Questions regarding GPU extra power connector and SATA ports.

[Hazlazm]

Hello everybody.

I have a Gainward GTX Phoenix GS 1070 with one 8-pin connector. When people are talking about extra power connector are they talking about GPU's that have two 8-pins/one 8-pin and one 6-pin? Or are they talking about something else? I just want to know if I need anything else than my VGA 6+2/8-pin connector.

Also, does it matter which end I plug into the GPU? That is, can I plug the 6+2 to the PSU and the 8 to the GPU and it wouldn't make a difference or should it be connected in a certain way?

Now regarding the SATA ports. I have a Gigabyte z270 Gaming K3 with six 6Gb/s SATA ports and two SATA Express ports. All of them are the same color (black). How do I know which ports are Intel or e.g Marvell? Or is every port Intel?

 

[Darkbreeze]

They are talking about graphics cards that use ANY supplemental six or eight pin power connectors, whether one OR two of each/either, versus cards that only use slot power with NO six or eight pin connectors needed at all.

Yes, it absolutely matters which end goes where. Plugs are pinned out according to a PER model basis. Where 12v power is on one end may not be the same as on the other, much as from one power supply to another modular connectors are usually NOT the same. The 6+2 end must ALWAYS be the end you use for the graphics card. Always.


As far as the ports are concerned, this should be outlined in the motherboard manual. Usually, in every case I've seen, it is. If it is NOT, then you would need to contact Gigabyte because the only way anybody among us could know would be to read what is indicated in the manual, look at an online professional review of that motherboard or ask Gigabyte ourselves, all of which you can do just as easily as we can.

 

[Hazlazm]

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

Yes, I was reading in my motherboards manual and it says:

SATA3 0/1/2/3/4/5 (SATA 6Gb/s Connectors): "The SATA connectors conform to SATA 6Gb/s standard and are compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s standard. Each SATA connector supports a single SATA Device. The Intel Chipset supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 AND RAID 10.

So I guess that is the answer to my question. All of the SATA ports are intel. I had actually looked in the manual before asking this question but somehow I overlooked it, I even checked the motherboard specifications on Gigabytes website.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Correct.

You get the standard six SATA 6Gbps ports, all powered by the Intel chipset, although Gigabyte could possibly have saved a little more cash by ditching the two SATA Express-capable ports.

https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/gigabyte-z270-gaming-k3-review/1/

 

[Hazlazm]

Yep, saw that as well. I googled "gigabyte z270 gaming k3 sata ports intel", just to verify my assumption was correct, and found that review. Thanks! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found it in the manual/google. Thanks!

Case closed.