[SOLVED] Accidentally plugged in only one 8-pin power connector to RX 580, but card still worked for a week.

[biggames0101]

No, the title isn't clickbait. I only noticed it when, previously noticing the "bios mode" gimmick switch on there, decided to open up my case and switch it and see what happens. When I opened my case I discovered that one of the power connectors on my Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 (8-pin and 6-pin) was plugged off? I'm absolutely sure that it didn't plug off by itself when I opened the case, and it was like that before. I have not played any "heavy games" in the 2 weeks I've had with this card (most I played was a bit of Minecraft, and even that was with Optifine), clocks were about what you'd expect, and temps were surprisingly low. My question is: How did I manage to power this card off of a single 8-pin connector and push it to it's max clock, albeit not oc'd, when it requires a second, 6-pin connector? Keep in mind it never crashed, bluescreened, or anything like that. The closest I've gotten to a crash was a freeze in WWE 2K20, which is not only common but EXPECTED of this buggy mess of a game.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 Specifications Page
Power specifications for this card state " < 235W"

This means the card should never draw more than 235 watts of power. The PCI-Ex16 slot provides up to 75 watts and the 8-pin PCIE power cable provides up to 150 watts for a total of 225 watts. The 6-pin power cable is there for the extremely rare occasion when the card needs that extra 10 watts.

-Wolf sends