I am struggling with a question if it is recommended to use the PCIe power cables which have a 2nd 8Pin connector on one cable for gpus if the gpu needs 3 8Pin but my psu only has 2 native ports with 2 cables which have 2x8 Pin connectors each (4x8 Pin total over 2 cables).
There is currently a offering from ASUS where I could get a new rog strix b550-a mainboard and a 9070xt prime. The mainboard would cost me 23€ after cashback.
If it is not recommended I would only buy a gpu from powercolor (hellhound 9070xt) since it only uses two PCIe 8 Pin connectors.
My old b450 and 5700xt setup runs of a corsair tx 750m psu.
I guess upgrading the mainboard to pci gen 4 would be a good idea? I do not use the gpu for anything other than normal gaming.
I don’t think my cpu would be a problem (or I hope so) since I have a r7 5700x3d ( upgraded my old r5 3600 some time ago because I got a good deal).
I do not think building a new pc is necessary (32gb ddr4 plus the other parts) but I would like to upgrade the gpu because I do not think the next generation will be sth cheap and the current prices are somewhat stable (for now).
I would be very happy if anyone could give their opinion on my question and/or situation.
What model of PSU do you have now? If it’s one that has removable cables you may be able to order another 8pin that you can plug in and have a proper load balanced connection.
If not, or you are pushing the limits on what your PSU can deliver on top of not having enough connectors, it may be a sing it’s time too upgrade your PSUs. Thankfully, that is the ONE thing that hasn’t gotten more pricey due to AI.
decent PSU manufacturers use a thicker wire when they do two 8pin connectors on the same cable. So it can carry the current of both 8pin connectors safely. Cheaper PSUs may not do this, and may burn down because you are overloading the wires.
Since you say you have a corsair tx 750m, this is the page where Corsair says their cables with two connector aka pigtails are designed to carry 300w over the main wire and then split it to the two pcie power connectors, so the cable is still in spec for the power it must carry and will not burn down.
A well-constructed 8-pin cable, such as our PSU cables with pigtail connectors, should be well capable of providing more than 300W of power.
from reviews,
they say pcie wires on that PSU are awg 18, which means 16 amps per cable, so since there are 4x 12v cables that translates to 64 amps, which translates to 768 watts at 12v.
So you should be fine with using the psu you have and connect all the 3 pcie power connectors to the new card (2 will come from a cable and 1 from the other)