HP Z240 Tower Compatible with GeForce GTX970

[jmpotato]

I just got a HP Z240 Tower with a 400W power supply, 32 GB of RAM and 512 GB M.2 SSD.  Is the GeForce GTX 970 Graphics card compatible?  My PCIe v3 x16 slot is available.

[Jay_101]

Greetings,

The 400 power supply could be an issue.

A stock GTX 970 lists a recommended 500 watt power supply.

You have to verify the 10.1 inch to 10.5 inch card will fit in your chassis.

You should have the required UEFI BIOS if the system is brand new and you have a PCIe x16 3.0 slot available on the system board.

Cheers!

[jmpotato]

Thanks for your quick reply.  I'm not sure how to figure out if the GTX 970 500W power supply recommendation is an issue or if my power 400W supply is sufficient.  Does anyone have thoughts on how to figure that out?

[Jay_101]

Hi,

The GTX 970 requires 145 watts on the 12+ volt rail.

Check the HP supplied 400 watt power supply for the total watts (amperage times 12 volts) it can produce on the 12+ volt rail.

Deduct any 12+ volt usage by all other installed components (CPU and other components) using the 12+ volt rail.

The difference is what's available to run a graphics card. There are also inherent power supply efficiencies that can adversely affect how much juice is available to power a high performance graphics card.

Try the 970 with the 400 watt PS. Maybe it will work.

Jay

[jmpotato]

Jay,

Thanks for the answer.  Another novice question.  How do I figure out what is on the 12 volt rail on my motherboard?

Jason

[Jay_101]

Hi.

Please refer to this handy Power Supply Unit Wattage and Rails Calculator.

Enter data as close to your system as possible.

The site will calculate power draw and then recommend the correct size power supply.

Jay

[jmpotato]

Thanks.