Longer story
I bought an OptiPlex 5080 and I haven't added memory or a card to a computer in probably 15 years so I didn't think twice about going with the small form factor. It is a relatively powerful machine i7/64Gb with plenty of cores because of number crunching stuff I do for work. And I don't really like messing with computers, so I tend to buy an overpowered machine so I don't have to replace them as often.
Well now I am interested in more video processing. Of all things, Baldur's Gate 3 caught my eye and my work software has gotten more video intensive. When I started talking about that, a work buddy even offered to give me (sell cheap) a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1660 Super 6GB GDDR6 192-bit Gaming Graphics Card and Thermaltake Smart 500W 80+ White Certified PSU, Continuous Power with 120mm Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan, ATX 12V V2.3/EPS 12V Active PFC Power Supply PS-SPD-0500NPCWUS-W. (I don't think the small form factor has enough power for the video card on its own.)
So is it as simple as ordering this:
GLOTRENDS PCIe 3.0 X16 GPU Riser Cable Length 600mm, Female 180 Degree Angle:
https://www.amazon.com/GLOTRENDS-Com...37&sr=8-3&th=1
And running this out of the box?
Is it okay to hook up the external power supply to the video card even though the video card is connected to the mother board through the riser cable? I've gotten mixed commentary on this from YouTube.
Is this Cable going to be flexible enough that I can it loop and twist and run it out the slot/opening where the 1/2 card would normally be? My brother thinks it will be. I'm rather doubtful, but not sure. Would the strategy be to cut a hole in the top of the desktop box to get the cable out?
I'll post a picture in the next reply.
Any advice?