Power adapter cable for PCI-E

[147adelaide]

My neighbour was given a second-hand computer and asked for my help setting it up.

It is a Dell Optiplex 755 running Win7.

Currently installed graphics is NVidia Quadro FX 3500.

I looked up the service tag and this is not the original card (Original was ATI HD2400XT).

The issue I have is that the FX3500 is an 80W card, with the PCI-E slot having a max of 75W. On booting I get low power warnings from the NVidia card.

The card has a 6 pin PCI-E connection available for the additional power, but the PSU has no PCI-E power cable.

The only free power cables from the PSU are a couple of 15pin SATA cables. I have seen adapter cables for 15pin SATA to 6 pin PCI-E. Are these any good for my situation?

If not, what are the alternatives? New PSU? Different GFX card?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Based on what you just told us, one of those adapter cables should work just fine.

 

[RoasterMen]

It should work fine. There are many NVIDIA cards that failed to pass the 75W limit that people just ignored. (For example, GTX 750 Ti).

 

[AddRAM]

Depends on what model you got, this one says it draws 60 watts.

EVGA - Products - EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti - 02G-P4-3751-KR

And this model claims 85 watts and of course needs power.

EVGA - Products - EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti FTW w/ EVGA ACX Cooling - 02G-P4-3757-KRa


Dell PSU`s are usually proprietary and mostly scrap metal.

 

[RoasterMen]

Dell PSU`s are usually proprietary and mostly scrap metal.

Their computers that have a graphics card isn't really scrap metal.

 

[it0uchpods]

True, but be careful! I would never recommend an adapter, then you are pushing the PSU past it's design limitations. I highly recommend getting a new one. Most Dell PSU's in performance machines seem to be ATX, so swapping it out shouldn't be an issue.

If you can provide me the name of the computer, (example: Dell Optiplex 3000), I can let you know if the PSU can be swapped.

Regards,
Josh