Can I use 6 to 8 pin PCIe Cables for a 980ti?

[cbcrouch]

Howdy,

I just built a new PC and I've been trying to find some white sleeved cables for my GPU to match the rest of my color scheme.

I purchased a 6 to 8 (6+2) pin PCIe cable thinking that it was 8 to 8 pin. I was wondering would this cable work with my 980ti GPU, or would there be a downside of only using 6-8 pin?

My guess is that it would draw less power, but I figured I'd hit you guys up since you've been so helpful while I was building my PC.

Thanks!

 

[pete_101]

It will work. I've read many post from people who only had 6 pin connectors from their PSU and used them for both the 6 and 8 pin connections. The 2 extra pins are only ground wires. While it's ideal to have them connected too, they are not critical, their job is to reduce the resistance across the other ground wires which helps maintain the full 12V. The only time I would be worried about them not being connected is if there was only a single lead from the PSU which then split into 2 PCIe connectors, as the current across the wires is double what it should be to start with, those 2 extra grounds become very important.

 

[cbcrouch]

It will work. I've read many post from people who only had 6 pin connectors from their PSU and used them for both the 6 and 8 pin connections. The 2 extra pins are only ground wires. While it's ideal to have them connected too, they are not critical, their job is to reduce the resistance across the other ground wires which helps maintain the full 12V. The only time I would be worried about them not being connected is if there was only a single lead from the PSU which then split into 2 PCIe connectors, as the current across the wires is double what it should be to start with, those 2 extra grounds become very important.

Great! Thanks for the information!