Gtx 980 power help

[naw003]

I recently bought an MSI GTX 980 to beef up my PC a little bit. However, when trying to plug it in to my power supply, I found I only have a 2+6 and a 6 pin connector, and the graphics card requires two 8s. Luckily, there was a cable included with the graphics card to convert the one 6 to an 8. But with my 2+6, the 2 don't have the same shaped pins as what the graphics card needs.

My question is, do I need to update my power supply? Or can I just buy a cable to convert the plug. My power supply is a Kingwin ABT-650MM, which I kinda bought cause it was cheap. Any help would be extremely welcome.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

"which I kinda bought cause it was cheap" - right there is an indication to change your power supply.

 

[naw003]

That's kinda what I figured, but I was hoping I could stay cheap and get away with what I have.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

There has not been a professional review on your power supply, so we have no idea how it performs, which is never a good thing.

 

[naw003]

But I don't necessarily need to know how it performs right now, I need to know whether it is possible to attach to my graphics card

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

It's a Kingwin made by Super Flower , but it's not very good.

 

[EtnoNyt]

6 pin may not be able to deliver enough power as 8-pin does.
Normally, 6-pin can deliver 75W, 8-pin can deliver 150W, which means your PSU can only deliver 225W to the graphic card, naturally.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

We can't know that unless we know how it performs. For all we know it may blow up after creating enough current to merit 450W. Also, there is a review on the 450W model by Hardwaresecrets, but we can't judge the 650W model based on the 450W, and the 450W model uses an older design where the 3.3V and 5V rails have more potential; today, the 12V rail is most important.

We also don't know things like the capacitors in this unit, or the voltage regulation, ripple suppression, if the protections are working or not. You can, by all means, use the converter cable if you want, but if the computer shuts down, it's the protections. If it does damage to hardware, it's because either capacitors are failing or you are requiring more current on the 12V rail than it can handle while maintaining stable voltages. If it burns, it doesn't have properly working protection circuitry.

So, you do have the ability to use that cable, but with the mystery surrounding this unit, it is my personal recommendation you buy yourself a new, quality power supply. The option is based upon your free will. It'll probably work fine, but we prefer units with known quality voltage regulation, low ripple and noise, and good build quality.

 

[ko888]

But I don't necessarily need to know how it performs right now, I need to know whether it is possible to attach to my graphics card

Did you even bother to try plugging in the (6+2)-pin PCI-E power connector from the PSU into the graphics card? There's no reason why it shouldn't fit. A D-shaped connector housing will always fit into a square socket opening.

 

[naw003]

Alright, just to be safe I'll bite the bullet and invest in a new power supply. It'll probably be the best decision in the long run anyways. Thanks for your help everyone

 

[turkey3_scratch]

But I don't necessarily need to know how it performs right now, I need to know whether it is possible to attach to my graphics card

Did you even bother to try plugging in the (6+2)-pin PCI-E power connector from the PSU into the graphics card? There's no reason why it shouldn't fit. A D-shaped connector housing will always fit into a square socket opening.

His card requires two 8 pins. His PSU has one 6-pin and one 6+2 pin.

 

[ko888]

But I don't necessarily need to know how it performs right now, I need to know whether it is possible to attach to my graphics card

Did you even bother to try plugging in the (6+2)-pin PCI-E power connector from the PSU into the graphics card? There's no reason why it shouldn't fit. A D-shaped connector housing will always fit into a square socket opening.

His card requires two 8 pins. His PSU has one 6-pin and one 6+2 pin.

But he's using a 6-pin to 8-pin PCI-E adapter for one of the graphics card's 8-pin sockets.

On the Kingwin ABT-650MM both PCI-E power connectors are on the same cable bundle. If the PCI-E cable wiring's wire gauge is heavy enough there shouldn't be any problem. With a PSU that cheap I wouldn't trust the wire gauge to be sufficient.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I don't think he's using the 6-8 currently, I think he was asking if he should sue the 6-8 adapter. I agree, I wouldn't use it, especially now knowing they are on the same cable. I don't expect the guage to be any lower than 18.