Dell XPS 8700 restarts with GTX 970 during gameplay

yronnen

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Sep 17, 2010
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Hi,

I've installed a Gigabyte GTX 970 OC on my XPS Special Edition (replacing an AMD R9 270). Everything works fine, but when I start playing a game the computer stops working after a minute or two (usually restarts itself). I'm still using the PSU that came with the computer (450w). Is it possible that the PSU is the cause for this problem? If it is, how much should I go with? The XPS case is a little tight, so I might have some problems fitting a large PSU in.

Thanks.
 
Solution


There's your problem. You're overloading the +12V rail that the SATA power cable is connected to.

What you need is one of these:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-Shipping-Cheap-Dual-6-Pin-PCI-Express-Female-to-8-Pin-PCI-Express-Male-Y/109575_543860007.html

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-PCI-e-6-pin-to-PCI-e-8-pin-Video-Card-Power-Adapter-/161396495584?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2593fb14e0
Is your 460W PSU made by Delta Electronics or AcBel Polytech?

What is the model number of your Gigabyte GTX 970 (i.e. GV-N970IXOC-4GD or GV-N970WF3OC-4GD (rev. 1.0/1.1))?

Does it use one 150 Watt 8-pin PCI-Express power connector or does it use one 75 Watt 6-pin and one 150 Watt 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors?
 

yronnen

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I think it's the AcBel AC460AM-00 PSU.

The card model is GV-N970IXOC-4GD which comes with one 8 pin power connector and a converter from 2 IDE power cables to one 8 pin model. I've hooked it to two SATA cables (converted to IDE).

 


There's your problem. You're overloading the +12V rail that the SATA power cable is connected to.

What you need is one of these:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-Shipping-Cheap-Dual-6-Pin-PCI-Express-Female-to-8-Pin-PCI-Express-Male-Y/109575_543860007.html

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-PCI-e-6-pin-to-PCI-e-8-pin-Video-Card-Power-Adapter-/161396495584?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2593fb14e0
 
Solution

yronnen

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Thanks ko888, I'll try to get one of those from the local computer shop around here...I'll keep you posted.

Btw, will a single 6pin to 8pin converter work?
 


Probably not because if AcBel adhered to the ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide specs the two 75-Watt 6-pin PCI-E cables on the AcBel AC460AM-00 would be wired to two different +12V rails.

The 8-pin PCI-E connector is a 150-Watt connector. You want a combiner cable to combine those two 75-Watt 6-pin PCI-E connectors into the 150-Watt 8-pin connector that the graphics card needs.
 

yronnen

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Thanks ko888. Got the cable and it works well now.