As I can see, there are many opinions and misconceptions in the computer tech community about MOLEX to 8 pin adapters for powering the GPU which I want to clarify. As I am a computer technician I think that I have enough technical expertise to talk about this subject.
MOLEX to 8 pin adapters are generally safe, but they are not the ideal solution for powering your GPU. I would always resort to good PSU, but I understand that people who are on a tight budget probably do not want to upgrade the PSU. And that is probably fine because older PSU's can be of high quality and have enough power to supply everything you need but not have 8 pin connectors because of the trends back in those days.
First of all, you should make sure that your PSU can power the new GPU. When buying the adapter, you should always buy a good quality one. The good quality ones usually have 18 AWG, UL 1007 insulated wires. You can recognize them by the markings on the wires itself. Avoid adapters with blank wires since they are very cheaply made with very thin wires that are not capable of transferring so much current and they can easily melt. Good quality adapters are rated for max 120 W and this rating should not be exceeded. You could probably go a little bit over but at your own risk. If the cables are getting hot (so hot that you can not hold the wires with your fingers and you start to smell burning plastic) during the full load you should replace your PSU. If the wires are getting warm only, that should be fine since insulation is rated for 80 degrees Celsius. Do not bundle adapter cables, instead try to spread them away from each other for improved cooling, and in case of melting and failure of one or more cables, they would not touch and cause a short circuit. Also MOLEX end of the adapter should be inserted correctly in the female end. MOLEX ends should slide easily, which means that all MOLEX pins are inserted into collars correctly. If they are not aligned correctly with collars, they can be pushed back from their mounts making bad contact. After connecting MOLEX always push in individual wires to make sure that they are inserted all the way in. And that should be it.
After that try to test system stability benchmarking all the components at once for at least 10-15 minutes. If everything passes OK and you do not experience any cable or connector overheating and computer crashes suggesting weak PSU, you should be good to go.
I apologize for my English since I am not a native speaker. Thank you for reading and if you think that I made some mistakes feel free to correct me.
MOLEX to 8 pin adapters are generally safe, but they are not the ideal solution for powering your GPU. I would always resort to good PSU, but I understand that people who are on a tight budget probably do not want to upgrade the PSU. And that is probably fine because older PSU's can be of high quality and have enough power to supply everything you need but not have 8 pin connectors because of the trends back in those days.
First of all, you should make sure that your PSU can power the new GPU. When buying the adapter, you should always buy a good quality one. The good quality ones usually have 18 AWG, UL 1007 insulated wires. You can recognize them by the markings on the wires itself. Avoid adapters with blank wires since they are very cheaply made with very thin wires that are not capable of transferring so much current and they can easily melt. Good quality adapters are rated for max 120 W and this rating should not be exceeded. You could probably go a little bit over but at your own risk. If the cables are getting hot (so hot that you can not hold the wires with your fingers and you start to smell burning plastic) during the full load you should replace your PSU. If the wires are getting warm only, that should be fine since insulation is rated for 80 degrees Celsius. Do not bundle adapter cables, instead try to spread them away from each other for improved cooling, and in case of melting and failure of one or more cables, they would not touch and cause a short circuit. Also MOLEX end of the adapter should be inserted correctly in the female end. MOLEX ends should slide easily, which means that all MOLEX pins are inserted into collars correctly. If they are not aligned correctly with collars, they can be pushed back from their mounts making bad contact. After connecting MOLEX always push in individual wires to make sure that they are inserted all the way in. And that should be it.
After that try to test system stability benchmarking all the components at once for at least 10-15 minutes. If everything passes OK and you do not experience any cable or connector overheating and computer crashes suggesting weak PSU, you should be good to go.
I apologize for my English since I am not a native speaker. Thank you for reading and if you think that I made some mistakes feel free to correct me.