Powering eVGA 7900GS

whisper

whisper

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 16, 2003
Messages
466
Sorry for this n00bish question. I just upgraded from an old Athlon XP rig and hence have finally entered the modern world of PCIe video cards. My card came with a PCIe-to-molex power adapter which has not one, but two, molex connectors on it. Do I actually need to power this puppy with TWO molex connectors? Currently I am only using ONE, while the other I'm using like a "pass-thru" to power a case fan. It seems to run okay but I'm really wondering if I should actually be using both to power the card (especially because I plan to overclock this card soon).

My mobo also has a molex plug directly on it to power the PCIe slots, which I am using. So am I okay or should I be using both molex connectors to power the card, PLUS the one built in on my mobo?
 
I don't quite understand what your describing...a picture would help.

From what I'm understanding, though, is that there are two molex connectors ON the card? Do you mean 6pin PCI-E?
 
The videocard power adapter end splits into two 4 pin power connectors, is that right? I'm guessing that one of the 4 pin connectors acts as a reconnector for another 12v device. Do they both have male ends?
 
From the EVGA FAQ.

Answer / Solution The supplemental power connector is required on some graphics cards.
There are two types of power connectors on some graphics cards today, on AGP cards, it would be a standard molex connector, on PCIe cards, it will be in the form of a PCI Express connector.
This needs to be plugged directly into the powersupply. On the PCIe card, both of the molex adapters need to be plugged into the powersupply.
Click to expand...
 
I can't remember the looks of the adapter. I'm just using the pcie plug myself.

But does it look like it's actually using two different wires for different parts of the formed pcie connector?? I can see no reason why you should be forced into connecting both. I don't think the draw would be that great, and the only issue would be the resistance at the plug and not the wire itself or else it wouldn't even make sense. So if it looks like both molex plugs lead together, then I wouldn't worry too much as long as everything is working, which it looks like it is.
 
ziddey said:
I can't remember the looks of the adapter. I'm just using the pcie plug myself.

But does it look like it's actually using two different wires for different parts of the formed pcie connector?? I can see no reason why you should be forced into connecting both. I don't think the draw would be that great, and the only issue would be the resistance at the plug and not the wire itself or else it wouldn't even make sense. So if it looks like both molex plugs lead together, then I wouldn't worry too much as long as everything is working, which it looks like it is.
Click to expand...

Well why then does the eVGA faq say to plug both the molex plugs into the PSU? If they put that in the FAQ I figure it would be for a good reason. And if it was a pass thru wouldn't it be looped from the molex side and not the PCI-E connector side?
 
Hmm, the eVGA FAQ does make it seem like I would need to connect BOTH to the power supply. For a picture, click on this link, and then look at the second FAQ on the list (connecting the supplemental power connector).
 
Eldest_One said:
Well why then does the eVGA faq say to plug both the molex plugs into the PSU? If they put that in the FAQ I figure it would be for a good reason. And if it was a pass thru wouldn't it be looped from the molex side and not the PCI-E connector side?
Click to expand...
While I understand that evga says to do so and gives you two female molex for the purpose of doing this, depending on the mechanics, it may not be absolutely necessary. Chances are you're going to be using two of the molex plugs on the same line, so clearly that rules out wire as being overloaded. This leaves really the only thing being plug resistances. However, if the wires are not merging and connecting together (and I'm guessing here's the reason), the pcie plug is a 2x3 plug. So I'm guessing that there has to be 2 of the wires coming from the other molex, hence requiring two molex plugs. In this situation, I can understand why you'd need two plugs.
 
Yeah they should clear that up as too if they want you to hook up from two separate lines. Or maybe they are thinking the draw on a single connecter might be to much so they want you to spread it over two connectors.
 
Well, I will try connecting both and see how it works. Right now, I only have one connected to the line from the power supply, while the other I am actually using to power a case fan. So I know that the card "works" with only one connected. But as I said, I want to oc this card so to be safe I will power it as indicated by eVGA on their website. Seems crazy though, that one vid card requires a total of three connections from the power supply (two going into the adapter and one going directly into the motherboard). And if I went SLi I would have to cough up another two connectors :p
 
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