I'm in a bit of a bind here. I need to check if my RTX 5070 Ti is working properly, but I'm currently waiting on a better PSU due to a delay from my parts shop. Can I safely use an old 500W Zalman PSU to power up my GPU just to get to the desktop, run GPU-Z, and check its ROPs? I have about a week to decide if I want to return the GPU, so I want to make sure I won't damage anything. Are there risks involved in doing this?
4 Answers
Honestly, there's no real risk here. If the PSU can't handle it, the system just won't power on. It’s a safe test as long as you're not trying to overload it.
Yeah, you should be fine if you have enough power connectors and only boot it up to an idle state. I’ve tested similar setups, and it shouldn’t draw more than 300W from the socket while booting, even with a power-hungry CPU like the 14700.
Got it, thanks for the help!
You’ll be good to go! Just pair it with a CPU that won’t overload the PSU. If it draws too much power, it likely just won’t boot up, so you should be safe.
Just make sure your PSU has the right plugs for the GPU. If you’ve got an adapter, that should work too!
There’s definitely an adapter I can use.
I see, thank you for answering 🙂