Sapphire RX480 4g Nitro works on a six pin....Confused..

[Josephking79]

Hi everyone
I was trying to figure out how to put this and it turned out to be a long convoluted issue, so this is really just a discussion.

Basically, I've upgraded my dated pc, giving it a little more life for cheap.
My AMD FX4100 updated to an FX6300. My Radeon R9 270x, to a Sapphire RX480 Nitro 4g.
Interestingly, I never bothered looking at the PSU or what the 480 would require connector wise and assumed that the 500w power supply I have should be right.
I'm using a Silverstone sst-st50f, 500w power supply, had 2x six pin connectors attached to my old 270x. The PSU I have, has no 8 pin connector, much to my dismay.

I knew that plugging the 6 pin in wouldn't kill my card and had read somewhere that this particular custom card didn't need the 8 pin. I plugged it in anyway, turned it on and once I was sure I didn't have any problems, I upgraded the drivers. It was an uneducated risk....

I don't seem to be having any problems thus far, except for the fact that my frame rates in some games arent topping 60fps at 1080p with ultra settings, if anything, I drop to around 45fps at ultra on Witcher 3, only in heavily wooded areas, the rest is a good solid 60fps, better than my old 30fps.
No mans sky seems to be a problem though, solid 30fps on planets only but no higher, and a crash to desktop after about 20 mins gameplay. Wolfenstein struggles at 30fps with full settings. Skyrims Special edition, 30fps outside areas, 60fps inside, full settings. No crashes elsewhere, even after an hour or so.

Most of the other games I've got that are recent 2015, 2016 releases give me better frame rates but are intermittent.

My intention is to get a better PSU of course and something fit for the purpose of the card. But I do wonder, why is the card actually working on a 6 pin as opposed to the required 8 pin? Could my frame drops and lack of expected performance be caused by not using the power connector/supply?

 

[photonboy]

Regardless of the "why" in terms of power and voltage distribution, I suggest you get a 2x6-pin-> 8-pin adapter so you can use it as designed.

The why is actually that 6-pin can still deliver enough power, though since the card expects 8-pin it may be forcing too much power to the motherboard which in theory could damage it over time.

(there's an article about the original card with only the single 6-pin but 90W was sometimes going to the motherboard which fried a couple of them... with the 8-pin and proper power management then most power should come through the 8-pin connection)

*I doubt the FPS drops are the card, probably just the game software itself.

Your CPU is also relatively weak so it might actually be the bottleneck during those times.

 

[Iceman21]

The reference rx 480 has only 6 pins connector. But there was a problem with some older and cheaper motherboards because sometimes the card uses more power from the pci-e slot (more than 75W which is considered maximum). So most aftermarket models have 8 pins connector.

My guess is you are losing a little from the boost clock of your card. But the main performance drops are from your cpu.

Try to find 6 to 8 pins adapter or two 6 pins to one 8 pins.

 

[Josephking79]

Thanks heaps for the advice guys. If you didn't tell me a 2x6 to 8 pin connector existed, I wouldn't have known and probably would have spent another couple of hundred dollars on a new PSU. I think I will eventually get another PSU but if this adapter works for now, great.

 

[WhiteFoxSG]

The reference rx 480 has only 6 pins connector. But there was a problem with some older and cheaper motherboards because sometimes the card uses more power from the pci-e slot (more than 75W which is considered maximum). So most aftermarket models have 8 pins connector.

My guess is you are losing a little from the boost clock of your card. But the main performance drops are from your cpu.

Try to find 6 to 8 pins adapter or two 6 pins to one 8 pins.

I only have one 6 pin available, will getting a single 6 pin to 8 pin adapter be adequate? I also just bought this card without realizing it had an 8 pin connector. I have a 500 watt PSU as well, but would prefer to not have to spend money on a new PSU right before Christmas.

 

[Iceman21]

The reference rx 480 has only 6 pins connector. But there was a problem with some older and cheaper motherboards because sometimes the card uses more power from the pci-e slot (more than 75W which is considered maximum). So most aftermarket models have 8 pins connector.

My guess is you are losing a little from the boost clock of your card. But the main performance drops are from your cpu.

Try to find 6 to 8 pins adapter or two 6 pins to one 8 pins.

I only have one 6 pin available, will getting a single 6 pin to 8 pin adapter be adequate? I also just bought this card without realizing it had an 8 pin connector. I have a 500 watt PSU as well, but would prefer to not have to spend money on a new PSU right before Christmas.

What model is your psu?

 

[WhiteFoxSG]

Cooler Master 500w RS-500-PCAR-D3

 

[Iceman21]

Cooler Master 500w RS-500-PCAR-D3

It should be fine.

I'm not huge fan of psu adapters tho.

 

[WhiteFoxSG]

Cooler Master 500w RS-500-PCAR-D3

It should be fine.

I'm not huge fan of psu adapters tho.

Well it would be temporary until I could save a little and replace the PSU. 🙂

 

[WhiteFoxSG]

Cooler Master 500w RS-500-PCAR-D3

It should be fine.

I'm not huge fan of psu adapters tho.

Would a 2x LP4 to 8 Pin be better than single 6 pin to 8 pin?? or would it matter really?