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powering through pcie adapters

O

orubap

n00b
Joined
Nov 3, 2005
Messages
41
just bought a 4870 and didn't realise modern cards had two pcie power sockets. this card was to go in a SFF system that's using a EA380 which only has one pcie plug.

so in the box comes two pcie-molex adaptors which i was about to use but then reading the manual it says
Good power connection.....
-->connect two individual PCI Express (6-pins) power cables directly from the power supply to each individual connector on the graphic card.

Bad power connection....
-->XFX does not support the use of two 4-pin to one 6-pin power cable converter for these graphic cards.They are designed to work with high performance power supplies using 6-pin PCI Express power cable
Click to expand...

So my question is why do they include the adaptors if they're not supported, and will I get away with using one of them? Or is it not advised.

Without the card my machine powers the essentials plus one hdd, one dvd-rom and two fans. It idles at 72watts and the highest it reaches is during boot which peaks at 110watts.
 
Yes, you can use them. They are just making the assumption that a power supply that doesn't come with at least a pair of 6pin video card cables is low-end and doesn't have the capacity to support your system+their videocard.

That's not necessarily true.

They included as convenience. Some marketing people there decided it was common practice and they should supply it. It's very poor practice to supply equipment with a product that you don't support, very shady. However; in this particular case I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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Thanks, was hoping that was the case and they were just covering their backs.

Just to clarify to hook up one adapter i should have both the molexes on two separate lines right?
 
They (and by they, I mean any video card maker, not just XFX) are covering their behind both ways. First, they're allowing the user to be able to run the card anyway if their PSU has only one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. Second, if the PSU is crappy and not able to actually do that without blowing up, don't blame it on the video card maker. For example, you'll probably be fine with a Corsair 400cx PSU, but probably be not fine with a Bestec 225W.
 
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