Is using these many adapters safe?

[marcb0802]

I, in preparation for BF3 have been considering buying a Sapphire Radeon 6870 (model number 100314-3L) graphics card. The thing is that the only open port on my psu which i have left is one molex 4-pin connector, i was hoping that could use 3 adapters which turn one molex into 2 molex ports, thus in the end getting 4 molex ports, which i would then connect to adapters to turn those into two 6-pin connectors, which i would then connect to my card. My question is, is this safe?

 

[Lefturn]

Probably a bad idea. If the power supply doesn't have the PCI-E 6-pin connectors, then it might not be powerful enough for that video card. What brand is the PSU and how many watts is it rated for?

 

[Supernova1138]

What kind of power supply do you have? The fact that you have no 6 pin connectors at all indicates it probably won't be able to provide enough juice to power the 6870. Post Brand, Model Number and how many amps it can provide on the +12V rail(s)

 

[marcb0802]

I got it with my cyberpower gua140 bundle, the psu is 500 watts and it's model number is as so: ATX-TL500W-BK 12v
I called their support team and they said that I should use an adapter.

 

[marcb0802]

upon further inspection the 6870 ships with two single molex to 6-pin connecters so il only use one adapter

 

[marcb0802]

What kind of power supply do you have? The fact that you have no 6 pin connectors at all indicates it probably won't be able to provide enough juice to power the 6870. Post Brand, Model Number and how many amps it can provide on the +12V rail(s)

What do you think?

 

[jyjjy]

That is an extremely cheap, low end PSU. I'm not finding much on the 500w but the 450w is $20 on newegg right now. I really wouldn't trust it to power a card like the HD6870 to be honest. It may work for a while but you would be pushing it to its limits so don't be surprised if it causes instability and/or dies on you rather quickly. You are best off replacing it.

 

[inzone]

What else do you have for components , motherboard , cpu , ram , fans , case and what do you have for a video card now. With these new games coming out now everybody is posting on this site looking for answers to what they need to run these games and they want to run at high or maxed out settings but they don't want to spend a lot of money. The thing is that if you have an older computer or a cheap low end one then it will cost a few bucks to get where you can play the game at enjoyable frame rates. In your case you want to upgrade your video card but you should be upgradeing your psu as well and if you listed all your components we can see if you need something else because right now your gpu and psu may not be enough and we would be giving you bad advice if you upgraded the gpu and psu and you did that and found out it didn't work because you needed to upgrade another component as well.

 

[megamanx00]

Get a new PSU. Attaching a card like a 6870 to that system using those adapters is just asking to fry the whole thing new video card included.

 

[marcb0802]

Get a new PSU. Attaching a card like a 6870 to that system using those adapters is just asking to fry the whole thing new video card included.

What if I just use one molex x 2 adapter? even so?

 

[marcb0802]

Frankly I just dont have the money for a new psu atm.

 

[Supernova1138]

What if I just use one molex x 2 adapter? even so?

The risk of frying components has nothing to do with adapters. It is due to the fact you have a very crappy power supply that probably cannot deliver anything close to 500 Watts. Even if you get the card running with that PSU, you run a high risk of blowing out the power supply, as lower quality models tend to do that when you put them under high stress. A PSU blowout can also damage your other components.

 

[marcb0802]

What about this one?

 

[marcb0802]

http://www.amazon.com/Diablotek-600-Watt-Power-Supply-PSDA600/dp/B003UWNL2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318049811&sr=8-1

 

[marcb0802]

Or this one http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Certified-Compatible-Platforms-CMPSU-600CXV2/dp/B004W2T2UQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1318050212&sr=1-2

 

[megamanx00]

That POS is just as bad as what you have.

 

[megamanx00]

I was referring to the diablotek. The Corsair is a good unit though, go with that.

 

[jyjjy]

The Corsair one is good. If you are going to spend that much though you would be better off getting this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044
Same price after the promo code, $15 less after the mail in rebate. It's got 170w more on the +12v rails, better power efficiency and free shipping. Could run 2 HD6870s in crossfire if you wanted to.

 

[marcb0802]

Thank you everyone for your help, in a couple weeks i wil be getting the new psu.