[SOLVED] Should I use both ports to install my graphics card?

[user.anonymous]

Greetings
Recently, I have built a pc and I have been having trouble connecting the display. I figured out there wasn’t anything wrong with the DP or monitor after some trial and error and switching out many cables/etc so right now, my thought is this:

My graphics card comes with two fans and two ports. One port is able to hold eight pins while the other only holds six pins. Before, I was only using one port which was the eight-pin port to connect the graphics card to the PSU. I was curious to know whether or not it would be a good idea to use both ports. My concern here is that the second cable for my graphics card can hold up to eight pins but it is a divided cable, so six pins can be plugged in while two extra pins just aren’t plugged into anything. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to use this cable because I fear it will cause damage to my MB or other components of the build. Any thoughts? Is this unheard of? (see specs below)

The reason I am considering using both ports is because I was told that the reason my display isn’t setting up is because I’m only using half my wattage. I have 550 watts in total but it was theorized to me that only having one port connected to the PSU uses only half of the power so in reality I would be using 275 watts which is clearly an uneven power distribution within the build. Not sure how true this is but it made sense to me at least.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Wraith Prism LED Cooler
MB: MSI MPG X570 GAMING PLUS Motherboard (AMD AM4, PCIe 4.0, DDR4, SATA 6Gb/s, M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI, ATX)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) 3200MHz C16 DDR4 DRAM Memory Kit – Black
SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology (MZ-V7S500B/AM)
GPU (graphics): EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER XC GAMING, 8GB GDDR6, Dual HDB Fans, RGB LED, Metal Backplate, 08G-P4-3162-KR
Case: Phanteks Pro M Series (PH-ES515PTG_BK) Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case, Black
HDD: WD Blue 2TB PC Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD10EZEX
Keyboard: Corsair K55 RGB Gaming Keyboard – IP42 Dust and Water Resistance – 6 Programmable Macro Keys – Dedicated Media Keys - Detachable Palm Rest Included
PC: Dell Computer Ultrasharp U2415 24.0-Inch Screen LED Monitor, Black
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G3, 80 Plus Gold 550W, Fully Modular, Eco Mode with New HDB Fan, 7 Year Warranty, Includes Power ON Self Tester, Compact 150mm Size, Power Supply 220-G3-0550-Y1

 

[tennis2]

Yes, connect both the 8-pin and 6-pin power cables. It's perfectly fine for the extra 2-pin cable to be hanging off. That's why the 8-pin cables are divided like that.

 

[hang-the-9]

You not only should consider using both power ports, if you want the card to work properly and prevent damage to it, you NEED to use both power ports. If the card did not need both to be used the vendor would not have put them there. It's not an optional thing. Reading the card specs and instructions is a good idea before installing things.

You also have some odd idea about the power from the PSU to the system, not really sure what your thoughts are there about only using half the power to the system and uneven distribution. If you have a 550 watt power supply that does not mean you want the system to be drawing that power the whole time, in fact that would be very bad. That rating is the max power output that PSU will give to your components, you should have about a 25% buffer or better between what your PSU max wattage is and what your components need at full load.

--- snip ----

My graphics card comes with two fans and two ports. One port is able to hold eight pins while the other only holds six pins. Before, I was only using one port which was the eight-pin port to connect the graphics card to the PSU. I was curious to know whether or not it would be a good idea to use both ports. My concern here is that the second cable for my graphics card can hold up to eight pins but it is a divided cable, so six pins can be plugged in while two extra pins just aren’t plugged into anything. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to use this cable because I fear it will cause damage to my MB or other components of the build. Any thoughts? Is this unheard of? (see specs below)

The reason I am considering using both ports is because I was told that the reason my display isn’t setting up is because I’m only using half my wattage. I have 550 watts in total but it was theorized to me that only having one port connected to the PSU uses only half of the power so in reality I would be using 275 watts which is clearly an uneven power distribution within the build. Not sure how true this is but it made sense to me at least. <---- ?

 

[tennis2]

Yeah, only plugging in one aux power cable to the GPU doesn't make it draw half the power of two.

A decent 550W PSU is plenty for a 3700X + RTX2060 Super.