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Power supply requirements when upgrading graphics card

78finn

78finn

78finn

Associate
Joined
24 Dec 2020
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Very VERY new to PC upgrading...please go easy.

I would like to upgrade my existing graphics card to a newer Quadro RTX 4000 card.

I predominantly run CAD and visualisation software...PTC Creo, Solidworks and Keyshot.

I'm comfortable re removing my old card, installing the hardware, drivers etc. The only thing I'm not to sure about is the power requirements of the newer card and whether or not my existing power supply is suitable? Is there also any other considerations to take into account re my older hardware?

I have a Lenovo ThinkStation P300 (30AH0051AU), 3.4ghz Zeon E3-1231v3, main board: Lenovo SHARKBAY SDK0E50510 Pro (bus clock 100 megahertz), 32gb DDR3 1600 registered RAM, Quadro K620 (being replaced), PSU: 280W (85% efficient) GREENGUARD certified.

Any help would be very much appreciated!
 
The TDP of the Quadro K620 is 45 watt, the TDP of the Quadro RTX 4000 is 160 watt. That's not power consumption necessarily, but it is a big difference and you need an 8-pin PCI-E connector.

The Xeon E3-1231v3 has a TDP of 80 watt, the motherboard and RAM will be anywhere around 20 - 50 watt.

OEM PCs are usually specified for sustained power, so it's likely most of that 280 is available, but at full load CPU+GPU you'll be pushing it. Do you know what it uses at full load now and how much power those applications draw from the GPU?
 
If you must keep the xeon rig I would imagine a high quality 450 or 500w PSU would be ample for your needs. Good news is they are quite reasonable in price compared to the 850w end which seems to have 1.5x over the past 7 years.
 
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