ptrs2016

@Dschijn Seems you were right about the PSU. I switched to using a Dell DA-2 and - after plugging it directly into the wall - it seems to run stable now. Odd: a 220W Dell adapter beating both the 450W and 550W PSUs! Also peculiar and noteworthy that the DA-2 needed to go directly into the wall socket and couldn't go into splitter. Thanks again for the help!

OK @Dschijn, thanks for the suggestion. I tried with a different, 7 year old 550W PSU, which on the first few tries seemed to last slightly longer (5-10 seconds) before cutting out. However the last few tries it's the same story with this PSU: As soon as the load increases to handle 3D graphics the graphics card cuts out after a second or so and the system reboots. The total draw of my setup (Zotac 970 + Akitio) never exceeds 205 Watts, so I'd be really surprised if the Nexus PSU can't handle it. Zotac recommends a 500 W PSU for this card, but that is for a full system, while I am running only a graphics card with an Akitio box. As the Nexus is multi-rail, it could be that the OCP is triggered, but I am not sure why it would happen under these relatively limited loads (I am running an ITX sized 970, not a 980 or something). Am I correct in understanding that I do not need to make any changes to the Akitio to increase the power limit of its PCI slot? It runs fine using the original adapter, but that adapter is not designed to handle much more than 25 Watts, right? Are there siginificant risks if using Akitio adapter + PSU for a longer time? I am really stuck here....Thanks for the help.

Sorry, I have a Nexus value 430 PSU, about 5 yrs old. Should be able to handle the load...

@Dschijn I am having trouble with the barrel plug. I am using a similar screw-terminal barrel plug as some of the other users posted pictures from in this forum (the one with the green at the screw-terminal end). I cut apart an old video card 2 x molex to 6 pin pci adapter with 18 awg wires to supply power to the barrel, so that part should be fine. Also everything boots fine. However as soon as the load on the card is increased, for example running Unigene Heaven, after 1 or 2 seconds the Akitio cuts out and I have to reboot. I have a 970 card and the setup runs fine using the original Akitio adapter. The Akitio adapter alone draws around 50 Watts under load. Could it be that the barrel plug can't forward 50 Watts power, or am I missing something? Thanks for any advice!