Sata to 6pin PCI-E Power

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timothybrey

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I just bought a new gtx 1070 graphics card, but it turns out that i don’t have the necessary pci-e power cables to power it. I have a 750 watt psu with 2 6pin pci-e cables, but the card uses an 8pin and a 6pin. I was planning on getting a y-lead 6pin to 8pin adapter, since the 6pins each supply 75 watts and the 8pin is 150, that should work fine, but I still need a 6pin, so I am planning on getting the star tech y-lead sata to 6pin adapter: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATPCIEXADAP-6-Inch-Express-Adapter/dp/B007Y91B80
Would this be a fire hazard of any sort? And would it power the gpu? It says that the gpu uses 150 watts so the 6pin is probably just extra power for emergency’s or overclocking, but I’m never going to overvoltage this card. So would this be a safe setup? My psu has plenty of wattage it just doesn’t have the correct cables (it isn’t one with interchangeable one, is I want to change the cables I have to buy a new psu.). Thank you
 
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Susquehannock
Adapter from SATA is bad idea. They are not designed for that much current.

Your Dell T5500 should have an 875w PSU with five 18-amp 12-volt rails. Two of which are dedicated to their own 6-pin PCIe connectors (two). Use 6-pin to 8-pin adapter as needed and you will be fine.
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DRagor

DRagor

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Any adapters are risky, they add resistance and more places where something can fail. Lets start with basics: what PSU model you have? It's suspicious that 750 W unit has only 2 PCIe cables and only 6 pin. Might be the PSU is overrated and will not be able to safely power your new card.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

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What 750W PSU do you have? They should have four PCIe cables, not two.

My general advice is to never use adapters. Forcing a PSU to power something it wasn't designed to handle is just asking for a fire. I mean trouble. I suspect you have the power to do so but don't see the cables. Look around in there, they are probably there.
 
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timothybrey

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I have a dell t5500 psu it is not overrated and can power enough, but it is designed for basic dell setups with a certain workstation card. I know that the 6pin to 8pin adapter would work, I have dont countless hours of research on it and it would have the right amount of power. I also looked at the card on MSI’s page, and it says it only uses 150 watts and the 6pin is extra for overclocking, but I’m not going to overclocking a card this expensive. So I don’t even know if I actually need the 6pin, but I want to have it as backup and all the review say that this adapter could lower a complete card by itself completely fine and never burned out.
 
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DRagor

DRagor

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Dell makes solid units, but the problem is, they are multi-rail PSU, with most of 12V power going to CPU rails. So even though the whole unit may have enough power, it may not be available for GPU because of this. Check the GPU manual, if you can find there a statement that 6-pin cable is optional, then probably it should be doable just with double 6-pin to 8-pin adapter - not that I advise it, but it could work.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

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I also looked at the card on MSI’s page, and it says it only uses 150 watts and the 6pin is extra for overclocking,
Click to expand...

Might want to do some more reading. That 6pin is needed for more than just OCing. The GPU can only pull 75W from the board, so that 6pin is needed to supply the other 75W. With only one exception that I know of, if a GPU has plugs on it they HAVE to be filled. It's required, not optional.

I think for most of us we are having issues accepting there is a quality 750W PSU out there that has so few PCIe power plugs. Every 80+ bronze 750W unit I've seen has four 6pin plugs or better. Every single one. I get this is a Dell special so they might have it setup differently, but it's important to understand how it's setup. Using adapters to force something is never a good idea.
 
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timothybrey

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I could also use a 8pin cpu to 8pin gpu adapter, as the psu has 2 of them, but I’ve done hours of research on the 6pin to 8pin and am sure it’ll work. Are you sure it can run without the extra 6pin? I use MSU afterburner, but the card says it has a built in boost and fan curve, but I don’t know how to use it. Thank you
 
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Susquehannock

Susquehannock

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Dec 8, 2016
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Adapter from SATA is bad idea. They are not designed for that much current.

Your Dell T5500 should have an 875w PSU with five 18-amp 12-volt rails. Two of which are dedicated to their own 6-pin PCIe connectors (two). Use 6-pin to 8-pin adapter as needed and you will be fine.
 
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DRagor

DRagor

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That 18 A rails is for 825 W PSU, and OP says it has 750 W version.
 
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Karadjgne

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Unless it's a true multiple rail psu (they exist but are rare) all rails come back to a single point before going to the connectors. So doesn't matter if it's single large rail or several smaller rails, the load is the same. Cpu, pcie, eps, Sata all come from the same source, that single point of attachment, somewhat like a household panel buss bar. The problem lies with the fact that the psu is 750w. It's an old group regulated design that has very high 3.3 and 5v rails taking up a good chunk of that 750w, leaving comparatively little for the 12v rail. The fact that it's only got 2x 6pin pcie is a dead giveaway that the manufacturer (Dell in this instance) has almost no faith in the psu ability to power high end gpus. Considering the age of that psu/pc, gpus back then were much more power hungry so what would have been new back then would have been something along the lines of a gtx660ti, which require 2x6pin (or 1x8pin). Compared to what was available then, the 660ti was mediocre at best, 780ti being top line.

Cpus back then were also different, required much more 3.3v and 5v, as did things like hdds and even fans, so those old psus were good. Nowadays almost everything relies heavily on the 12v rails, so high 3.3v and 5v rails are obsolete, a waste of electricity and heat.

Simply put, it's totally the wrong psu for that application and MacGyvering adapters to make it work is like using duck tape to fix a busted hose. Better to do it right the first time.
 
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Susquehannock

Susquehannock

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Granted. Power does typically stem from a single source. Differences are how the power is routed, regulated, and isolated from each other.

Granted. Wrong PSU as in 8-pin connectors were not used. These are workstations. Does not mean the power supply is not up to the task. The so called rails are set up to provide 18 amps. It does not "care" if it is through three wires in a 6-pin or three wires in an 8-pin. Nothing about the connectors themselves regulate power.
 
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