[SOLVED] PC not starting up when I use a y splitter on my GTX 970

[Adam7324]

Hi there,
I have just finished building my first pc build. The pc worked fine without both pcie GPU plugs were plugged in. My psu only came with one 6+2 pin connector, so I went on ebay and bought a y splitter: 8 pin to 2 6+2 pins. when this adapter is installed, the pc just wouldn't turn on. when I plugged the 6+2 pin by itself, the pc boots but doesn't detect the card, same thing when I only plug in the 6 pin. It would be much appreciated if someone could find a solution, as I was very annoyed to find my first build went very wrong
My specs:
Motherboard: intel DHC61CR
CPU: i5 3470 3.2ghz
PSU: Sumvision X3 600W
GPU: MSI GTX 970

Thank you!

 

[sizzling]

That is a no name brand psu and it doesn’t have the right connectors. These are strong signs of poor quality and inadequate for the job. A general rule is avoid adapters, get a quality psu with the right connectors.

 

[sizzling]

That psu has a combined 12v of 372w according to its own sticker and it can only achieve that across 2 rails. A high quality 400w psu can do similar on a single rail. Seriously get a better psu before that thing damages your pc.

 

[stonecarver]

Yes what he said. That looks like a power supply that was in a company called geek.com here in the US , Computer cases & power supply for $30.00 bucks that was just enough to get parts going while you waited for a real power supply in the mail. I thought I would never see that sticker ever again. Full circle I guess.

Get better power supply, there are great posters on here that know there stuff when it comes to power supplies. Wait a little while and I'm sure you will have some great leads.

 

[Adam7324]

Many thanks,
I wasn't aware of that, as it is my first build. thanks for the advice.
Which PSU do you recommend?

 

[genz]

Anything at least Bronze rated over 550W should be perfect. Power envelope is raised because honestly you need more headroom when overclocking, and your PSU is expected to lose 10% max power every 3 years or so.

All Bronze or above rated PSUs come with a bunch of features like APFC which protect your PC's sensitive insides from the very insensitive power circuits in your home. A power spike on your home circuit can burn a (non-APFC/rated) passive PSU.

Passive PSUs are 'hand tuned' instead of having the components to actively adjust for too much or too little watts/amps coming in. This is cheap because it saves on most of the circuitry in your PSU. When the input power varies too far from that, it can burn the cheap resistors, changing their resistance value and letting extra V/A into your PC. This will break stuff.

Sadly even without that, the fact that you are using a 8pin splitter means you're already overloading one rail (8 pin is for 150W, two rails @370W is 185W per rail, so your PSU needs to be 80 efficiency rating to actually supply that (150/185=0.81%)). No name brands usually have efficiency of about 55%-75%. Dual railing into a single component is also not ideal.

This is why you cannot start your PC.

 

[Adam7324]

Anything at least Bronze rated over 450W should be perfect. Power envelope is raised because honestly you need more headroom when overclocking, and your PSU is expected to lose 10% max power every 3 years or so.

Many thanks

 

[Adam7324]

Anything at least Bronze rated over 450W should be perfect. Power envelope is raised because honestly you need more headroom when overclocking, and your PSU is expected to lose 10% max power every 3 years or so.

Many thanks

 

[Adam7324]

Thanks everyone for your time

 

[sizzling]

Hang on, don't buy any old bronze 450w. You could end up with another low quality unit. While 450w is enough if decent quality I'd go 550w to give you extra room for the future and the price difference is usually minimal.

This is about the lowest quality I'd recommend
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/550...-crossfire-single-rail-458a-120mm-fan-atx-psu

A higher quality and more efficient options would be
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/550...fire-single-rail-458a-plus12v-1x130mm-fan-psu
Or
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/550...latinum-sli-crossfire-single-rail-45a-120mm-f

 

[genz]

Haha I was actually editing my post to say that when you wrote it Sizz, good spot!

 

[Adam7324]

would my pc start if I used a dual molex to an 8 pin adapter with the 6 pin from the psu directly?