Gtx 260 216 one power connector missing one pin.

[sal72]

Of the two power connectors on my gtx 260 2, one has only 5 pins while the other has the normal 6 pins. Is this OK?
The card's running fine but its just one day old. The older gtx 260 2 died in just 2 months and this is the replacement. Could the older card have died because of the one missing pin in one power connector?
Please help me guys.

 

[hunter315]

Thats not good, you should replace that. What color wire is the missing pin supposed to go with? Poor power probably caused your card to behave strangely, and may have damaged it. Its generally a bad idea to run electronics without the appropriate electrical connections.

 

[sal72]

Thats not good, you should replace that. What color wire is the missing pin supposed to go with? Poor power probably caused your card to behave strangely, and may have damaged it. Its generally a bad idea to run electronics without the appropriate electrical connections.

Thanks for your reply hunter.
But I'm totally confused now. I got 2 power connectors with the card and both have 5 pins each! I only used one of them because there was no free plug/receiver in the power supply unit for the other connector. So I used the other power connector from my power supply unit, and this connector has 6 pins!
So is it at all possible that 5 pins are ok because both connectors from nvidia have 6 wires going into them distributed into 5 pins?
I have attached images of one of the connectors I got with the card

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4931/photo024z.jpg
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/1561/photo013pn.jpg

 

[hunter315]

Stop using those adapters ASAP, a PCI-E connector is supposed to be 3 yellow wires(+12V) and 3 blacks(ground), there shouldnt be any red wires(+5V) involved. You said you had to use two adapters because you didnt have any PCI-E connectors on your PSU, this might be part of the issue and its a good idea to upgrade your PSU, you really dont want to have to use those adapters they are meant to be a last option, and if your PSU doesnt have any PCI-E connectors it might not be strong enough to handle the GTX260 over the long run.

edit: From the looks of it, the red wires are connected to the second ground pins in the molex connectors, not sure who had the brilliant idea to ignore color coding and have red grounds, but from the looks of it the pin you are missing at the top is a 12V which might cause the card to behave strangely.

 

[notty22]

I just looked at a connector I have, unused from a xfx card. It also has a null pin. Its the same thing, its using 2 molex power connectors to power a 6 pin connector. This is normal, but not ideal. The color coding is the same.

Molex connectors use a red wire
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/connectors.php?ProdID=27650

edit: if your psu has no pci-e power connectors, and you need to power a video card through patching 4 molex connectors, I would advise getting a NEW psu.

 

[rolli59]

Apparently it is common that that pin #2 is not connected http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#pciexpress
If you got that adapter with the card the manufacturer of the card has decided that you don't need that extra 12volt wire to power the card.

 

[gerardb]

well i have a gtx 260 sp 216, and i have been runing it for 6 months now with ONE 6 pin pci express conector, AND, and adaptor that makes 2 molex into one 6 pin. So far, no problema!
If you happen to have a psu without the two 6 pin, or at least one.... you should get a new psu, otherwise, bad things MIGHT happen
EDIT: forgot to say that the 6-pin adapter you use, is the same i have here :lol:

 

[sal72]

Thanks for guiding me hunter and rolli and notty and gerard.
I'm going to get a new psu then. Based on my specs below, which brand should I go for?
Vista Ultimate
System Model 945GCM-S2L
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E7200
Installed Physical Memory 4.00 GB
Seagate SATA 250 GB (system) & SATA 1000 GB (Backup)
LG L222W (Analog) Resolution 1680 x 1050 x 59 hertz on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 216.

 

[gerardb]

Thanks for guiding me hunter and rolli and notty and gerard.
I'm going to get a new psu then. Based on my specs below, which brand should I go for?
Vista Ultimate
System Model 945GCM-S2L
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E7200
Installed Physical Memory 4.00 GB
Seagate SATA 250 GB (system) & SATA 1000 GB (Backup)
LG L222W (Analog) Resolution 1680 x 1050 x 59 hertz on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 216.

Coolermaster Silentpro 600w should be fine AND it's fully modular!!!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036&cm_re=silentpro-_-17-171-036-_-Product
or, you may want to get a corsair, they are super duper mega nice psu =D
You might like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&cm_re=corsair_psu-_-17-139-005-_-Product
:lol:

 

[rolli59]

Corsair VX550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

 

[sal72]

Hi everybody! Sorry for not posting earlier, was really busy.
Well, taking your advice I have got a Corsair TX650W and its wiring is a dream compared to my old PSU. I didn't have to use the molex connectors provided at all (except for a fan at the back), all SATA connectors were at the right places and the 2 pciexpress connectors took care of the GTX 2602.
Just one more question. I accidentally dropped the spike guard to which the TX650 is connected and immediately the computer switched off. I checked the TX650 cord and despite the sudden jerk, it was firmly fitted in the socket, but the power cords to the audio amplifier, printer, and monitor had come loose. So I switched the spike guard main off and connected all the cords firmly and switched it back on. I pressed the power button on the PC and, to my horror, nothing happened! I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the power cords several times but couldn't get the TX650 to power on. I just sat there, puzzled, for about 5 minutes, then I tried again and voila! The power is back on! This was about a week ago and I've not had any problems since.
My PC is starting up in record time and the system in general is much faster, although that could be because I upgraded from a cheap PSU!
Could it be that there's some safety mechanism inside the PSU which causes it to ... well ... not power on, for a few minutes? I couldn't think of anything else.
Other than that there's no problem at all.

 

[gerardb]

Hi everybody! Sorry for not posting earlier, was really busy.
Well, taking your advice I have got a Corsair TX650W and its wiring is a dream compared to my old PSU. I didn't have to use the molex connectors provided at all (except for a fan at the back), all SATA connectors were at the right places and the 2 pciexpress connectors took care of the GTX 2602.
Just one more question. I accidentally dropped the spike guard to which the TX650 is connected and immediately the computer switched off. I checked the TX650 cord and despite the sudden jerk, it was firmly fitted in the socket, but the power cords to the audio amplifier, printer, and monitor had come loose. So I switched the spike guard main off and connected all the cords firmly and switched it back on. I pressed the power button on the PC and, to my horror, nothing happened! I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the power cords several times but couldn't get the TX650 to power on. I just sat there, puzzled, for about 5 minutes, then I tried again and voila! The power is back on! This was about a week ago and I've not had any problems since.
My PC is starting up in record time and the system in general is much faster, although that could be because I upgraded from a cheap PSU!
Could it be that there's some safety mechanism inside the PSU which causes it to ... well ... not power on, for a few minutes? I couldn't think of anything else.
Other than that there's no problem at all.

Im glad you took the advice!! :lol:
About the psu, well, it has happened to me a couple of times, and yeah it took a minute or two to come back but im not 100% sure why.
Lets wait for the masters to give theyr opinion!

 

[sal72]

Best answer selected by sal72.