PSU question regarding graphics card

criel

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Nov 19, 2013
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Hi all,

I've been helping my cousin build his machine and it's been a total nightmare, his PSU only has 2 4slot power and an 8 slot power connector. The video card he has has 2 6 slot power connectors but his PSU has something I've never seen where on the PSU itself theres 2 6 and 2 8 slot PCI-E power slots where you can plug in an external PCI-E power cord instead of having to use the one that's included with the jumble of cords from the PSU.

My question is, does this work? I'm having issues where the system won't see the video card inserted in the computer but the fans are running. I can't install drivers for it because the AMD website won't recognize I have a video card installed and the cd that came with it is worthless.



MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR
Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Modular Design, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31/EPS12V v2.92, SLI Ready, CrossFire Ready, Active-PFC Power Supply
 
Solution
That cable is for something different (you won't need it in your case). Included in the extra cables that came with your PSU are 6x 4-Pin Peripheral Connectors. Those are what you want to use. Connect one end directly to the PSU, then daisy chain however many fans you have and you should be golden.

Same thing with your hard drives, they are going to need the 5pin 'SATA' connectors that came with your PSU.
I hope I am understanding you right. That is a semi-modular PSU. The 1x 20+4-Pin Main Connector, 1x 4+4-Pin ATX12V/EPS12V Connector and 1x 8-pin EPS12V Connector are connected to the PSU. The PCI-E connectors are modular, meaning they are separate from the PSU. The advantage of this is you only plug in cords you need and you end up with less clutter.

The extra cables that came with the PSU include:
4x 6+2-Pin PCI-E Connector
6x 4-Pin Peripheral Connector
8x 5-Pin SATA Connector
2x 4-Pin Floppy Connector

You want to take two of those PCI-E connectors and connect one end to the PSU, and the other to the GPU connectors. They are 6+2 so you'll have the +2's just hanging there plugged into nothing.

Again, I hope I'm understanding you. If I'm explaining things you already know, just ignore this post :D
 

criel

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Nov 19, 2013
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You are right :)

The 20+4 is plugged into the motherboard as well as the 4+4. Was just checking to see if this could be the reason why it's not picking up the video card in windows 8 even though it's running in the case. I've had this issue in the past but it was a simple driver I needed, the cd that came with it is worthless as I'm not able to get drivers from it(???) and the website doesn't pick it up either
 

criel

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Nov 19, 2013
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I have the1 of the 6 pin connectors connected to the GPU, if I use both, the computer doesn't start
I currently have it plugged into the motherboard video output since I don't get any video source if I have it plugged into either DVI port in the card, which is what I thought was a driver issue but maybe i'm mistaken
 
If when you connect two 6pins to the GPU it makes your system unable to start, that sounds like either a PSU problem or a GPU problem. Do you have another system where you can swap parts out for testing? I'm assuming you are not able to even get into the bios?

You should be able to connect your monitor to the GPU video out and boot into windows without the driver installed yet, (assuming you have the two 6pin power connectors connected to the GPU).
 

criel

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Nov 19, 2013
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Ok so I just installed both of the 6 pin PCI-E connectors and plugged in the monitor and it worked...I swore it never did, but currently it is!

Another issue I'm having, with this motherboard(GIGABYTE GA-Z87-HD3). I am currently using the 6 pin power connector included with the GPU that has the fan plugins and plugging that directly into the PSU and plugging all the fans into them and daisy-chaining them together, none of them are turning on when i turn on the pc. I heard about 'smart fans' that will only turn on when they are needed, where can I see if all these fans are these smart fans? It's hard to tel if they are working correctly but with every other tower I've had in the past at least one intake and outtake fan would turn on immediately

Edit: should state my tower -- Azza Solano 1000R ATX Full Towe
 


I don't understand what you mean by this above quoted part. Which type of connector do the case fans have? Some examples:

molex-en.png


I'm guessing it is the 4pin molex connectors since you mention daisy chaining. Once the fans are connected, they should be powering up from the start. Recheck your connections, sometimes you really have to push hard to connect them.
 

criel

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Nov 19, 2013
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It's more like the 4 pin molex,

Here's the power connector I'm using(last pic in the collection of 6 pics)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CP6gkvn0mL4CFYcDOgodl04AaA&Item=N82E16814127769&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814127769&ef_id=Up7AvAAABY06VTjk:20140507035337:s
 
That cable is for something different (you won't need it in your case). Included in the extra cables that came with your PSU are 6x 4-Pin Peripheral Connectors. Those are what you want to use. Connect one end directly to the PSU, then daisy chain however many fans you have and you should be golden.

Same thing with your hard drives, they are going to need the 5pin 'SATA' connectors that came with your PSU.
 
Solution