I guess im an idiot

[mearguy71]

I was having trouble with my new 8800 GTS (edit). My computer was shutting down on its own when playing on high graphic settings in games. I did some research tonight and finally understand what a +12v rail on a psu is (I think). On the 8600 gts I had 2 plugs from the same rail connected to the adapter that plugs into the GPU. If what I read was correct that kind of defeats the purpose of that adapter right? Im unable to access that PC till monday to see if it fixes my problems but im guessing it might help to connect from two different rails. A rail is one of those cables coming out of the psu with multiple power plugs on it correct?

 

[Kari]

8600GTS doesn't really use that much power, under 50 watts
http://archive.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354&p=0

technically it could get all the power from the slot, if it is a PCIe card... AGP slot won't provide enough, I think... It really shouldn't matter how you hook it up, the needed power is so low...

anyhooo the 12V rail refers to the power rails inside the PSU. The cables that come out of it can be connected to whichever rail the manufacturer chooses to use. In modern multirail psus the accessory cables (12V lines in 4pin molex and sata power cables) are usually all connected to the same rail (with the 12V lines in the 24pin mobo connector), 6 and 8pin PCIe power cables have a rail of their own and so does the 4/8pin CPU power cable... Though if the PSU has beefier rails some of the cables could share a rail, so your mileage might vary And there are lot of single rail PSUs that only have one giant 12V rail

btw what PSU do you have?

 

[mearguy71]

Im sorry it is an 8800 gts which i think draws alot more power than an 8600. Im not sure what psu it is cause im not able to access that pc till monday. I know its not a high end but its 550 watt.

 

[OmegaStalker]

I've got a 8800gtx and that requires a lot more power then the GTS so if it uses the same step up as the GTX the pci-e and two 6pins im running on a 500W and it runs perfectly so as long as the psu has 12v rails of 28A either combined or single then it shouldnt matter too much but if its a cheap psu they may have held back on the 12v rail, anyho if you are going to connect a 8800GTS use the 2molex to one 6 pin (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170266312740&cguid=6e840cf411e0a0aad220e680ffe89b21) like that and you'll two of them i think, either radioshack if in th USA or maplins in th UK will have them for like max 3 each... but before you do anything remove your card and find out the 12v rail system on your psu, best to post the make and model and we can help, leave the GTS out your system till your sure its ok and if not you may need a new psu =( anyways come back when you have your psu and we should be able to help...

 

[mearguy71]

Its an Okia 550W PSU

other specs are.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ 2.31 ghz
4 gig corsair ram
22 inch monitor

 

[Kari]

8800GTS uses up to 105W or so...

got multiple hits with okia 550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=okia+550
which one is it?

I'm guessing one of those with one 12cm fan since they don't have pcie power connectors... single rail 12V@24Amps = 288W, in theory it should be enough to run your setup but... it is kinda cheap... :/