Power Supply Support for PCI-e Connector

[wingyyy]

Hello,

I'm building a new computer just now, but want to limit my budget for what I need to buy extra. I have the following that are of concern:

HIS Radeon 6870 IceQ X (requires 2 6-pin connector)
XFX Radeon 6850 HD (requires 1 6-pin connector)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W PSU

My PSU only came with 2 6-pin connectors because there are only 2 PCI-e connectors on the PSU.

Is there anything I can do with what I have while minimizing cost? (ie. just buying cables)

I've been thinking of 2 options that I'm not sure if they're possible:
1) buying a PCI-e power splitter cable (not sure if this would fry my computer)
2) buying a cable to attach to the free 8-pin connectors on the PSU to power one of the video cards.

Thank you very much!

 

[smorizio]

that free 8 pin connector is not free it has to plug into your mb it the pci power for the mb. some mb use 4/8 pin white connector near the cpu. you best bet is look at the video card free stuff when you order the video card. a lot of them going to toss in a 4 pin molex to a 6 pin pci power connector.
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-592.shtml
shows on this page that the video card going to have two of those splitters. i would use one on the video card that needed less power.

 

[wingyyy]

that free 8 pin connector is not free it has to plug into your mb it the pci power for the mb. some mb use 4/8 pin white connector near the cpu. you best bet is look at the video card free stuff when you order the video card. a lot of them going to toss in a 4 pin molex to a 6 pin pci power connector.
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-592.shtml
shows on this page that the video card going to have two of those splitters. i would use one on the video card that needed less power.

Hey smorizio, thanks for the reply! Sorry, my knowledge of PSU's are very limited; I only know they supply the power haha...

I've attached an image of my PSU with the free black slots that I was talking about. Those are the slots that I was thinking of buying a cable and having that connect to my video card. Hopefully that explains my question better.

My friend also told me using a splitter cable with both connectors connected to the same video card won't fry anything in my computer, so I think I'll try that, but I want some confirmed opinions of this (in case my friend is wrong and my computer explodes on me...)

Thank you again!

 

[bigshootr8]

Yes graphic cards will come with splitter cables that will break off into either 6 pin PCI-E power connections or 6+2 PCI-E power connections. They will not fry your board. Most new power supplies now come with 6+2 connections however you may not. Your power supply has two 12v rails so I'd say you are great for a single card but more then one card and you may want to consider a different power supply. Mainly because of the 2 rails. Having power borrowed from 2 rails can sometimes lead to issues when powering a power supply. For a single high end graphics card you will be okay a 7970 or a 680, 670 should prove just fine for your unit.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990

 

[wingyyy]

Thanks for the reply, bigshootr8! My PSU came with a 6+2 PCI-e power connector, but I'm thinking of buying a splitter for that (ie. splitting a single 6-pin into two 6-pin connectors). I was a little confused by your first sentence, so I wasn't sure if that was what you meant.

In term of the issues that you're saying, do you mean as in my PSU may not provide enough power and the entire computer just won't turn on?

Thank you!

 

[bigshootr8]

No I wasn't exactly on the same page I was thinking you could always turn a 4 pin molex connection into a 6 pin connection I think that would be a bit easier for you to do then to turn a 6 pin connection into 2 separate 6 pin connections. It would be much much easier on you.

In a multi GPU setup I would worry about you having the power to power up say two high end cards if you wanted to power up for example two 7970s or two 670's you would run into issues I feel.

 

[wingyyy]

Unfortunately, I don't think my PSU has a 4-pin molex connection. It's only the slots in the picture that I posted that are free for connection... (I only use the other two for powering my HDD, DVD drive and another part of the mobo).

I'm not sure if I can do anything with those free slots... I want to avoid the splitter cable too, but if that's the most cost effective method, then I have to go for that...

 

[bigshootr8]

It does trust me you have 4 pin molex connections. Here is a link to your unit. You have molex 4 molex connections that you could turn into 6 pin connections. You can buy a splitter to expand those that you already take up. You have one left and you can buy a splitter to split that into 2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017&Tpk=OCZ%20ModXStream%20Pro%20600W%20PSU

Like this
You can use a Y adapter to spread out more connections if needed. If you need more.
If you take a look at the pictures in the 2nd link the molex to 6 pin connections require a male female connection to male connection that you would get with this Y adapter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812196309
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125441

 

[wingyyy]

Hey bigshootr8, thanks for sending me that information! My PSU is like 4 years old and I have no recollection of what came with it; I probably stashed the 4 pin molex connector somewhere in my storage locker because I didn't need any molex connections, so that's why I never thought it would have a molex connector.

If that's the case, then I think it would wiser (though I'm a little stupid to have lost the cable) to buy a new 4-pin molex connector, and then buy a 4-pin molex to 6-pin connector. Sounds like a stupid conversion, but I can't seem to find a direct cable to cut out the 4-pin molex...

Thank you so much for all the help so far!

 

[bigshootr8]

You aren't stupid I mean worse comes to worse I would say it would almost be better to make an investment into a new power supply To save the trouble and of course. (I say that because buying cables can add up quickly)

 

[wingyyy]

Fortunately, I found a 6-pin to 2 4-pin molex male ends, so I just need to buy a reverse of this with 2 female ends (I think). Yay for going through my video card box!

 

[bigshootr8]

That a boy And I'm sure you can find the adapters for what you need