Upgrading a Prodesk 600 G3 with a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 - even possible with the PSU?

[royjones0887]

Hello world,

Someone I know bought a Prodesk 600 G3MT and its GPU is insufficient to run the video presentation software it needs to.

He purchased a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050, 2GB GDDR5 Super Compact Gaming Graphics Card (ZT-P10500A-10L). 

Will the Prodesk 600 G3's PSU (180W) be able to run this card? What will happen if it can't?

[old_geekster]

@royjones0887, welcome to the forum.

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@royjones0887 wrote:

Hello world,

Someone I know bought a Prodesk 600 G3MT and its GPU is insufficient to run the video presentation software it needs to.

He purchased a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050, 2GB GDDR5 Super Compact Gaming Graphics Card (ZT-P10500A-10L). 

Will the Prodesk 600 G3's PSU (180W) be able to run this card? What will happen if it can't?   No.  The GTX 1050, depending on the manufacturer, requires a minimum of 300W to operate properly.  The only thing that will happen if the card is installed properly is, you will get a black screen.  There simply won't be enough power to run the card.

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[chillgreg]

As I've just upgraded the graphics capabilities of my Prodesk 600 G3 SFF (similar 180W PSU), I'll offer my findings:

The recommend power supply stated by the video card manufacturers is a rather arbitary number; a bit like the use-by date on food. The specification that is relevant however is the actual maximum power draw of the card - in the case of the 1050 range it is 75W. While it is possible the 180W PSU might have sufficient headroom, this is not the only factor to consider.

All cards under the 1060 range do not have separate power cables, they get all of their power supply from the actual PCI slot itself, which is quite low at bout 35W, being a bespoke OEM motherboard. A 1050 would almost certainly either not work at all ,or possibly cause damage to the board once under load. 

The solution I found was to install a GT1030 LP low profile card, there are many available on the market, and they draw a maximum of 30W, well within all paramaters. Also consider that HP supplies the older GT730 in some models from factory, which have similar power specifications (30W draw), albeit being a much less capable card.

Just be careful not to purchase one of the newer ultra-low power GT1030s, which look identical, but have the slower DDR4 memory and less power. You want the ones that specify GDDR5 RAM. You can get either fan-cooled or passive; youtube testers have found both offer similar performance, the passive one being completely silent (I can't hear the fan at all on my MSI unit.

There isn't much choice without upgrading the PSU unfortunately (which is virtually imposible and would void warranty), so I am quite happy with the GT1030. It is much more powerful than the Intel on-board graphics, and can run most games at low-medium settings, and is very capable for most graphical and editing/encoding purposes.

It's not a powerhouse, but it's safe, cheap and a considerable improvement over the stock intel graphics.

Hope this helps.