DGX Station Power Requirements: GB300 Office Checklist (SG)

DGX Station power requirements are the first question we ask every Singapore buyer of the ASUS ExpertCenter Pro ET900N G3, because a GB300 deskside supercomputer is the only machine in ASUS's range that cannot simply be plugged into the nearest wall socket. Its 1,600 W power supply, liquid cooling, 27 kg weight and 400 GbE networking all need decisions before delivery. This checklist covers power, placement and cooling, lifting, display and management, networking, UPS sizing, the headless workflow, and SourceIT's site check and commissioning. It applies to the ET900N G3 and, with minor chassis differences, to the MSI, HP, Gigabyte and Supermicro DGX Station GB300 systems we also supply.

DGX Station GB300 site checklist at a glance

Power: a dedicated circuit, not a shared socket

NVIDIA's DGX Station datasheet lists total system power at 1,600 W, and ASUS fits a 1,600 W ATX 80 PLUS Titanium supply. In StorageReview's words, "a dedicated 20A circuit remains the requirement for North American installs", and the Singapore equivalent is a dedicated socket on its own breaker with no other load. At our 230 V mains, 1,600 W works out to roughly 7 A, rising towards 8 A once supply losses are included, which a 13 A or 15 A circuit can carry comfortably provided nothing else shares it. What fails is the usual office arrangement: a ring of sockets feeding monitors, a printer and a kettle, with the Station added via a power strip. Ask a licensed electrician to confirm the circuit, label the socket and sign it off before delivery; we strongly advise against commissioning on a shared or extension-led supply. Everything draws from the one PSU: StorageReview notes that the Grace CPU, B300 GPU, pumps, fans, storage and any RTX PRO card share the 1,600 W budget, so there is no separate GPU supply to plan for.

UPS sizing considerations

A 1,600 W load is well beyond the small desktop UPS units found under office desks, so plan a UPS as a line item. Size it for the PSU's full rating plus the headroom your vendor recommends, and specify the runtime you actually need: for most teams that is a few minutes to ride through a dip and shut down cleanly, not an hour of operation. The BMC's Redfish and IPMI interfaces make a monitored, graceful shutdown practical; ask the UPS vendor to confirm compatibility with their management software. For the GB300 OEM comparison and where each sits, see our ET900N G3 guide.

Placement, airflow and the 10 to 35 °C window

The ET900N G3 is rated for 10 to 35 °C ambient, which any air-conditioned Singapore office meets; the risk is not the room but the corner. Cooling is a closed-loop liquid system with cold plates on the GB300, the SOCAMM memory and the ConnectX-8, radiators at the front and top, a rear chassis fan and a dedicated fan over the QSFP112 optics cages. So the front mesh and the top of the tower must breathe: no enclosed cabinets, no pushing it under a desk against a wall, and clearance on the intake and exhaust faces. A server room is not required, but if the building's air-conditioning switches off at night and the unit runs 24/7, measure the overnight temperature before you commit the location. The QSFP112 cages have their own fan because 400 G optics run hot; keep that airflow unobstructed if you run fibre.

Lifting and transport: 27 kg and a liquid loop

ASUS lists the tower at 584 x 232 x 565 mm and 27 kg net, 32 kg gross in the carton. The two metal handles on the top edge, one front and one rear, exist so that two people can lift it onto a desk or cart; it is not a one-person carry. Keep the unit upright at every stage, in the carton until it reaches its final position, and avoid tilting or laying it on its side; it contains a sealed coolant loop and radiators, and neither ASUS nor independent reviewers publish a procedure for recovering from rough handling. If it has travelled in an un-air-conditioned vehicle, let it reach room temperature before powering on. Tell us the lift path (lifts, stairs, door widths) in advance so delivery can be planned as a two-person carry with a trolley.

Display and management: BMC Mini DisplayPort versus RTX PRO card

This is the point that surprises most buyers. The only video output on a standard DGX Station GB300 is a rear Mini DisplayPort driven by the ASPEED AST2600 BMC, and NVIDIA's datasheet states it "is intended only for system management". It is for initial setup and troubleshooting, not a desktop for daily work. If you want to sit at the machine with monitors, order the ET900N G3 SKU with the NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell card installed (the -Pro2K variant); the card lives in one of the PCIe 5.0 slots and draws from the shared 1,600 W budget. For everyone else, the BMC is the right tool: ASUS's AST2600 runs AMI MegaRAC firmware with IPMI and Redfish, there is a Micro-USB serial console, and the dedicated 1 GbE BMC port lets IT reach the machine when the OS is down. Treat the BMC port like any other out-of-band interface: on a management VLAN, with the default credentials changed at commissioning.

Networking: 10 GbE host LAN, 400 GbE fabric and transceivers

Three network ports need three cables. The Marvell 10 GbE RJ45 port is the host LAN connection and, for a single Station serving a team, all you need; it carries SSH, JupyterLab, API traffic and model downloads, so your switch needs a 10GBASE-T port. The Realtek 1 GbE RJ45 port is the BMC. The two QSFP112 ports on the ConnectX-8 SuperNIC run 400 GbE each, up to 800 Gb/s aggregate, for a second Station, fast storage or a cluster fabric. They are empty cages: you need direct-attach copper for short runs (StorageReview's lab used 400G DACs) or QSFP112 optical transceivers and fibre for longer ones. ASUS's -T SKUs ship with two transceivers; otherwise confirm cable or optic part numbers with us against your switch. Since 400 GbE switching is datacenter equipment, most office installs run the ConnectX-8 ports direct to one peer or leave them for later. For a DGX Spark-class system the decisions are simpler; see our DGX Spark setup guide.

The headless workflow

Most ET900N G3 installs run without a monitor. The machine boots Ubuntu with NVIDIA's AI developer stack, IT configures the BMC and host addresses at commissioning, and users reach it from their own laptops: SSH, VS Code Remote, JupyterLab in a browser, and an OpenAI-compatible endpoint from vLLM or NVIDIA NIM for applications. Agents run inside NVIDIA NemoClaw sandboxes, exactly as on the Ascent GX10, only with 748 GB to work in. The Station belongs in a locked room or secured corner with the BMC on a management network, not on an open-plan desk.

Installing the ET900N G3 in Singapore with SourceIT

SourceIT is an authorised ASUS reseller and supplies the ExpertCenter Pro ET900N G3 on request, along with the other GB300 DGX Station systems in our AI workstations and servers collection. Every order includes a pre-delivery site check covering the circuit, socket, placement, network drops and lift path, and commissioning: BMC and network configuration, OS and firmware updates, your chosen models served and a handover. Pricing is on request because GB300 units are allocated and configured to order (SSD count, transceivers, RTX PRO card, warranty term). Use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502, or email Sales@sourceit.com.sg; we are GeBIZ and Vendors@Gov registered. For where the Station sits in ASUS's range, read the ASUS Agent Computer guide.

Frequently asked questions

What are the DGX Station GB300 power requirements? A 1,600 W power supply on a dedicated circuit. In Singapore that means a socket on its own breaker with no shared load, confirmed by a licensed electrician; expect roughly 7 to 8 A at 230 V under full load.

Can I plug it into a normal office socket? Only if that socket is on a dedicated circuit. Never through a power strip or a circuit shared with other equipment.

Does it need a server room? No. It is rated for 10 to 35 °C and is designed for an office, but it needs clear airflow at the front and top and should not sit in an enclosed cabinet.

Can one person install it? No. At 27 kg it is a two-person lift using the top handles, kept upright throughout.

Can I connect a monitor and use it as a desktop? Only with the SKU that includes the RTX PRO 2000 card. The standard Mini DisplayPort is for BMC management only.

What network does it need? One 10 GbE port for users and one 1 GbE port for the BMC. The two 400 GbE QSFP112 ports are optional and need DACs or transceivers.

What UPS should I buy? One sized for the full 1,600 W load plus vendor headroom, with enough runtime for a graceful shutdown. We can specify it with the quote.