[SOLVED] EVGA GTX 1070 - Adapter cable needed?

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agdodge4x4

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May 13, 2012
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I have an HP Z800 with a Quadro 6000 that died. I replaced it with a GTX 1070 FTW, but I don't have the right plugs to plug into it. It seems the card has TWO 8 pin connectors and my PSU has two 6 pin connectors, one of which has some sort of adapter to an 8 pin.

What do I need to make this work? I need to get this PC up and running. Do I just need another 6 pin to 8 pin adapter?

The computer screen says to power down and plug in the power cable.
 
Solution
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I would be iffy. I was watching a video earlier, the guy on there tech deals on YouTube, says the 6 pins are 75 watts, and an 8 pin is 150 watts. From reading, the FTW edition is a 215 watt card.

You figure your pci express port provides 75 watts, if you add 75 from each of the 6 pins, you are at 225. Theoretically it MIGHT be ok. However, if you use those adapters and the card tries to draw more than 75 watts on one plug, not realizing those aren’t true 150 watt connectors….. You get the idea. The safer thing might be to replace the power supply.
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What wattage is the psu?
Post a picture of the label on the the psu! Normally I wouldn't recommend adapters let alone using two, but...... the PSU's HP puts out with their Workstation machines such as the one you have are generally of very high quality. Funny in gaming machines they skimp but with workstations they don't muck about.
 
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I would be iffy. I was watching a video earlier, the guy on there tech deals on YouTube, says the 6 pins are 75 watts, and an 8 pin is 150 watts. From reading, the FTW edition is a 215 watt card.

You figure your pci express port provides 75 watts, if you add 75 from each of the 6 pins, you are at 225. Theoretically it MIGHT be ok. However, if you use those adapters and the card tries to draw more than 75 watts on one plug, not realizing those aren’t true 150 watt connectors….. You get the idea. The safer thing might be to replace the power supply.
 
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Solution
I’ve used a molex to 8 pin adapter before and the molex connectors got hot under heavy load. The wires themselves didn’t get too warm but the connectors did. Surprisingly, a sata to 8 pin didn’t get as hot as the molex.

The only difference between a 6 pin and an 8 pin are a couple of ground wires, you might fare better with a 6 pin to 8 pin, but I still wouldn’t trust it as a long term solution.

If the psu has any extra ground wires maybe you could splice the two extra ground wires to the adapter and have a “true” 8 pin…
 
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Hmmmm....All of my HP workstations have adapters. I guess I figured it was fine. Some have splits from 6 pin to 8 pin. Some have one, some have two. These are not used for gaming so can't imagine it would pull much power.

My other workstation has THREE wires that have 6 pin connectors (1125W PSU). Perhaps I could use the new card in that and use 6 to 8 pin adapters on them?

Anyway, I have to get the card to work one way or another. Returning it is not an option. LOL.
 
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agdodge4x4 said:
All of my HP workstations have adapters. I guess I figured it was fine.
Click to expand...
It is not fine. Not at all. You are - literally - playing with fire. Of course it does not mean it won't work. It can work, as long as PSU has enough power for a GPU you use (but I should also note is a bit more complicated then just checking total wattage). But even in that case it is still dangerous. As a temporary solution on a supervised system - fine. As a long term solution, especially on a system that runs 24/7 - no f%&king way.
 
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DRagor said:
It is not fine. Not at all. You are - literally - playing with fire. Of course it does not mean it won't work. It can work, as long as PSU has enough power for a GPU you use (but I should also note is a bit more complicated then just checking total wattage). But even in that case it is still dangerous. As a temporary solution on a supervised system - fine. As a long term solution, especially on a system that runs 24/7 - no f%&king way.
Click to expand...

OK. These are OEM machines with OEM adapters on OEM cards. I'll simply have to find a new card then.

It sounds pretty dangerous when you put it this way considering these adapters were installed by HP at the factory for geophysical workstation use. They were used DAILY for 3D rendering of cube volumes exceeding 10-50 GB in size and kicked out to DUAL 32" HD monitors. These were left on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, used for rendering nearly 4-8 hours a day, and the office had about 75 of them.

Considering we decommission these machines when warranties run out, all changes and modifications were supported and agreed to by HP support. These aren't some machines a hack IT team cobbled together in their offices during lunch. Either way, these machines are bone stock as ordered from the factory...including the adapters in them going from 6 pin to 8 pin.
 
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agdodge4x4 said:
OK. These are OEM machines with OEM adapters on OEM cards. I'll simply have to find a new card then.

It sounds pretty dangerous when you put it this way considering these adapters were installed by HP at the factory for geophysical workstation use. They were used DAILY for 3D rendering of cube volumes exceeding 10-50 GB in size and kicked out to DUAL 32" HD monitors. These were left on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, used for rendering nearly 4-8 hours a day, and the office had about 75 of them.
Click to expand...

One bit of advice I like to give: never ask a question that you're not prepared to hear the answer for.
 
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If you were using a 1070 mini with a single power connector, an adapter going from 2 6 pins to one 8 would be fine. But the way you want to hook it up is a good way to have a house fire. I’ve been a tech for over 10 years and I’ve seen things from hp that made me scratch my head and wonder why they did what they did. The safe bet is to replace your power supply.
 
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ohio_buckeye said:
If you were using a 1070 mini with a single power connector, an adapter going from 2 6 pins to one 8 would be fine. But the way you want to hook it up is a good way to have a house fire. I’ve been a tech for over 10 years and I’ve seen things from hp that made me scratch my head and wonder why they did what they did. The safe bet is to replace your power supply.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can't replace 'just' the power supply. The wiring is not attached to it. These are workstation machines that are modular. You can throw in an 1125W but the wires are built into the chassis. I didn't think it was a problem going from 6 to 8 pins since that's what the factory did to get the Quadro 6000 powered. It requires an 8 pin connector. They took a single 6 pin and stuck an 8 pin pigtail on it. I figured I could simply add another pigtail like that to the extra 6 pin wire dangling in the box. So, two independent 6 pins to two independent 8 pins.

That coupled with the fact that the 1070 manual not only provides adapters, it states that we need 500W of power and that if the connectors you have don't work, to use the supplied adapters.

So, you I'm told it is unsafe....so be it.

Forget all of that....let's take a different approach.


Let's forget the card I have and help me identify a 6 or 8 gb card comparable to the Quadro 6000 that will work in this machine that won't cost more than 200 bucks or catch on fire.
 
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Not sure about the quadro 6000, but a 1660 super is comparable performance at least for gaming to a 1070. I think many of those are 1 8 pin. From what I’ve heard explained, one 6 pin is 75 watts and one 8 pin is 150. So in that case if you used a dual 6 pin to single 8 pin that might be ok. I’ll let the others chime in as well.

Personally, as I said earlier, I’ve seen where an adapter started a fire.

The adapter type I meant above.

https://www.newegg.com/p/38Y-01PR-00005
 
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Just to reiterate, the only difference between a 6 pin and an 8 pin are two extra ground wires Apparently, those two extra grounds are the only ones needed for it to do 150w. So IMO, two 6pin to one 8pin is overkill.

A 6pin to 8 pin adapter would just have the two extra pins spliced into two existing ground pins.

FWIW, the danger also doesn’t appear to be in the wire gauge itself, I’ve done some testing and even 20AWG wire doesn’t get that warm under a stress test (RTX 2060). It appears to be in the connectors, ie. the molex or sata connector.

this doesn’t mean i support the use of adapters. I neither support nor condone. But the decision is ultimately OP’s. If he is really set on using adapters then has some choices:

  1. Use a dual 6 pin to 8 pin for added assurance
  2. Use a 6 pin to 8 pin as is.
  3. Get the 6 to 8 pin, cut off the two extra ground (-12v) wires from the adapter, then splice them into their own dedicated grounds, creating a “real” 8 pin.
 
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They might be ground pins not sure, but according to this the wattage is different.

www.gpumag.com

GPU Power Connectors Explained [Simple Answer] - GPU Mag

All GPU power connectors can be difficult to understand. Here's a simple explanation of the 6-pin and 8-pin connectors and how they differ.
www.gpumag.com www.gpumag.com

With a 1070, that card pulls what 215-225 watts? So 75 watts at the slot, 150 on one plug? Hard to know which plug the manufacturer is pulling the most juice from. One of those situations your gpu could run fine for years, or the gpu could pull too much power from one adapter. If you do use an adapter, as stated above try to get high quality ones.
 
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