Unsolved
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
80
October 8th, 2025 08:49
Help Dell Inspiron 3910 GPU upgrade
I currently have a Dell Inspiron 3910, Service Tag <To protect you, your private information was removed from public view. All private data was saved to your private Case. DELL-Admin> so you can check the specs if you want to that is not mentioned here.
My specs are
I5-12400 (INTEL UHD 730 Integrated graphics)
8gb ddr4 ram ( not sure of the speed and CL timing)
300w PSU with an extra 6+2 pin PCIE Cable not in used just dangling
256gb NVME SSD
1TB HDD
That is the Specs that came stock with the system I upgraded the ram from 8gb to 32gb a year or 2 ago and now I want to potentially put in a RTX3050 6gb Version, it is said that it only requires 70w to run and can run off from the power of the PCIE lane itself and dosent require any external power from any PCIE cables, Im wondering with the 300w PSU, can it run or do I need to upgrade to a higher wattage PSU because many online forums said that, it can potentially run if the CPU isnt taking too much 12v power I have no idea what this means so I would appreciate your help on whether a 300w stock PSU is enough to power my rtx 3050 6gb, it it can, can it power a rtx 3050 8gb, that requires 115w and need a external l 8 pin PCIE cable. Im upgrading so I can potentially play some games on it


redxps630
9 Legend
•
15.5K Posts
0
October 8th, 2025 14:45
the extra 8 pin connector of 300w psu is designed to power a moderate gpu. in your case 115w TDP is within that range.
many users used to use Outervision psu calculator which was a great tool to estimate but it has been shut down. no other psu calculator is as good now.
redxps630
9 Legend
•
15.5K Posts
0
October 8th, 2025 15:49
Dell has designed the 300w psu to drive its oem discrete gpu NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER which has a higher TDP of 125w. you should be fine.
syntrx
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
October 12th, 2025 10:00
@redxps630 Hi Hi OP herenoted that u said its enough but another post link here: https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/inspiron-desktops/can-you-put-a-rtx-3050-6gb-low-profile-in-a-mt-sized-inspiron-3030-with-a-300w-psu/66db4bf781d24c0b0603f80f, u said that 300w is not enough and it requires at least a 400w to 450w psu
syntrx
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
October 12th, 2025 10:03
@syntrx note he has a i5-12400 as well.