Hi guys—so first up let me apologize for being a huge newb as my question is super basic but my situation is kind of complicated, but I am just getting into PC gaming and don’t really know…well, anything about PC hardware.
So here’s my situation. I have a HP 8300 desktop that I got cheap. The system runs great but does not have a discreet graphics card and can’t really run the games I want to play on it (has an Intel 4000 onboard gpu). I actually have a 500w psu and a discreet GPU that I can use (a 660ti) but it requires 2 6-pin pci-e power connectors and a 450w or greater psu to run—here in lies my problem.
The motherboard/psu setup in the 8300 is unlike anything I have been able to find online. Rather than power cables connecting each component to the psu, the psu has 3 cables running out of it and directly into the motherboard and all of the drives connect and draw power from the motherboard itself. Worse, one of those cables running from the psu to the motherboard is one I have never seen before (and certainly not one that any replacement psu I was looking at had).
Like I said, I’m a newb, but a little googling led me to discover that HP’s 8000 series enterprise desktops use a proprietary motherboard/psu that use a unique cable to connect them (presumably to make people’s lives a little more difficult out of spite). This means that there’s (as far as I’m aware) no way to connect the psu I have (or any off the shelf psu for that matter) to the motherboard. The only solution I could find was this product suggested by someone having a similar problem:
http://www.amazon.com/FSP-CrossFire-Upgrade-BOOSTER-X5/dp/B002IZE5RE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366730152&sr=8-1&keywords=booster+x5
Now, as far as I can tell this should work for my needs, but it requires a molex cable to connect from the stock psu in the system (a 320w) to the secondary psu (female molex into the secondary psu, from what I can see?). And now we’re finally at my issue—there are no free cables coming from the stock psu. It has 1x 6 pin pci-e connector (pwr), 1x 4 pin pci-e connector (cpu pwr) and the proprietary cable (cmd pwr), all feeding into the motherboard.
So my question is this: how can I connect the secondary psu? I can see 2 possibilities: the first, splitting the 6 pin pci-e w/ an adapter and running one into the motherboard (pwr) and trying to find a female pci-e 6 to female molex adapter—the problem here being I have not been able to find any such adapter and I’m also not sure if splitting it would interfere w/ the motherboard. The second option I thought of was using my one free sata cable (or actually, one free sata connector on a daisy chained cable) w/ a sata to female molex adaptor (this was suggested in the amazon reviews)—the problem here is that my sata cables aren’t running from the psu, they’re coming from the motherboard. I’m also a little unsure if my free sata connector would mate w/ the suggested adapter (http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-15-Pin-Female-Splitter-308977/dp/B002LBROAA) as it says it’s a male sata and (I would think) my connector would be male.
Okay—I know this is complicated (why I tried to give as much detail as possible) but I would seriously appreciate any help you guys can give. This has been a really overwhelming experience for a guy who has never even opened my case before (other than to blow out dust). Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.
PS—not sure if I am posting this in the right forum. Should I repost in systems or one of the other forums?
So here’s my situation. I have a HP 8300 desktop that I got cheap. The system runs great but does not have a discreet graphics card and can’t really run the games I want to play on it (has an Intel 4000 onboard gpu). I actually have a 500w psu and a discreet GPU that I can use (a 660ti) but it requires 2 6-pin pci-e power connectors and a 450w or greater psu to run—here in lies my problem.
The motherboard/psu setup in the 8300 is unlike anything I have been able to find online. Rather than power cables connecting each component to the psu, the psu has 3 cables running out of it and directly into the motherboard and all of the drives connect and draw power from the motherboard itself. Worse, one of those cables running from the psu to the motherboard is one I have never seen before (and certainly not one that any replacement psu I was looking at had).
Like I said, I’m a newb, but a little googling led me to discover that HP’s 8000 series enterprise desktops use a proprietary motherboard/psu that use a unique cable to connect them (presumably to make people’s lives a little more difficult out of spite). This means that there’s (as far as I’m aware) no way to connect the psu I have (or any off the shelf psu for that matter) to the motherboard. The only solution I could find was this product suggested by someone having a similar problem:
http://www.amazon.com/FSP-CrossFire-Upgrade-BOOSTER-X5/dp/B002IZE5RE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366730152&sr=8-1&keywords=booster+x5
Now, as far as I can tell this should work for my needs, but it requires a molex cable to connect from the stock psu in the system (a 320w) to the secondary psu (female molex into the secondary psu, from what I can see?). And now we’re finally at my issue—there are no free cables coming from the stock psu. It has 1x 6 pin pci-e connector (pwr), 1x 4 pin pci-e connector (cpu pwr) and the proprietary cable (cmd pwr), all feeding into the motherboard.
So my question is this: how can I connect the secondary psu? I can see 2 possibilities: the first, splitting the 6 pin pci-e w/ an adapter and running one into the motherboard (pwr) and trying to find a female pci-e 6 to female molex adapter—the problem here being I have not been able to find any such adapter and I’m also not sure if splitting it would interfere w/ the motherboard. The second option I thought of was using my one free sata cable (or actually, one free sata connector on a daisy chained cable) w/ a sata to female molex adaptor (this was suggested in the amazon reviews)—the problem here is that my sata cables aren’t running from the psu, they’re coming from the motherboard. I’m also a little unsure if my free sata connector would mate w/ the suggested adapter (http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-15-Pin-Female-Splitter-308977/dp/B002LBROAA) as it says it’s a male sata and (I would think) my connector would be male.
Okay—I know this is complicated (why I tried to give as much detail as possible) but I would seriously appreciate any help you guys can give. This has been a really overwhelming experience for a guy who has never even opened my case before (other than to blow out dust). Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.
PS—not sure if I am posting this in the right forum. Should I repost in systems or one of the other forums?
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