze PSU, with a single 8 pin gpu power connector. I was wondering if i could run the AMD card which requires a 6 pin + an 8 pin by using a molex to 6/8 pin adaptor. The PSU has two cables for this, each featuring two sata power and a molex...so i would use the two molex from this two different lines to power the gpu trough an adaptor.
The GPU has a 230 TBP, so in terms of total PSU wattage it should be ok, but...I was afraid that there would be too much power running trough the two "accessories" cables, considering all 4 sata power connectors are used for SSDs/HDs.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Ankerson · October 26, 2020

If the PSU only has one single 8 pin PCIe connection then you need to get a new better quality PSU.

Must be a low end PSU in the 1st place, 550W with only one connection.

Time to upgrade.

Applefreak · October 26, 2020

9 minutes ago, SpeedBird999 said:

Hi to everyone

I was looking to upgrade my pc on the GPU side. I use it as a mix of workstation (cad and stuff) and games. Current GPU is an Nvidia Quadro P4000. The possibile upgrade is an AMD Radeon Pro WX8200. Note: i know this particular card makes little sense in price/performance, but i'm getting it as enterprise/company surplus, so the price isn't really a factor.

The question is: i currently have a 550W 80 plus bronze PSU, with a single 8 pin gpu power connector. I was wondering if i could run the AMD card which requires a 6 pin + an 8 pin by using a molex to 6/8 pin adaptor. The PSU has two cables for this, each featuring two sata power and a molex...so i would use the two molex from this two different lines to power the gpu trough an adaptor.
The GPU has a 230 TBP, so in terms of total PSU wattage it should be ok, but...I was afraid that there would be too much power running trough the two "accessories" cables, considering all 4 sata power connectors are used for SSDs/HDs.

Thanks in advance for the help.

I would assume you are running workstation tasks on that machine so get a PSU that fits the bill like a Seasonic Prime ATX PSU. You should never use a molex to 6 Pin adapter unless it is for a fairly low powered card or for testing purposes. You don't want a loose connector on the cable or bad shielding cause you GPU to die. As for wattage, 700 W would be my recommendation if the system runs for more than 12 hours a day.

SpeedBird999 · October 26, 2020

1 hour ago, Ankerson said:

If the PSU only has one single 8 pin PCIe connection then you need to get a new better quality PSU.

Must be a low end PSU in the 1st place, 550W with only one connection.

Time to upgrade.

Upgrading it was my second option, i wanted to get different opinions on it. My PSU is an Aerocool 80 Plus Bronze...read solid reviews of it and to this day it has never let me down, it has been an uneventful experience...but sure, the brand is not the best. Considering the GPU in question, i'll just bite the bullet and get something better.

Thank you.

1 hour ago, Applefreak said:

I would assume you are running workstation tasks on that machine so get a PSU that fits the bill like a Seasonic Prime ATX PSU. You should never use a molex to 6 Pin adapter unless it is for a fairly low powered card or for testing purposes. You don't want a loose connector on the cable or bad shielding cause you GPU to die. As for wattage, 700 W would be my recommendation if the system runs for more than 12 hours a day.

Fair enough. My use is not that heavy, it's not a proper "work workstation", or for that many hours per day, but I guess the whole adaptor stuff is not worth the risk. What other brands would you suggest? I heard very good of Seasonic in the past but I'm not in North America and the availability of their product lineup in my market is not great. Thank you.