Upgrading PSU, workstation board

[BeansOhBeansEU]

Hey so I have a Lenovo workstation that needed a GPU upgrade, so I went from a GTX590 to a GTX Titan (original), which, due to my own idiocy, resulted in many power issues, refusal to post etc.

After dialling back the GPU to 87% power and unplugging some hard drives I managed to get it running everything smooth. Obviously this isn't ideal, and christmas is coming up so I'm hoping to get a new PSU/something towards a new one.

 

[My question]

I need a enw PSU and can't find any information on proper PSU choice because my motherboard is a workstation one. To my understanding your standard mobo needs 24/8/4 pin molex power to run. This one needs 24/10/4 pin power! I've looked at a few of the PSUs recommended by LMG on their videos but I've not seen an explanation into different numbers of pins needed, probably because this isn't normal and so not worth covering.

 

The mobo has no markings on it to indicate what model it is, so i tried through cmd.exe and got the attached picture, basically saying it has no idea.

 

From looking around at upmarket PSUs the corsair line of fully modular do offer a 10pin out, but as I'm not very knowledgable I'm assuming it's not going to be that simple, either because those 10 pins are for something other than motherboards which require a different amount of power, or the PSU just wont allow a mobo to run off it (following the logic that PSUs won't turn on if you don't have the 24 pin plugged in or tricked).

 

Since it's a workstation all the components are from lenovo and don't have any markings to suggest they're made by another company that I could source a new psu or some information from.,

 

So basically, my mobo needs 24/10/4pin power and I need a recommendation for a PSU at around 750-800W.

[Matt_98]

you probably wont be able to get a psu that would work with this motherboard that isnt levnovo oem, have a google for some adapters to use with a regular atx psu.

[STRMfrmXMN]

I'm fairly certain most Lenovo PCs are standard ATX/mATX cases with regular motherboards and ATX PSUs. A single Titan system would be solid on a 650W PSU. I'd guess you'd want a short PSU since it's a prebuilt so look into an EVGA 650GS.

[BeansOhBeansEU]

18 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

I'm fairly certain most Lenovo PCs are standard ATX/mATX cases with regular motherboards and ATX PSUs. A single Titan system would be solid on a 650W PSU. I'd guess you'd want a short PSU since it's a prebuilt so look into an EVGA 650GS.

It is ATX mobo and PSU, on 625W (bronze) at the moment, and its struggling.

 

Also that line has mobo power on 18pins, not 24 as i need.

 

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On 11/7/2016 at 11:41 AM, Matt_98 said:

you probably wont be able to get a psu that would work with this motherboard that isnt levnovo oem, have a google for some adapters to use with a regular atx psu.

 

I'm not entirely sure what to google for, since its such a specific thing that I need, and google isn't good for that.

I'll see if lenovo do anything and check back here to see if anyone else has had this experience

[BeansOhBeansEU]

I found a link to the PSU I have now

I've called Lenovo and IBM parts and basically was told they dont stock them any more...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/302079332392?lpid=122&chn=ps&adgroupid=27378760866&rlsatarget=pla-181484341506&adtype=pla&poi=&googleloc=9046363&device=c&campaignid=620865095&crdt=0

[BeansOhBeansEU]

Would it be possible to get a normal PSU and use an 18-24pin adapter with no power issues?

[Quaker]

My suggestion:

Since you have the money to buy a GTX Titan, you probably have the money to build a newer workstation that would not have those PSU problems. :)

[STRMfrmXMN]

7 hours ago, BeansOhBeansEU said:

It is ATX mobo and PSU, on 625W (bronze) at the moment, and its struggling.

 

Also that line has mobo power on 18pins, not 24 as i need.

 

--

 

I'm not entirely sure what to google for, since its such a specific thing that I need, and google isn't good for that.

I'll see if lenovo do anything and check back here to see if anyone else has had this experience

I'm fairly certain that the unit may claim to be able to output 625W but is straight up lying about its capability of doing so. It's also probably aged poorly.

 

If you can afford a Titan then I'd probably just do a system overhaul. Sell the parts that work properly that are still from Lenovo and get better stuff.

[BeansOhBeansEU]

Thanks for the constructive feedback guys

 

I got the Titan on the cheap (note i said its a first edition titan, not one of the newer ones), since the 1080 was released everything dropped in price.

I'm in no position to buy a new system, the pc was a gift and i got a cheap upgrade.

 

And selling the PC to buy a new one would be pointless since I probably won't get much for it (considering you can buy the system without a GPU for <£300)

It's a great PC and runs almost everything at 60fps on medium/high setings with almost no issues, and selling it wouldn't yield me enough to get a new PC anyway.

It might be old, but the specs exceed most of what my friends have at the moment and it performs reasonably well in benchmarks if thats what you care about.

 

I'm here to ask for advice on a new PSU, or if I can get a normal one and use a pin converter and have it all be fine.

[Quaker]

About the original power supply - the power output rating of a power supply is the total of all the voltage sources. It's possible that that PSU puts more of it's power output into the +5 and +3.3V outputs, and not so much into the +12 (which, I believe, is what the graphics card uses).

 

Edit - just found a picture of the label on it (or a similar) unit. It has +3.3v (25amp) and +5v (30amp) current, and 3x +12v 18amp "rails". It's likely that the graphics card was, at best, running off only 2 of those rails (or maybe even only one.)

A  new Corsair CX650M supply delivers 25 amps each on the +3.3 and +5v rails and 54 amps on a single +12 volt rail.

 

So, for a new PSU I would suggest you get a good 80+ rated 650 watt unit to ensure it has enough +5 and +3.3v power, plus extra +12v. If you can find adapters, they should work fine.

Edit - or you could try to find adapters that would use at least two of the original +12v rails to power the GPU.

 

From an engineering aspect, using adapters is not ideal because of the extra connections involved, but this computer isn't going to Mars.

[BeansOhBeansEU]

Thank you very much, that's the perfect answer!