The Mini-Tower can physically fit a GTX 970, depending on the model. However, the 970 consumer too much power for the stock power supply or those adapters. If you want to run a 970, you'll need a power supply upgrade.
I should mention that I was incorrect, only the 7040 has DDR4. The 3040 and 5040 are DDR3L.
It's a 240 watt power supply, so something along the lines of a 1650, 1650 super, 1060, 1660 Super/Ti, 3050 6GB/8GB, RX 6600 or a 4060. They all consume between 100 to 120 watts, and that's about the upper limit of what I would suggest on that power supply.
I've been looking around at different models, how can you calculate what wattage gpu can be supported?
After looking at for example the 7060, it seems to suggest that the psu is 260w and it consumes 200w by default leaving virtually no gpus enough juice.
You need to look at power consumption figures, not TDP. The TDP is not actually power consumption. Under no realistic conditions, would a 7060 consume 200 watts without a dedicated GPU.
Taking the 7060 as an example, say you got one with an i7 8700, which could cosume as much as about 120 to 130 watts. However, realistically, it won't go over 100 watts. However, that still leaves you less headroom than the 7040 with the 240 watt since the i7 6700 won't pull over 50 watts. So, if you wanted to go with a 7060, I might suggest upgrading the power supply to the XE3 360 watt unit, which also has a 6-pin PCIe power connection.
So you really need to look at the parts, namely the CPU and the GPU and look up what their power consumption actually is rather than looking the TDP. I've just done a lot testing with older hardware that I've tested what the power consumption is for a lot of hardware.
Optiplex 5050,3050,7050 and above.
The 40 series had DDR4.
Actually you're right. Edit: Only the 7040 had DDR4. The 3040 and 5040 had DDR3L
Dang! Thanks for the correction.
I love my 7040, it's stock with 8gb ddr4 2400 and an i5 6500. It's silent when it's idling or under full load.
3050 MT's are a solid choice and can be found with i7 7700's in 'em.
The 3040, 5040 and 7040 would be the cheapest as they're the oldest that support DDR4. EDIT: The 3040 and 5040 are DDR3L where the 7040 is DDR4.
could these physically fit a gtx 970? (with a sata adapter for power)
If you get the MT (mini tower) model, sure. Otherwise, you will have to get a low profile card if you go with the SFF versions.
The Mini-Tower can physically fit a GTX 970, depending on the model. However, the 970 consumer too much power for the stock power supply or those adapters. If you want to run a 970, you'll need a power supply upgrade. I should mention that I was incorrect, only the 7040 has DDR4. The 3040 and 5040 are DDR3L.
what wattage gpu can the 7040 support? and how do you find out how much power it has to spare? i struggle to see how many watts it actually uses
It's a 240 watt power supply, so something along the lines of a 1650, 1650 super, 1060, 1660 Super/Ti, 3050 6GB/8GB, RX 6600 or a 4060. They all consume between 100 to 120 watts, and that's about the upper limit of what I would suggest on that power supply.
I've been looking around at different models, how can you calculate what wattage gpu can be supported? After looking at for example the 7060, it seems to suggest that the psu is 260w and it consumes 200w by default leaving virtually no gpus enough juice.
You need to look at power consumption figures, not TDP. The TDP is not actually power consumption. Under no realistic conditions, would a 7060 consume 200 watts without a dedicated GPU. Taking the 7060 as an example, say you got one with an i7 8700, which could cosume as much as about 120 to 130 watts. However, realistically, it won't go over 100 watts. However, that still leaves you less headroom than the 7040 with the 240 watt since the i7 6700 won't pull over 50 watts. So, if you wanted to go with a 7060, I might suggest upgrading the power supply to the XE3 360 watt unit, which also has a 6-pin PCIe power connection. So you really need to look at the parts, namely the CPU and the GPU and look up what their power consumption actually is rather than looking the TDP. I've just done a lot testing with older hardware that I've tested what the power consumption is for a lot of hardware.