8 Pin Power Adapters for R9 290

[Green Flashlight]

Hello!

I just ordered the SAPPHIRE 100361-4L Radeon R9 290X 4GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Tri-X OC(UEFI) and found that it did not come with any power adapters for the 2x8 pin it requires. I am running a COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W which is supposed to have 3 12v rails on it.

Am I able to use two of these to satisfy the power demands: http://amznly.com/1yn
Or do I need something more substantial?

Thanks!

 

[bazzarooney]

According to the datasheet of your PSU, it should have 1 8 pin pci power adapter so the cables you specified will be fine to use for the other 8 pin requirement.

 

[Green Flashlight]

According to the datasheet of your PSU, it should have 1 8 pin pci power adapter so the cables you specified will be fine to use for the other 8 pin requirement.

Sadly, mine only has an 8 pin CPU connector, and 2x 6 pin PCIE connectors: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171023

That being the case, would two 6to8 pin connectors underpower the GPU?

 

[bazzarooney]

That will be just fine

 

[Math Geek]

these adapters are not really recommended as they may not provide the needed power. if oyu had one 8 pin and only had to use an adapter for the second one i would feel better suggesting this approach. however to create 2 x 8 pins through these is not a very good idea. the problem is a 6 pin provides 75w of power while an 8 pin gives 150w. so that adapter only offers 150w between the 2 when the card wants a possible 300w!!! (2 x 150w 8 pin connection)

you are better off getting a new psu to avoid the issues that will more than likely surface with this type of solution.

there are adapter that combine a couple molex connections to make an 8 pin but again doing this twice is still a VERY bad idea. add in the fact that the psu is of poor quality and it all sums to you want a new psu for that card.

 

[coozie7]

You should use the '6+2' PCI-E connectors of the power supply for the card.
Just hold the little 2 pin part against the 6 pin part and insert both as one piece, these connectors are designed to work as either a 6 pin (push the little 2 pin part aside and insert just the 6 pin block) or as 8 pin (insert both the 6 pin and 2 pin parts into the same socket). Your power supply has two 6+2 leads, you have no need for any adaptors.

 

[Green Flashlight]

these adapters are not really recommended as they may not provide the needed power. if oyu had one 8 pin and only had to use an adapter for the second one i would feel better suggesting this approach. however to create 2 x 8 pins through these is not a very good idea. the problem is a 6 pin provides 75w of power while an 8 pin gives 150w. so that adapter only offers 150w between the 2 when the card wants a possible 300w!!! (2 x 150w 8 pin connection)

you are better off getting a new psu to avoid the issues that will more than likely surface with this type of solution.

there are adapter that combine a couple molex connections to make an 8 pin but again doing this twice is still a VERY bad idea. add in the fact that the psu is of poor quality and it all sums to you want a new psu for that card.

So something like this would not be recommended? http://amznly.com/1yp

What about adapters that convert two sata connectors to one 8 pin, such as this one, or a dual 6 pin to 8 pin? http://amznly.com/1yq

 

[Math Geek]

the psu he linked to only has 2 6 pins and no 6+2 pins.

this is why he is trying to work adapters. i dont see how they can label it as crossfire ready when i does not even have the connectors for one gpu much less 2. this is a very poor quality psu which is evident by all the misinformation in the specs.

 

[Math Geek]

the molex to 8 pin adapter is a better way to go. but i would get 2 of them and only connect one 8 pin from each. again the 2 molex won't give the 300w needed by both the 8 pin connectors. so you will use a total of 4 molex to run the 2 8 pins on the gpu. avoid overclocking and such as you are still short of the theoretical max for the card's power draw. not the best thing to do but a lot better than the first option.

 

[Math Geek]

also should add that an adpater that combines the 2 6 pins you have for one 8 pin would be the best one to get. you can use one of these and one of the molex to 8 pin adapters and probably be ok. this is the best case for your situation.

 

[Green Flashlight]

Is it really that low quality? All the specs on newegg (where I bought it, way back when) are accurate. It was a well-reviewed PSU too, it's just an older model. Back when this card came out, cards only needed one 6 pin connector, hence being xfire ready for the time: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171023&cm_re=COOLER_MASTER_Real_Power_Pro_RS-650-ACAA-A1_650W-_-17-171-023-_-Product

I have plenty of molex connectors to spare. If I get one of the 2x molex to 1x 8 pin connectors and one of the 2x 6 pin to 1x 8 pin, will that work or only buy me a couple months?

 

[Math Geek]

it should work for as long as the psu holds out.

the psu is not on the "avoid at all costs" list but it is not very highly rated. the ratings i refer to are from reviewers that test and rank the psu's based on quality of parts, power efficiency and lots of little things i know nothing about. i just trust their results since they are respected everywhere. it is an average psu but will do the trick with these adapters until you decide to get a new psu.

 

[Green Flashlight]

it should work for as long as the psu holds out.

the psu is not on the "avoid at all costs" list but it is not very highly rated. the ratings i refer to are from reviewers that test and rank the psu's based on quality of parts, power efficiency and lots of little things i know nothing about. i just trust their results since they are respected everywhere. it is an average psu but will do the trick with these adapters until you decide to get a new psu.

Thanks to both of you for the feedback!

My last questions: are dual 6 pin to 8 pin adapters only packaged with GPUs or something? The dual molex to 8 pin seem easy enough to find, but I can only find the dual 6 pin adapters on ebay, such as this one: http://ebay.to/1fIiMrF

 

[Math Geek]

hhhhhmmmm i don't see any myself on normal sites but that one from ebay is what you want. i guess i have mainly seen them boxed with a gpu and not sold individually.

 

[Green Flashlight]

hhhhhmmmm i don't see any myself on normal sites but that one from ebay is what you want. i guess i have mainly seen them boxed with a gpu and not sold individually.

Awesome, thanks! Going to pick that up along with this one: http://amznly.com/1yr

Hopefully that will do it. I was going to OC my CPU along with the GPU upgrade, but I'll hold off on that.

 

[Math Geek]

glad i could help before you did something too crazy

when your ready to oc do yourself a favor and get a nice shiny new psu designed for it. that gpu is a power hungry beast at stock and even worse oc'ed

 

[Green Flashlight]

glad i could help before you did something too crazy

when your ready to oc do yourself a favor and get a nice shiny new psu designed for it. that gpu is a power hungry beast at stock and even worse oc'ed

No kidding! Looks like I'll have to set aside some cash and check out some BF deals or something on PSUs.

One final thing (I think), should I pull each connector from a different chain? Does the fact that this is a three rail PSU impact that?

Thanks!

 

[Math Geek]

actually that is a nice thing. the 6 pins likely come from the same rail while the molex will come from a different one. (well it actually has 5v and 12v into it but close enough) so the way it will be connected should already spread the load. but if you can verify and be sure they pull from different rails, then it's a good idea.

this is why the multi-rail went out of favor. oem's were overloading all the high power stuff onto a single rail which of course led to major issues. people still sour on them for this reason despite them making sure it is no longer an issue.

 

[Green Flashlight]

actually that is a nice thing. the 6 pins likely come from the same rail while the molex will come from a different one. (well it actually has 5v and 12v into it but close enough) so the way it will be connected should already spread the load. but if you can verify and be sure they pull from different rails, then it's a good idea.

this is why the multi-rail went out of favor. oem's were overloading all the high power stuff onto a single rail which of course led to major issues. people still sour on them for this reason despite them making sure it is no longer an issue.

Ah, interesting. Well I am glad it will work to my advantage.

Thanks for everything dude! Cheers