Does my HP Z240 400W PSU support the official hp 6-pins to 8-pins PCIE adapter?

[Smette]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to upgrade my quadro p2000 in my 2018 Z240 workstation to a GPU that uses an 8 pin pcie connector.

I have read about the HP Z PSU delivering above ATX standards an that I would be able to safely use the hp 6-pins to 8-pins PCIE adapter (683867-001) to power 8 pin cards as long as I stay below the 400W total.

Is this correct?

Thank you for your help!

[NonSequitur777]

@Smette,

Welcome to our HP User Forum!

The HP Z240's proprietary 400-watt power supply [EDIT:] does not have any PCIe power cables, nor can you somehow rig one. The single‐slot Nvidia Quadro P2000 card didn't require any additional PCIe power connector(s), it draws its power exclusively from the PCIe x16 motherboard slot.

If you want to upgrade your HP Z240 (SFF or MT) -I can help you.

Please take a look at my HP Z240 SFF upgrade project, and how I solved the power supply issue: Solved: Upgrading HP Z240 Desktop Workstation SFF - HP Support Community - 8427878.

If interested, let me know.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Smette]

Seems like my 400W PSU (2018) does have a 6 pin pcie?

Or what else is the black one supposed to be used for? I measured all the pins and they match the PCIE 6 pin connector.

So can I use the adapter safely or not?

[DGroves]

the HP 6/8 pin adapter will handle high power cards without issues,

3rd party adapters run from ok to dangerous and i've seen then with poor metal connectors that loosen up, thin wire strands, cheap plastic connectors that are not rated to high temps and so on

next, the 400 watt total is just that the total wattage and it  needs to include the power draw from ALL ITEMS such as the motherboard, ram, hard drive(s) pci-e cards installed (now and in the future) USB ports (up to 800ma per port) and other misc things

as such the wattage available for the most power hungry HP approved video card is the nvidia M4000 at 108 watts

https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/design-visualization/quadro-product-literature/DS...

as such i would not use a card that draws over 130 watts

if you wish to use a card that draws more,.... then there are power adapters that allow the non ATX motherboard to use a standard ATX power supply if you go this route make sure to select a quality name brand unit and not those 700 watt 30.00 crap units

https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Power-Adapter-Workstation-12-inch/dp/B06XW7RWNH

[DGroves]

yes the z240 TOWER MODEL with the 400 watt supply does have one 6 pin GPU aux connector

note that some z240 towers were equipped with a 280 watt supply which like the SFF model lacks a GPU aux connector

[Smette]

Thank you for the quick reply!

I already looked at replacing the PSU with the adapter to ATX but I feel it would be a waste of this very quality unit already in there.

I already took into account the wattage concerns so the the cards I'm looking at are either the gtx 1660 TI or super (120W TDP) or the RX 6600 (132 W). I would prefer the RX 6600.

Do you think these will work fine with the official adapter?

Thank you!

[DGroves]

unless you have a system fully loaded with mech drives ram pci-e cards and what not then i see no reason that a 130 watt card would not work just keep in mind that you are at the limit and don't go adding more things and your 400 watt supply should last years

and as i've previously posted the HP 6/8 pin adapter is the GOLD STANDARD, a better adapter most likely does not exist

[NonSequitur777]

@DGroves,

I stand indeed corrected -there IS a 6-pin PCIe power connector, but this 6-pin cable can only provide 75 watt, whereas a GPU that requires an 8-pin PCIe power cable requires 150 watt...

Even though the HP 6/8 pin adapter may be the gold standard, you cannot convert a 75-watt input to a 150-watt output...

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[SDH · Accepted solution]

I think your card will be fine, and you and DGroves are both on the same track... 130W max per DGroves, and you want to use a 132W max card... remember that they don't run at max very often, and HP power supplies are built with some significant breathing room above the specs on the label, shown below:

Your Z240 400W HP power supply

16A x 12VDC = 192W plus 75W more that comes up from the PCIe slot = 267W available for the card. That is more than you'd ever want to plan on but you can see that you're well within the capabilities of the combination of the PCIe slot plus the PCIe supplemental power cable your HP power supply provides.

NS777 does good and very careful work, well above the "Ghetto Mod" level. I'd read his post carefully if I was you, but I'd stick with your HP power supply, personally. Speaking of ghetto mods here is a blast from the past: LINK    You can daisy chain a nice Noctua case fan that fits up front if you want, blowing in (fan label facing into the case). There may even be a front case fan header already on your motherboard.

Since you're souping up your Z240 I'd make sure to have a front case fan if at all possible. They can be very quiet with a quality one. HP already may have a front case fan option for your workstation... BHPhotoVideo.com says they did...

These often come used as a kit with the right size fan, usually a 92x92x25MM fan. The ghetto mod will certainly be easier and cheaper to do, and given that the TWR had this option your motherboard will almost certainly have a 4-pin header down at the bottom front corner for that.

:

[SDH]

NS777,

No....

The ATX standard for PCIe supplemental power cables is indeed 75W, but HP builds their workstation power supplies and their PCIe supplemental power cables to significantly higher than ATX standards. Hence, with the specially engineered 6-pin to 8-pin HP adapter you can run 16A over that cable. HP also makes a separate engineered adapter to convert from one of these cables to two 6-pin cables, also well above the ATX standard.