Z2 G4 and RTX 3060

[MaAlgendy34]

Hello

i have a Z2 G4 workstation with 500 Watt power supply.

my question , is it possible to add a RTX 3060 graphics card to the system . do i need to make any changes in the psu.

Many Thanks

Mahmoud

[BambiBoomZ]

Mahmoud,

The NVIDIA suggested power supply for the RTX 3060 is 650W.

The RTX 3060 is a slightly unconventional in the RTX lineup as the RTX 3060 Ti is 8GB , whereas the RTX 3060 (non-Ti) is 12GB; the lower level GPU has more memory.  This has to do with the 192-bit memory bandwidth of the RTX 3060. It has to be 3GB, 6GB, or 12GB.  The GTX 1060- also 192-bit- had both 3GB and 6GB versions and the RTX 2060 were 6GB, but the RTX 3060 needed to be a step up from those - games use more memory now, so the 3060 has 12GB. The RTX 3060Ti has a 256-bit bus so that memory will be multiples of 4, but NVIDIA must have decided that 16GB would be too expensive and unnecessary. This is mentioned as the larger memory capacity means that RTX 3060 uses  more power and NVIDIA suggested power supply for the RTX 3060 is 650W. The PSU for the RTX 3060 Ti is 600W.

BambiBoomZ

[MaAlgendy34]

BambiBoomZ

Thanks for the valuable information.

so , i need to add the 650watt power supply to my setup . But, what about the 12 pin connector ? .is there any converter needed ? i only got 6 pin and 6+2 pin in the pc . what is your advice ?

Mahmoud

[BambiBoomZ · Accepted solution]

MaAlgendy34,

Yes, to use an RTX 3060, the 650W PSU is the "suggested" which in my view means more or less "minimum".  Consider a 750W Gold or Platinum rated.

RE: the  GPU power connector, it will be necessary to review the individual model of RTX 3060.  This 3rd party RTX  3060:

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Graphics-DisplayPort-Military-Grade-Certification/dp/B08WHJPBFX/ref=sr_1...

> is showing a single 8-pin.  That version was chosen as that's a 2.7-slot card is made for overclocking and probably has among the highest potential power draws.

The RTX 3060 having 12 GB of VRAM and somewhat higher clock speeds seems a good choice for heavy texture, very large file GPU rendering. However, it would be rare to use more than about 9GB except in 8K.  I think some games running 4K highest settings can use up to about 8 or 9GB. In my view an RTX 3060Ti or RTX 3070 8GB as having a 256-bit bus are better choices for ordinary workloads up to 5K.  Don't forget that the 3D performance is closely related to the clock speed of the CPU.  

BambiBoomZ