Hardware & Technical GTX 1050 ti Power Requirements Advice

Garybee

G
Hi All,

I've bought a pretty low-end gaming PC and have decided to fit a graphics card. I believe that a gtx 1050ti will be good enough for my needs but need a little advice about which version to go for.

My PSU will supply enough current to run the standard (non overclocked) version which draws all it's power requirements from the PCI connector. The overclocked version has an extra (6 pin) power input so that it can draw more power directly from the PSU.

Can I fit the overclocked version to my PC, run it at standard speed and ignore the extra power connector? I would like to do this as it would allow me to overclock it in the future should I feel the need. The cards are pretty much the same price so it seems a shame to limit myself to the standard version.

Please let me know if I'm missing anything obvious. I'm a mechanical engineer, so not a complete numpty but I do very little with computers.

Thanks in advance

Gary
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
Some 1050ti's don't even have the PCI-E power connector. Your issue is whether the one you get is factory overclocked and so might require that additional power connector. I thought all PSUs carried the connector anyway.

A quick check on amazon showed that even a "superclocked" one from EVGA doesn't seem to have the extra power connector.
 
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Jon flint

Jon flint
What's your PSU wattage, and what grade (bronze/gold/platinum etc)?

I run an i7 4790 with a gtx1070 (overclocked), with a 2tb HDD, 512Gb SSD and an optical drive all from a 350w 80+gold rated PSU. It's more than enough, at full load the entire system is only drawing 284W from the wall, so the PSU is comfortably within its optimal range, for gaming it only draws 220-250W.

Unless you're going for a Crossfire/Sli setup you don't really need more than 500W absolute max. So if your PSU physically has the connectors then you'll probably be fine.

Either way, I wouldn't recommend fitting a GPU without connecting all the power connectors.

Just fit your new card, with all the appropriate power connectors. Don't bother downclocking or anything, just run some load tests, run some benchmarks on loops, while playing DVDs if you've got an optical drive, just hammer your PC as hard as you can. If the PSU isn't up to the task you won't damage anything (unless it's some really dodgy brought from a guy in a back ally unbranded psu) it'll just cut off and either restart on its own or require you to power it back up.

If it works but you're still concerned, get something like a plug in energy monitor, you can see the wattage your system is pulling from the wall, as long as it's not within 10% of your PSUs max rating you should be fine.
 
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Garybee

G
Thanks for the input guys. The computer inquestion is this one:-

http://www.zoostorm.com/home-products/zoostorm-quest-desktop-pc-7260-5256/


The spec is as follows:-

Processor
AMD-A10 7850K
Processor Base Frequency: 3.7GHz
Maximum Turbo Frequency: 4GHz
Cache: 4MB

Memory
8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM
Supports up to 32GB

Hard Drive
2TB SATA 3.5″ 5400rpm HDD
128GB 2.5″ SSD

Optical Drive
DVD/RW

Chipset
AMD A68

Graphics
Onboard Radeon R7

Power Supply
350 watts

Dimensions
Height: 370mm
Width: 180mm
Depth: 425mm

Interfaces
1 x PS/2 keyboard port
1 x PS/2 mouse port
1 x VGA port
2 x USB 3.0 ports
1 x HDMI port
1 x LAN (RJ45) port
2 x USB 2.0 ports
3 x audio jacks

Expansion
1 x PCI-e x 16 Slot
1 x PCI-e x 1 Slot
1 x PCI Slot
2 x 3.5″ Internal Bays (2 used)
1 x 3.5″ External Bay (free)
2 x 5.25″ External Bays (1 used)

Case
Cougar Spike Gaming Case

Malc - You're more observant than me it seems. I read a couple of reviews of overclocked cards that stated they had an extra power connector to allow the overclocking. I hadn't noticed that some overclocked cards relied on the PCI connector. I'm confused by your comment about some cards not having the PCI-E power connector. Is that not the connector (on the motherboard) that the card plugs in to?

Jon - That's interesting info about actual current requirements. Appreciate I could just fit the card, I do want to make sure I buy the right one to start with though and it would be a shame to deny myself an upgrade path by making the wrong choice now. I'll whip the side panel off and have a look for an appropriate connector this evening.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
Garybee said:
..............

Malc - You're more observant than me it seems. I read a couple of reviews of overclocked cards that stated they had an extra power connector to allow the overclocking. I hadn't noticed that some overclocked cards relied on the PCI connector. I'm confused by your comment about some cards not having the PCI-E power connector. Is that not the connector (on the motherboard) that the card plugs in to?
.............
Click to expand...

Yeah the correct term I believe is PCI-e Auxiliary Power Connector - you just see it marked on the connector from the PSU with the letters "PCI-E" normally. If there is a more specific nomenclature I don't know it. They can come in all variations depending upon the power requirements of the card. I doubt there are any made with the twin-8pin connection any more and I have never seen one with 2x8's plus 1x6 - graphics cards just don't take so much power any more.

The connectors on the motherboard are called PCI-e sockets (Peripheral Component Interconnect - Express) - if you want to learn about the different sizes (but you don't need to) best to look in something like:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express


:)
 
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Garybee

G
MalcYorks said:
Yeah the correct term I believe is PCI-e Auxiliary Power Connector - you just see it marked on the connector from the PSU with the letters "PCI-E" normally. If there is a more specific nomenclature I don't know it. They can come in all variations depending upon the power requirements of the card. I doubt there are any made with the twin-8pin connection any more and I have never seen one with 2x8's plus 1x6 - graphics cards just don't take so much power any more.

The connectors on the motherboard are called PCI-e sockets (Peripheral Component Interconnect - Express) - if you want to learn about the different sizes (but you don't need to) best to look in something like:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express


:)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the explanation. I'm not up on the correct terminology so was a bit confused by your comment. I'll have a good read of that as it may well stop me from wasting money.
 

MickyG1982

M
With a recommended PSU rating of 300W, on paper at least your PSU should do the business, as long as Zoostorm haven't skimped on the PSU (it doesn't look like they have). You should be ok with the extra connector too, most (if not all) modern PSU's will have at least one of the connectors you require for the GPU (if it needs one).
 

Garybee

G
Well I have had a check now and I do have the required cable on the PSU. I think i'll get the overclocked one as the reviews suggest that these cards are limited by their power supply if you rely on the PCI-e socket. In all fairness they are probably all more than I require but I may as well get the best of the bunch as there is barely any price difference.

Thanks for your input guys [up]
 

MickyG1982

M
Just be aware that your CPU will be bottlenecking the GPU, stick to high settings at 1080p / 720p with medium on shadows and SS set to 1.0. that should keep you in the 40-60 FPS range. I have a very similar setup to yours (the 860k is the same as the APU in your system with the GPU portion disabled) so performance on mine should be (roughly) the same as yours.
 
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