GTX 1080Ti Power Connector

[Jetset408 108]

Hi all

With the release of the FSL A320 and the absolute trashing of night time frame rates that this has caused (unless I accept turning off the ability for lights to illuminate the ground.... no thank you!), I have ordered myself a EVGA GTX 1080 Ti SC2 to help things along the way.

This will be replacing my current Zotac GTX 1070 FE. I have an H440 case, and a RM750W PSU.

Now here's the question: My GTX 1070 takes in one 8-pin PCI-E power connection. The cable connector is a 6+2, which fits nicely, and then there is a spur with another 6+2 pin connector piggybacked on the end. This is not in use and is tucked away.

The GTX 1080 Ti requires an 8 pin and a 6 pin connection to be made. I have two choices - use the spare piggyback connection on the existing PSU cable and fit the new card without any fuss, or tear down the system to run another dedicated cable from the PSU to the 6 pin connector (and leave the 2 resulting spurs tucked away and not used). Internet opinion is divided - some say its no bother for the former, others say err on the side of caution and do the latter.

As I rely on the Avsim community to always give sound advice, I wanted to throw this one out there.

Also if anyone has a Jetline GTX system with a 1080 Ti (which my system is almost identical to), what does a look through your case window show those good guys as having adopted?

Your opinions always welcome!

Cheers

Rich

 

[Chock 17,769]

If your system already has the necessary plugs and they are capable of delivering the necessary power, there is no really compelling reason to start pulling things apart. Should you later determine it's an issue, then you can do something about it, but as it stands, why switch out a perfectly good PSU when it is likely to be entirely suitable?

When I was recently building a new PC, I came across this issue too, or more correctly, what I thought might be an issue, so I tested it on a couple of other PCs I have and found that dedicated 8 pin, or 6+2 or 4+4 plugs all worked okay to supply power to a shiny new graphics card. And it didn't matter that they were 650, 750 or 850 watt PSUs in those various PCs I tested it on either, because modern GPUs don't use anywhere near the power that the very first PCi GPUs used, they are way more efficient these days as evidenced by how quiet they are. All those first and second gen PCi GPUs would be whizzing their fans along at the kind of RPM a helicopter would be envious of and they all sounded like an A320 doing a power run up at the holding point lol, whereas I can just barely hear the fans on my newer GPU.

Granted as far as this potential issue is concerned, my GPU is not the same GPU as yours (it was an ATI RX480 in this case), but I daresay the same would apply to your GPU and there is no reason not to try it out anyway before spending cash on another PSU unecessarily. Incidentally, the new PC I was building which that card ended up in, uses a 6+2 connection to that RX480, and I bought that PSU for it safe in the knowledge that it was no problem, and it obviously isn't a problem at all since it is the computer I'm typing this message on right now and is one I use for P3D, FSX, FSW, XP11 etc.

[vortex681 806]

Rich, I have a 1080 (admittedly not a Ti) powered by just a single cable with two 6+2 connectors on the end and it works perfectly. As Chock said, try it and if you have problems use a second cable.

[Jetset408 108]

Cheers for your thoughts. Certainly not considering replacing the PSU - mine is plenty good enough. Its simply a case of  whether to run two cables to feed each of the 8/6 pin connections, or to use the one existing cable with both connectors running off the same cable in parallel. I have all the cables, the issue is getting to the back of the PSU to connect up a new run will probably necessitate me having to undo all my cable ties and completely re-set all of the cabling. Ugh. Im definitely erring on the lazy option of using the one existing cable.

[ahsmatt7 1,199]

On 10/24/2017 at 9:19 AM, Chock said:

If your system already has the necessary plugs and they are capable of delivering the necessary power, there is no really compelling reason to start pulling things apart. Should you later determine it's an issue, then you can do something about it, but as it stands, why switch out a perfectly good PSU when it is likely to be entirely suitable?

When I was recently building a new PC, I came across this issue too, or more correctly, what I thought might be an issue, so I tested it on a couple of other PCs I have and found that dedicated 8 pin, or 6+2 or 4+4 plugs all worked okay to supply power to a shiny new graphics card. And it didn't matter that they were 650, 750 or 850 watt PSUs in those various PCs I tested it on either, because modern GPUs don't use anywhere near the power that the very first PCi GPUs used, they are way more efficient these days as evidenced by how quiet they are. All those first and second gen PCi GPUs would be whizzing their fans along at the kind of RPM a helicopter would be envious of and they all sounded like an A320 doing a power run up at the holding point lol, whereas I can just barely hear the fans on my newer GPU.

Granted as far as this potential issue is concerned, my GPU is not the same GPU as yours (it was an ATI RX480 in this case), but I daresay the same would apply to your GPU and there is no reason not to try it out anyway before spending cash on another PSU unecessarily. Incidentally, the new PC I was building which that card ended up in, uses a 6+2 connection to that RX480, and I bought that PSU for it safe in the knowledge that it was no problem, and it obviously isn't a problem at all since it is the computer I'm typing this message on right now and is one I use for P3D, FSX, FSW, XP11 etc.

How do you know if your GPU is getting the proper power? is there some type of software to see this or any symptoms that one would notice that it wasn't getting the right amount power.

[FreeBird(Josh) 314]

I have a Jetline with the same PSU as you and had no trouble installing a 1080ti. You have all the cables you need and the card comes with a adapter if needed. I had the same concerns as you and had no problem.

[Chock 17,769]

1 minute ago, ahsmatt7 said:

How do you know if your GPU is getting the proper power? is there some type of software to see this or any symptoms that one would notice that it wasn't getting the right amount power.

Well, obviously you check the specs of the PSU to see what power outputs it supplies before even buying the thing, to ensure it is capable of delivering the necessary power, and match that with the required power spec of your GPU. for example, the Radeon RX480 in my PC requires 30 amps from the 12v+ rail, so I bought a decent Corsair PSU which I knew would supply that.

The most obvious symptom your GPU is not getting enough power would be that it wouldn't function lol, but, there's a bit more to it than that of course. It can be the case with cheaper power supply units, that they do not deliver stable power, and that can cause problems for a GPU and any other component in your PC too, which is why it always pays to not cut corners on speccing-up a decent PSU for any system you build, it's the one thing you should never go 'cheap' with, not least because you don't ever want to do anything on the cheap where electrical safety is concerned, regardless of whether it works well or not. Cheap-word not allowed PSUs knocked up in some dodgy factory will risk causing a fire and it's for this very reason that whilst I might buy some PC components online from wherever offers them cheapest, I'll never do that with a PSU, I always go to a proper bricks and mortar PC shop where you know they are supplied with the proper Corsair PSUs and not some dodgy knock off with a Corsair sticker on the box.

Beyond all that, you can of course test the power output of a PSU with a suitable meter - WARNING, DON'T PLAY ABOUT WITH THAT STUFF IF YOU ARE NOT COMPLETELY CERTAIN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! ELECTRICITY CAN KILL YOU!