T3610 GPU upgrade 235 Watts

Question

Hi

I'm planning to upgrade the GPU on my T3610 to a Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 8GB.

Sapphire says the card's power consumption is <235W.

It needs a 6 pin and an 8 pin auxiliary power.

So, can I actually run this card in my T3610, the PSU has enough power I think (685W), but the connectors are a problem. The PSU board has an 8 pin port, with an 8 pin to two 6 pin connectors cable plugged in. (a bit of an odd cable really, two of the pins on the 8 pin end aren't actually used).

As we all know the PCIe slot the card is in gives 75W to the card.

My concern is that if I replace this cable with an 8 pin to 8 + 6 pin cable, the cables will have to manage 235W-75W=160W going through them. (The -75W is from the PCIe slot where the card sits).

8 pin connectors are usually made for 150W, and 6 pin connectors for 75W. Can the 8 pin port on the PSU board really handle 160W?

The Dell T3610 spefications sheet says the system can handle a dual setup with maximum 300W total, but I always imagined 150W are from the two PCIe slots the cards are in, and the remaining 150W are from that 8 pin port on the PSU board. Is this wrong? Can that port handle more than 150W?

Also is there an order to which port the card draws power from? Does it prioritize auxiliary power before PCIe slot power, and thus might try to draw 235W through the 8 pin on the PSU board?

Adam Seward · Accepted Answer

I got the BIOS issue sorted and ran some tests. These are the power stress test on OCCT and make my computers cry, maxing the system across the board for power consumption.

In this machine I have a 1620 v2, stock clock pulling ~80W under max load. With a 2080 overclocked I was able to pull a stable 235W. The 2080 Super and 2080TI I was testing with crashed the system in short order @ full load (likely 300W+ on the card). I LOVE the Sapphire RX580 Nitro+, its an excellent card with a great VRM design. I gave mine to a good friend to help him start a build and it is treating him well still. I would say absolutely go for it, in gaming you shouldnt be anywhere near the power draw as in the stress test. If youre OCing the card, I suggest using Sapphire Trixx, the program allows the highest power limit and core voltage increase slider adjustments compared to my personal favorite tool, MSI Afterburner - plus IIRC, Trixx allows some pretty nice LED adjustment on the card logo.

Your T3610 w/ RX580 Nitro+ should be able to handle most anything you throw at it without much difficulty @1080p.

rbxlio · Answer

Hello PartNumber Noob01

Which card is actually in you computer?

If you put this graphic card on your computer, you can't close the door .

There is a part on the door whose rule is to maintain card (see picture).

This sapphire card is to high.

For psu question, you can read this : https://greenpcgamers.forumbee.com/t/634f91/precision-t3610-hardware-upgrade-guide

rgds

PartNumber Noob01 · Answer

Hi, yes I've noticed that part on the door, my plan was to take care of it with this:

Angle grinder

The card currently in the computer is a quadro k2000, which is powered through the PCIe slot. (it only uses 51W).

Thanks for the link, but unfortunately it doesn't answer my question since they don't mention the RX 580, and the cards they suggest consume less power.

Adam Seward · Answer

I have purchased this cable for expansion to a more powerful card for testing purposes. I have a bios issue ATM or I would report back with confirmation that it works.

https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Power-Adapter-Cable-13-inch/dp/B07HCYDK5K

Love the tool selection

PartNumber Noob01 · Answer

@Adam SewardThat would be great if you could test that! I'll have a look at your BIOS issue thread, but I probably won't be much help

bradthetechnut · Answer

https://www.dell.com/community/Precision-Fixed-Workstations/T3610-and-GTX-1080-power-with-685-watt-PS/td-p/6054404 Precision T3610 Spec Sheet

PartNumber Noob01 · Answer

Niiiice! Thanks a lot! May I ask how you did the PCIe power cables? Did you use some 6 pin to 8 pin adapter? The 2080 (and my RX 580) uses both 6 pin and 8 pin if I remember correctly.

Adam Seward · Answer

Yes you’re welcome! This was the splitter I used, it goes 8 pin on board to (2) 6+2 GPU plugs.   https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Power-Adapter-Cable-13-inch/dp/B07HCYDK5K

bradthetechnut · Answer

Hi @PartNumber Noob01, You had power management questions with how much power comes from where for GPU.  What the above post means is you'll have no trouble powering up to a 300w (total) GPU.

PartNumber Noob01 · Answer

@bradthetechnutYou mean the one you linked to with the 180W card? Yes he does say 300W, but he doesn't try to see if it actually works, as he only tries to draw 105W through the auxiliary PCIe power cable. Not sure the T3610 can actually give a full 300W on just one card though, as the rail on the PSU has 12V*18A=216W, and the PCIe slot has 75W, so 291W total. Pretty close though (if the cables and the 8 pin port on the motherboard can actually handle 216W without melting).

bradthetechnut · Answer

Above screengrab of a post came from here, might be worth a read: https://www.dell.com/community/Precision-Fixed-Workstations/T5600-GPU-and-PSU/m-p/7556010#M4096

From what I gather, is make sure the splitter is at least 18 AWG, or 18 gauge wire. The lower the number, the thicker the wire. Check for any wattage limits. Screengrabs below are from ebay.

Capture+_2020-05-16-18-39-23.png

Capture+_2020-05-16-18-39-05.png

bradthetechnut · Answer

I erred before and didn't notice you already linked the Spec Sheet in your first post.

The T3610 Owner's Manual also says up to 2 cards, 300w total. And you know the card you want is <235w. If still in serious doubt that things might melt, may be consider a card with less watts?

You PSU will shut down before it overloads, before too much current goes thru the MB, etc. Sparks won't fly out of your PC like many times in Star Trek, various series.

In the post accepted as a solution, @Adam Seward pulled a steady 235w.

I can understand the concern with pulling 300w. 1. The amp rating on 12v rail you mentioned. 2. RTX 2080 ti has been tested @ 279w, and that crashed the system? Granted we're talking about the same card. But the system crashes and shuts down if it overloads vs. sitting there and letting things melt.

PartNumber Noob01 · Answer

The images you posted haven't loaded yet, just a yellow triangle, I guess they are awaiting moderation or something. I'll check back when they are loaded.

"The T3610 Owner's Manual also says up to 2 cards, 300w total"

Yes I read that sentence too, but got confused lol

Since with two cards the two PCIe slots will give 75W each, and the auxiliary PCIe power (VGA2 port) will only need to give 150W total to make it a 300W total with two cards. But with just one card that same port and cables would have to give 225W to make it a total 300W, but the rail is limitied to 216W. That is where all the confusion on my part started

"Sparks won't fly out of your PC like many times in Star Trek, various series."

Haha, I guess they figured out how to make spaceships with warp drives but forgot how to use fuses.

It's good to know nothing will blow up though, I guess that safe shutdown is the advantage of having a proper multirail PSU from Dell.

The cable I ordered has 18 AWG, and I see it's rated for 600W, so it should be good to go

bradthetechnut · Answer

Screengrabs do show today. It takes longer on the weekends.

Tip: It doesn't hurt to check for potential bottleneck between CPU and GPU. I don't know what CPU you have, so below is just an example pasted from PC Builds:

Processor is too weak for this graphic card:

Intel Xeon E5-1603 v3 (Clock speed at 110%) with AMD Radeon RX 580 (Clock speed at 100%) x1 will produce 22.28% of bottleneck. Everything over 10% is considered as bottleneck.

I used "Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 xeon e5 1603 bottleneck" for a Google search term. I then select option that's PC Builds. The catch with it this time is it wouldn't pick up "sapphire nitro+" I don't know if it works with dual CPU's.

Precision Fixed Workstations

T3610 GPU upgrade 235 Watts

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