GPU underclocking and HD Plex 250?

[fminus]

Hey guys,

I just purchased an HDPLex 250 + Dell PA-9E. My current TDP minus GPU is at 154w...If I turn off the IGPU (15w) it will drop total TDP to 139W. Now I would like to throw in the a GTX 970 which is 149w...bringing the total TDP to 288W.

I read here about someone underclocking the 970 to 105w. So my question is:

• Can the HDPlex 250 + Dell PA-9E handle a total TDP of 288W
  
• Can the HDPlex 250 + Dell PA-9E w./ an underclocked 970 handle a TDP of 244W?

All this will be going in an Osmi Case...I haven't seen anyone swap the SFX PSU for an HDPlex figure it will be fun, and allow for a taller CPU cooler and better heat flow.

 

[alex1577]

Unless you plan on using a cpu + gpu burner at the same the system will not pull the 288w. You have nothing to worry about but be advised the Dell PA-9E is unlikely to handle over 240w, while the hdplex can handle more watts comfortably. Of course i would always recommend cpu and gpu undervolting to get the most most performance with the least power.

 

[fminus]

Is there an alternative to the Dell that you can reccomend to handle more wattage? If not I will just undervolt the GPU since I do not think I will be hitting max load as you mentioned.

 

[lhl]

The Voodoo/HP Firebird 350W power supplies were available on eBay for a while for a ridiculously cheap price (like $50-60). You could probably find one of those searching around (although looks like there's nothing on eBay right now). If you're in a rush and OK w/ a more industrial solution, Meanwell sells a great 350W/24V PS for $50.

If you can wait a few weeks, the 1060 might be out that should give similar performance at a lower TDP.

 

[|||]

Remember that the HDPlex 250 is 94% efficient at best, meaning that you have at most only 225W. Aside from the Firebird 350W unit, Dell also makes a 330W unit, but it is above $100.

 

[fminus]

Remember that the HDPlex 250 is 94% efficient at best, meaning that you have at most only 225W. Aside from the Firebird 350W unit, Dell also makes a 330W unit, but it is above $100.

Really? It advertises as "Support 250W with 400W Peak"

 

[|||]

We've seen through people like @Josh | NFC that it can handle more than 250W. There are several posts around this forum on the topic; here is one.

 

[lhl]

The HDPLEX can run higher than rated but you'll want to be careful about making sure it's properly cooled. I run a (turbo-disabled) i7-4970k and a GTX 970 in an S4 mini off of an HDPLEX/Firebird combo, which can push 300W+ (only under synthetic CPU+GPU stress testing, otherwise it's about 270W max) and after a few months my first HDPLEX died - the four pin wall-DC connector was melted onto the HDPLEX and the board by the MOSFETs had some heat discoloration (I think I might have seen someone else in the main S4 thread that ran into a similar issue). The default cables included w/ the HDPLEX are a tight squeeze in the S4 mini and don't help things, but my next round of upgrades will be focused on lowering power draw.

 

[Phuncz]

Remember that the HDPlex 250 is 94% efficient at best, meaning that you have at most only 225W. Aside from the Firebird 350W unit, Dell also makes a 330W unit, but it is above $100.

PSU efficiency is the other way around: when it is providing 250W internally, it's consuming 250W / 0.94 = 266W at the wall. But the efficiency curve changes with the % load put on the PSU. Most decent PSUs can handle a bit more continuously and a lot more in short (think 100-200ms) peaks.

 

[|||]

Not in this case...The AC-DC unit outputs 240W (it has it's own inefficiencies, so it will be drawing higher from the wall, which is what you are referring to), but then it goes to a DC-DC unit. You must then factor the inefficiencies of the DC-DC unit to figure out what the maximum system available wattage is.

 

[Phuncz]

Ah I didn't know another DC-DC was involved, my apologies.

 

[|||]

No worries, we are all looking out for one another.

Yeah, the HDPlex unit takes in a DC current (16V-24V) and converts it into the +12, -12, +5, and +3.3V sources needed, along with all of the sensing.

I'll add that stacked inefficiencies are why I cringe a little when I hear people talking about putting a Pico-PSU on a 12V rail coming from a standard ATX or SFX PSU.

 

[fminus]

Thanks guys for the input..I think I will wait till the end of this month when the RX460 drops...75w...should run smooth. I had another question, maybe you can help me out with?

The HDPlex250 has a 4 pin power plug on it that you attach the sata cables too, unfortunately for me it has wayy to many connections....(3 Sata + 1 Molex)...I really only need ONE sata connection. I found this and this online, but was wondering if it would work? If you look at the photo you can see there are only three pins active in the connection.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

This is why I jumped on that 35w i7-4785T when I saw one available. Only waiting for the GTX1060 now to decide on the GPU.

 

[fminus]

This is why I jumped on that 35w i7-4785T when I saw one available. Only waiting for the GTX1060 now to decide on the GPU.

My GPU will be going in a hackintosh...so I am waiting on the RX460 so I can get that 10bit color output...or the 75w 950. I got a second machine for gaming.

I plan on throwin all this hardware in the OSMI case. I haven't seen anyone really do something like this...and I hope skipping on the SFX psu will give me more space for airflow and lower temps.

 

[|||]

Pascal has a 10-bit color space, Maxwell doesn't. It was a bit annoying when Nvidia was conflating color space and brightness with their presentation materials:

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Pascal has a 10-bit color space, Maxwell doesn't. It was a bit annoying when Nvidia was conflating color space and brightness with their presentation materials:

With Nvidia you never know. They are second to none when it comes to driver lock features for non-pro cards.

 

[|||]

Well, this time around I think they need it in order to be compliant with the display interface standards.

 

[fminus]

Eh, Maxwell did OpenGL 10bit color but it was limited to their Quadro series. I would like to find someone who has a 1080and see if 10bit OpenGL color is enabled. (You would also need a 10bit monitor as well)

Back on topic, does anyone know the answer to my question regarding the 4pin to SATA connector i mentioned above?

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

NFI about the cable. Fancy doing one yourself ?