Question GTX 1060 in my Dell Optiplex 9020?

[Fardringle]

I've been offered a used EVGA GTX 1060 3GB gaming edition GPU for almost free, which would be a pretty huge upgrade over my current GTX 750 ti.

Unfortunately, the 290 watt PSU in my Optiplex 9020 doesn't have any 6 or 8 pin GPU power connectors, and the motherboard connector for the PSU is a proprietary 8 pin plug so I can't just stick another PSU in there.

Replacing the whole system would be a nice option, but not really a viable option due to budget issues. So I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to use a SATA to PCIe power adapter to make use of the 1060 in this machine. The PSU is a 290 watt Dell branded (made by HIPRO) and it lists the power rails as:
+12VA - 14A
+12VB - 16A
+12VSB - 1.67A

I suspect the answer is no since EVGA says they recommend at least a 400W PSU and that the card itself draws 120 Watts. But I'm hoping for a miracle.

The rest of the PC currently consists of:
i5-4670 CPU (not overlocked) with stock Intel HSF
EVGA GTX 750ti (overclocked to 1510mhz GPU and 3150mhz RAM)
16GB DDR3 RAM (4 x 4GB)
256GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
2TB WD2003FZEx mechanical hard drive
LiteOn DVD burner
2x 90mm case fans

 

[lane42]

I think sata is only good for 75 watts, maybe less, so it wouldn't power the card.
I have those adapters that power x1 risers, sata to 6pin that I won't even use.
I have an almost new corsair cx 500 psu I don't use you can have for free if
you can use it.

 

[Fardringle]

Thanks for the info and the offer. Unfortunately, the problem is that I can't use a standard ATX power supply in this computer. The PSU connector on the motherboard is 8 pins, not 24.

I've found a few people selling 24 to 8 pin adapters targeted at this Optiplex 9020, but the reviews are pretty scary, with quite a few people saying the adapter killed their computer and/or PSU.

 

[Wall Street]

The card itself will use 10 amps from one of the 12V rails (12 amps x 12 volts = 120 watts). I would say that this has a low chance of working. You can disregards 12VSB (that is standby power). You would basically need to make sure that all of your devices are on one rail and put the GTX 1060 on the other. In general, people upgrading Dell and HP pre-builts report issues on using the stock PSU with greater than GTX 1050 class cards.

 

[Fardringle]

The card itself will use 10 amps from one of the 12V rails (12 amps x 12 volts = 120 watts). I would say that this has a low chance of working. You can disregards 12VSB (that is standby power). You would basically need to make sure that all of your devices are on one rail and put the GTX 1060 on the other. In general, people upgrading Dell and HP pre-builts report issues on using the stock PSU with greater than GTX 1050 class cards.

That's pretty much my understanding as well, but I was hoping someone here might be able to say that they got it to work.

 

[LTC8K6]

If you can use a multimeter, you can check that the adapter is okay before plugging it into your board.

Check the voltages with the standard PS, and then check them at the pins with the adapter, before plugging the connector in.

 

[Arkaign]

1- Get an ATX PSU bridge cable
2- Get a decent little 400W or whatever PSU with a hard switch on the back
3- Connect the new PSU only to the new GPU via PCIe cabling
4- Before you power on your PC, flip the switch on your supplemental PSU
5- When you shut down, shut down PC normally, then supplemental

It will be a bit wonky looking, and you'll have to have it sitting outside the case (you could get creative with a Dremel or whatever, or move everything to a wall mount PC design lol). But it's the cheapest way to do what you want, and bonus is that if you later find a nice deal on a compatible (Z97 iirc?) Mobo, you could just build out a cheap sidegrade unit and sell the OG Dell parts to compensate for it.

 

[Shmee]

I would just get the card, but I wouldn't use it in the current system till the motherboard and PSU are replaced. Like Arkaign said, you could simply put the RAM and CPU into a used Z97 motherboard with a better PSU when budget permits.

 

[Fardringle]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Fortunately, I've found a solution that resolves the problem without risking damage to my Optiplex 9020 by using unofficial cable adapters. I had completely forgotten that I also have an Optiplex 9010 that has been sitting in a closet for several years because the PSU died and I haven't gotten around to replacing it since I have this other PC and didn't really need two working computers.

The 9010 has an i7-3770, which is a generation older than my i5-4670, but it's an i7, and the 9010 can use standard ATX power supplies so I can slap one in there along with the GTX 1060 and the 16GB PC3-1600 RAM from the 9020 and overall have a pretty significant upgrade even though the CPU is slightly slower than the one I'm using now in single core applications (but probably a bit faster with tasks that will use all 8 threads). It's not a perfect solution, but it's a virtually free solution and that makes it almost perfect.

 

[LTC8K6]

3770 appears to keep up with 4670 okay in single thread stuff, and pulls away nicely in multi.

 

[Fardringle]

3770 appears to keep up with 4670 okay in single thread stuff, and pulls away nicely in multi.

That's what I'm seeing on benchmark sites as well. It just feels wrong to "upgrade" to an older generation of CPU, but overall I think it will be a nice boost, especially with the GTX 1060 instead of the 750 ti.

 

[LTC8K6]

Maybe the extra 2mb of cache helps the 3770 a bit?

 

[Fardringle]

I got the old system set up with a working PSU and the GTX 1060 today.

Using the exact same settings on both computers, with 1080p resolution, Ultra quality, and Extreme tesselation, the computers got these scores in the Unigine Heaven benchmark:

i5-4670 with GTX 750ti (overclocked)
FPS: 39.9
Score: 1004

i7-3770 with GTX 1060 (not overclocked yet)
FPS: 82.5
Score: 2079


Just a tiny improvement overall.
Thanks again for your help!

Now I just need to get an SSD for the i7 computer since I only had a crappy 5400rpm mechanical drive handy to put in it to get it running...

 

[Bongocloud]

To confirm, are you saying you replaced your broken PSU with a better PSU that worked with your gtx 1060 graphics card? if so, which model PSU?

 

[Bongocloud]

The card itself will use 10 amps from one of the 12V rails (12 amps x 12 volts = 120 watts). I would say that this has a low chance of working. You can disregards 12VSB (that is standby power). You would basically need to make sure that all of your devices are on one rail and put the GTX 1060 on the other. In general, people upgrading Dell and HP pre-builts report issues on using the stock PSU with greater than GTX 1050 class cards.

Not going to work as PSU are not 100% efficient, so you are actually getting less than 120w from one rail, and the graphics card draws 120w under load.

Further down the OP mentions he gotten it to work but is unclear what he actually did. Did he replace the PSU? as I understand Optiplex 9010 SFF has a slim 240w PSU, and replacing it with a 400+w slim PSU is hard to find and/or expensive.

 

[lane42]

Bongocloud, I think it's a corsair cx 500 psu I gave him.

 

[Fardringle]

To confirm, are you saying you replaced your broken PSU with a better PSU that worked with your gtx 1060 graphics card? if so, which model PSU?

I
Iended up swapping out the whole computer for a slightly older Dell Optiplex 9010 computer I had in storage that is able to use standard ATX power supplies and I installed the GTX 1060 in that computer along with a better power supply.

 

[Bongocloud]

I got the old system set up with a working PSU and the GTX 1060 today.

Using the exact same settings on both computers, with 1080p resolution, Ultra quality, and Extreme tesselation, the computers got these scores in the Unigine Heaven benchmark:

i5-4670 with GTX 750ti (overclocked)
FPS: 39.9
Score: 1004

i7-3770 with GTX 1060 (not overclocked yet)
FPS: 82.5
Score: 2079


Just a tiny improvement overall.
Thanks again for your help!

Now I just need to get an SSD for the i7 computer since I only had a crappy 5400rpm mechanical drive handy to put in it to get it running...

I
Iended up swapping out the whole computer for a slightly older Dell Optiplex 9010 computer I had in storage that is able to use standard ATX power supplies and I installed the GTX 1060 in that computer along with a better power supply.

What model Dell Optiplex 9010 was it? I;m guessing it's the Mid Tower (MT) as that will fit corsair cx 500. Those DT, SFF, USFF models will be out of luck as it's impossible/too expensive to find a higher spec alternative slim PSU.

 

[Fardringle]

What model Dell Optiplex 9010 was it? I;m guessing it's the Mid Tower (MT) as that will fit corsair cx 500. Those DT, SFF, USFF models will be out of luck as it's impossible/too expensive to find a higher spec alternative slim PSU.

Yep, it's a standard mid tower. (Sorry for the late reply. I only just saw this question.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hey, you want a Z97 (MSI PC Mate) ATX board for cheap? You could pull the CPU/RAM, put that into a fresh new ATX tower case, and put in a REAL PSU, and away you go. PM me. (Edit: That's if you still have the 4670.)

Edit: Just picked up an i5-4670K off of ebay, for $65 + tax, going to build myself a Haswell gaming rig. Got yet another GTX 1660 ti coming in, this time, a 'Gaming X' model. Should be fun!

 

[Fardringle]

Hey, you want a Z97 (MSI PC Mate) ATX board for cheap? You could pull the CPU/RAM, put that into a fresh new ATX tower case, and put in a REAL PSU, and away you go. PM me. (Edit: That's if you still have the 4670.)

Thanks, but I'm set for now. The i7-3770 is measurably faster than the i5-4670, especially for BOINC, and running that with the GTX 1060 and a 500W PSU is more than enough for my limited gaming needs.

If/when I'm ready to actually spend any money on upgrades, I'll probably put together an entirely new system.

 

[Killrose]

I have a Dell 9020 pulled from a Micro Tower case and put it into my Antec Lanboy case. I am using a Corsair 650watt Gold PSU AND the PSU adaptor required to power it. I am currently running a GTX 1070 Ti and a i7-4790K CPU with out any problems. I origionally had an i7-4790 non-K and used it for over a year with out any problems. The K vers at least gets me 4Ghz all core with Turbo on the rest. I have moded several 9020 mini towers by moving the hard drive cage to accommodate full size gamming video cards.

I would not hesitate to use the PSU adaptors. The only real confine for the Mini Tower is the PSU size. Go with a quality GOLD rated supply like I did.

 

[mopardude87]

I got a Optiplex 790 sff pc which is a bit older then a 9010/9020 and i was able to move the i3 2100/8gb ram and included motherboard and io shield into a Antec 900 which also has a Evga 650w psu. Works rather well with a 4gb gtx960.

Have to press f1 every time to boot cause the non sense temp sensors and other non sense is no longer hooked up but its working beautifully. Power button from the original case is hanging out the top which is kind of fun but its a functional power button at least. The 900 front panel stuff just wasn't wanting to work no shock there cause of the odd pin layout not cooperating with the power button wire from the 900. Got the usb ports to work at least as it has a standard usb hook up on the motherboard next to the dell locked all in one front panel usb/audio hook up.

I had plans of maybe slapping in a low profile 1050ti into the stock 790 cause the hd2000 is very dank with only vga support but the market is kind of nuts right now and i had a 960 sitting around doing nothing. Figured i mind as well try to pimp out the 790 set up.

 

[Fardringle]

Try updating the BIOS before you put the 750ti in the system. I didn't have any trouble getting the 750ti to work in my 9020 with an i5 CPU, 8 GB RAM, and the newest available BIOS.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that you might have to disable "Secure Boot", or switch boot mode to "Legacy" or possibly "Auto".