Correct power cable for my MSI GTX 970 4GB graphics card?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
J

jedi55

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2009
15
0
18,510
Hi,

I recently purchased a MSI GTX 970 4GB graphics card, it has two power connector sockets, an 8 pin and a 6 pin.

I also have a Seasonic X650 650W 80+ Gold Certified Full Modular PSU which came with a black cable (part no. CG04) that has an 8 pin connector labelled PSU at one end that goes into my PSU.

At the other end the cable has an 6/8pin connector which then has a short cable coming off it to another 6/8pin connector both labelled PCI-E.

Is it safe plugging both ends labelled PCI-E into my single graphics card and plugging the other end into my PSU?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks


 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Hi,
Thanks for the quick response.
Please don't take offence, but are you sure?

I only ask because I'm having trouble understanding the logic, 6 pins + 8 pins = 14 pins. I've seen a Seasonic X650 650W with a 12 pin socket. My card seems very power hungry, I'm concerned the cable will over heat.
Could the cable be for SLI?

Thanks

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well I don't own this PSU but if that's what came with it I doubt they would supply you with something that will damage your PSU/GPU.

If the cable is marked this end PSU and it fits properly into the slots on the PSU then that is correct. You say you have 2 power slots on your GPU. You have two 6/8 pins left from the other end of the cable so one would go into the 6pin on the GPU and the 8pin into the other slot.

You can wait for a second opinion if you are unsure mate no problem :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Matt is correct.

Your Seasonic PSU is powered by a single +12v rail. There is absolutely no harm in connecting all of the required connectors via a single cable, it is designed for this purpose.

In the past with older PSUs and multiple rail designs there would have been a benefit to having your GPU fed via multiple cables, but here it serves no purpose.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
OK, now I'm confused.
I just got back 2 e-mails, one from MSI one from Seasonic, both contradicting one another!
Which one should I listen to?


Dear James,
Thanks for contacting MSI technical support team.
It is safe. However, please make sure both the 6pin and 8pin are plugged into the graphics card.

Thanks and Best Regards,
MSI Technical Support Team


Hi James,
Thank you for purchasing Seasonic!

It is best to use 2x separate PCIe cables for your GTX970.
Each cable providing power to each single PCIe power connector.

If you use a low power consumption VGA, then you can use the 2x PCIe connectors on the single PCIe.

Regards,
Walter
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

Actually, these don't contradict. Your GTX 970 is the very definition of a low power VGA, with a thermal design power of just 145w. You will find R9 280x graphics cards with the same setup (1x 6 pin, 1x 8 pin) and these have been found to draw up to 300w when overclocked (250w tdp)

The Pcie x16 slot on the motherboard can provide up to 75w of power
A 6 pin pcie can provide up to 75w
An 8 pin pcie can provide up to 150w

So at stock speeds, your graphics card is theoretically capable of drawing all of the power it needs from just the 8 pin connector. Of course it doesn't work that way due to limitations in the circuitry on the GPU itself and it will draw from all power sources, but you see what I mean when I say one cable is enough.

If you had been asking about an r9 280x it would certainly be sensible to use the second cable provided with your PSU to spread the amps between connectors on the PSU, but it's just not necessary for a gtx 970.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm having a problem similar, I also have the msi gtx 970 but I have a evga 650w g2 psu, and my problem is that the slots on the vga power cables don't match the power sockets on the gtx 970, I'm totally confused on it
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom