Is a GTX 1080 in a Dell Precision T3600 a good idea ?!?!

AndyAndreev

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2017
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Hi. Im new here and really stressed about a technical problem i can't find the solution to. Found the forum true a similar post. So here it goes nothing ...my Power supply is 635W and it is Dell... i know i know. Because it is Dell it is almost unchangeable because of the architecture it has. I want to get an AORUS GEFORCE® GTX 1080 XTREME EDITION 8gigs. It has 2x8 pin power connections on it. Problem is my stupid dell power supply has just one 8 pin. Question is. The card comes with a cable that is 8 pin that goes in the PS and splits in 2x6 pins. Can i use this cable OR do i need to find a new PS with 2 8 pin cables.
 

Chickenfeed

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2017
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Looking at the T3600 chassis, my primary concern would be airflow. Generally workstations are designed for reference blower cards, as internal heat build up is much less of an issue. With that 1080 being a multi fan design, you may find that ambient case temperatures climb too high. Am I correct in saying your enclosure only has a single 120 exhaust behind the CPU socket?

From what I can tell Dell appears to include Gold rated PSUs with their T3600 workstations but without seeing what the supply explicitly is and what it is rated for, its hard to say. Looking at their spec sheet for that model they certified it for up to 2 workstation level GPUs at no more than a total of 300 watts.

I personally think your best option would be to find a reference 1080 for your situation. The gains from an aftermarket 1080 would take a hit once internal temps build up, especially if you aren't in a temperature controlled environment during the warmer months. Blowers are inferior in environments with good airflow, however once airflow is reduced blowers are often the best bet. There's a reason why reference designs use them. They are most reliable in all around OEM deployments, including workstations.
 
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AndyAndreev

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2017
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Hi. Thanks for the fast and educated answer. The case is big and has 3 fans on the front that bring air in to the case, in it there is just the one fan on the processor and the 2 on the PS that don't really mater in this case. The PS is fine for the card in W demand BUT i still don't get why do they ship with the card a cable with one 8 pin that splits in to two 6pin cables. I actuality think that the idea is to put the 8 pin in the PS and the two 6pin ends in the 2 slots in the GPU is that logical or em i a moron?
 

Chickenfeed

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2017
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They include the adaptor (should be 2x6pin female PCIe to 1x 8pin PCIe male) as many older and lower output PSU ship with 1x 8pin at best.

As long as your Dell psu has at least a 1 8pin (also called 6+2 pin as they tend to use an attached add on for the extra pins) and an additional 2x 6pin, you are good to go. You plug the psu's 8pin PCIe directly into the gpu and then plug in the additional 2x 6pin into the included adaptor. You then plug the adaptor into the gpu's second 8pin input.

I'd still say a more standard 1080 design would be wise. At least one that ses only 2 slots and a 8 + 6 pin. Those Auros cards are mammoth! The 1080s tend be clock limited before they are power limited as well so it's debatable how necessary dual 8pin even is under air cooling with same voltages.

If there are 3 fans as intakes, you may have enough positive pressure that exhaust from the gpu is pushed out the add on slot venting. I've just found in my experience that dual / triple fan designs really do suffer unless airflow is solid. Worst case senario is the cards thermal and performance gains are largely nullified and your other component temperatures rise significantly. I haven't had any first hand experience with Dells workstation chassis but one option would be to replace the included fans with higher rpm aftermarket options, that is if Dell's included fans are inadequate.

They did design and test those systems to support dual FirePro or Quadros so I'd hope it would be capable. Just again those are always blower designs so very little waste heat stays in the enclosure with those.
 
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LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
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The adapter is so you can turn two 6 pin PS connectors into one 8 pin card connector.
 

MrTeal

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2003
3,554
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They include the adaptor (should be 2x6pin female PCIe to 1x 8pin PCIe male) as many older and lower output PSU ship with 1x 8pin at best.

As long as your Dell psu has at least a 1 8pin (also called 6+2 pin as they tend to use an attached add on for the extra pins) and an additional 2x 6pin, you are good to go. You plug the psu's 8pin PCIe directly into the gpu and then plug in the additional 2x 6pin into the included adaptor. You then plug the adaptor into the gpu's second 8pin input.

I'd still say a more standard 1080 design would be wise. At least one that ses only 2 slots and a 8 + 6 pin. Those Auros cards are mammoth! The 1080s tend be clock limited before they are power limited as well so it's debatable how necessary dual 8pin even is under air cooling with same voltages.

If there are 3 fans as intakes, you may have enough positive pressure that exhaust from the gpu is pushed out the add on slot venting. I've just found in my experience that dual / triple fan designs really do suffer unless airflow is solid. Worst case senario is the cards thermal and performance gains are largely nullified and your other component temperatures rise significantly. I haven't had any first hand experience with Dells workstation chassis but one option would be to replace the included fans with higher rpm aftermarket options, that is if Dell's included fans are inadequate.

They did design and test those systems to support dual FirePro or Quadros so I'd hope it would be capable. Just again those are always blower designs so very little waste heat stays in the enclosure with those.
I have a couple T3500s, and the fans in those Dell workstations are no joke. At least in mine the two of them are 120mmx38mm 150CFM screamers. The T3600 looks a little different but I'd be shocked if it had any issue clearing the heat from a single GTX 1080.
 
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