TR Forums

I currently am using an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti video card in my computer. Because of an incredible amount of luck, I won in the NVIDIA E3 GameReady contest and am now the proud owner of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition video card that should arrive any day now.

I know that my power supply is strong enough, but what I am worried about is if it has the correct power connectors I will need. My 660 uses two 6-pin but the 1080 uses one 6-pin and one 8-pin.

The PSU I have in my system is: CORSAIR HX series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply.

Also want to check to see if it will work in this motherboard:

My Motherboard is an ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS.

Is there anything else I need to think about if I want to swap these cards?

Thanks so much for all your advice.

Make sure you've downloaded the latest drivers.

https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/corsair-hx650-gold-power-supply-review/

Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards

Oftentimes these are 6-pin with an additional pair of pins on a pigtail about 1" from the end that plugs into the GPU. Have you checked inside your case for this?

As long as the power cables have 6+2 connectors you should be fine.

The only other thing to consider is physical size. Many of the 1080 TI models have extra large coolers (extra tall or extra long, and also sometimes 2.5 slots wide), so you could run into clearance problems depending on your case and/or other cards in the system.

That's awesome, the 1080Ti is a bit faster than the 660.

homerdog wrote:

That's awesome, the 1080Ti is a bit faster than the 660.

Just a touch

In terms of connectors, the HX 650W comes with a single 6+2 pin plug on each PCI-E cable, so you're fine.

I would be prepared to replace the PSU if necessary. You're probably okay but the HX 650 was one of Corsair's cheaper units (only 80+ bronze rated) and by this point, it could be 9 years old. Depending on how many hours it has been in use, what load it has been subjected to, and how well cooled it has been, it'll either be totally fine, or unable to supply the ~25A on the 12V rail that the 1080Ti will peak at. If the PSU is too tired to handle it, you'll notice crashing at peak loads where the reference 1080Ti can draw up to 300W for short bursts (typical average gaming load is 250W).

Your PSU is rated for 38A loads, but PSUs do wear out over time, and as a rule of thumb you should expect them to be at around 100% load when the warranty runs out and lose 10% per year from that point onwards. YMMV and this is only a rule of thumb.

Thankfully you've won a Founder's edition that consumes power as I've mentioned above; It's one of the most power-supply friendly versions of a 1080Ti you can get. Common models usually include a small boost to clockspeeds and voltages - Something like the EVGA 1080Ti FTW3 is typical and that one consumes an average of 280W with peaks of 360W, whilst higher factory overclocks from Asus ROG and Aorus can average almost 350W and peak at well over 425W. I would almost expect your old 650W PSU to fail with one of those monsters!

It does kindof beg the question: If you win a $700 GPU, it might seem trivial to do an $80 PSU upgrade.... depending on the age of your current PSU of course.

DPete27 wrote:

It does kindof beg the question: If you win a $700 GPU, it might seem trivial to do an $80 PSU upgrade....

Of course I'd be fine with upgrading the PSU if the need arises. I'll start out with the one I've got and give it a go.

My case is the "Corsair Graphite Series 600T CC600TM Graphite Grey Mid-Tower Gaming Case", which was a heck of lot bigger than I thought it was going to be when I bought it. In fact, this PC was built using The Tech Report System Guide from 2013 from this very site (as was the one I built back in 2008). So I think it will have plenty of room inside.

I am really enjoying reading all these replies. Thanks so much. I could hardly believe my eyes when I got the email saying I had won. It also come with a "V1 Tech Custom Backplate" which from what I can tell is just a pretty cover for it, but not much use as no one will ever see it.

PSU should be fine. That system will use less than 400w even fully-loaded, and I can't imagine a gold 650w PSU from 2013 not having ll the connectors needed.

PSU should be fine. BTW congrats for the win!

Lobes wrote:

Is there anything else I need to think about if I want to swap these cards?

Yeah, hold on to your pants when you start the game.

Congrats on the win!

The card arrived, and apart from being longer in length, fit right into the slot where my 660 was, and I was pleased to see my existing power cables worked (once I realized the +2 little dongle was made for the 8-pin connections!)

They also threw in a few game codes (Destiny 2, SCUM and Forge Arena). I doubt I'll use the Forge Arena one, but the Destiny 2 looks good and SCUM will be released soon. So far my PSU seems to be handling things just fine.

Of course, now I need to go out and get a better monitor (or two) to take advantage of the new power!