Safe to temporarily use a 6-pin PCI-E connector for RX 470 4GB (for testing)?

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sindicomp

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The Situation
I'm planning to pick up a MSI Gaming X RX 470 4GB card (which has a single 8-pin connection). Since my PSU only has two 6-pin PCI-E connectors, I've ordered a dual 6-pin to 8-pin pcie adapter but that won't get here for a while.

My questions:
A) Is it okay for me to temporarily use just one of the 6-pin connectors from my PSU to power the card until the adapter gets here --and play games with the setup?
B) If not, is it okay for me to use the 6-pin connector to at least test the card --with some light gaming-- to make sure it's not defective or anything and then put my old card back in?

My Setup
CPU: i7 3770k
Mobo: Sabertooth z77
Ram: Tridentx 16gb 2133MHz
PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-500D 500W

The power requirements for the card stated by MSI is just 110W so I would think that it would be fine theoretically, but I'd rather double check before messing around with such expensive equipment.

Also, I'd wait for the cable to arrive but I'm worried the card might sell out again and also, well, I want to get my hands on it and use it asap :D.
 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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it probably won't run with only the 6-pin. a 6-pin connector gives 75w and an 8-pin gives 150w. you're shorting the card 75w it needs to run. not gonna work.

the dual 6-pin to 8-pin should be ok since it gives the right power to the card but you'll have to wait for it to arrive to use the card
 
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sindicomp

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True about the 6-pin but it also gets 75W from the board, right? And that more than meets the power requirements of 110W (75W connector + 75W board=150W). The 8-pin will give 225W total (150W connector + 75W board). I suspect they've provided the 8-pin for further OC purposes or it was just cheaper to do so since they've already done it for the 480 PCB anyway.

I'd already asked on a previous thread about the adapter and a couple of people said it would be fine. My own research found the same thing so I'm not worried about that.
I'm just not sure of using the 6-pin plug in a situation where an 8-pin is provided on the card but is really just overkill when the card supposedly only needs 110W.

 
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Math Geek

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it is not just a matter of total power. the card should look for the 8-pin and if it does not find it, then it won't boot up.

keep in mind the card only pulls so much power from the mobo and pcie connectors depending on how it is designed. for instance the asus strix 470 pulled about 50w from the mobo and the other 85w or so from the pcie connection. the gaming x should pull even less from the mobo if i recall right. meaning more of the load comes from the 8-pin connection. the 6-pin just won't give the needed power to cover what the card needs.

you asked if it is safe and i am saying it is not to wait for the adapter to come in. or just hook it up, press the power button and see what happens......
 
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sindicomp

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Yeah, I'd forgot to mention it but I did consider the bios configuration of the card, though, I don't know what the actual numbers are. But even if the draw from the board was scaled down, technically, it would only need 35W from the board since the 6-pin could still provide the other 75W.

As for it looking for the 8-pin, that I didn't know about and that's the type of info I'm looking for. Thanks for your response.

I guess I'll have to wait unless anyone else has different information?
 
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sindicomp

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Yeah, true...
 
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