:( potentially stupid question about my 780 ti

So while putting in my card I noticed one of the plugs... umm how to explain... you know how the graphics card has two plugs right?  One is big and one is small like in this picture.

 

http://www.moddiy.com/product_images/c/721/view_image__55502_zoom.jpg

 

and the small one has not as many holes as the big one.  Now, I noticed that the small one had an even smaller one on the side of it which gave it as many holes as the big one, at least, i think.  I was told by my friend not to use it as it would make the card break because its not meant to have that plug on it but another friend told me I should plug it in because it will give my card more performance.

I'm not sure what to do.  I really want to plug it in to see but I dont want to kill my $1150 card :(

So I thought I would ask here.  Any advice?

You should always fully populate the PCIe power connectors. Can you show me a picture of the card?

So if that plug is able to be plugged in I should plug it in?

 I will try this tomorrow first thing in the morning, will wait for some more opinions first just incase.

I have not had any issues with my card with it not plugged in also but yeah until recently ive only really thought about maybe it could be helpful and my other friend told me but... yeah.  I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to my baby (my pc).

edit:  I will get a picture of the card, I am unable to show it as I have no camera but I c an get one off the net.

edit 2: http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=03G-P4-2884-KR  this is the card.  the plugs on the left of this picture http://www.evga.com/products/images/gallery/03G-P4-2884-KR_XL_3.jpg plug into a cable that has the same plug but has another smaller plug set beside it which is not plugged in to the powersupply with the bigger but small half next to it which is plugged in.

edit:  ah ha! found a picture of the plug type http://techreport.com/r.x/psus-0907/pcie-connectors.jpg  the one on the right, the big bit is plugged in but the little bit is not.

This is a little bit hard to understand. There's two power connectors at the top of the card? And you only have one plugged in?

They should both be plugged in. But you've stated that there is a problem with the connecting not being able to fit, potentially?

I can see a 6pin hole and an 8pin hole. That seems pretty normal to me. You should have all those "holes" populated. You need a power supply that with appropriate connectors. You can use an auxiliary molex to PCIe adaptor if the PCIe connectors on your PSU are insufficient. What PSU are you using?

Sry I'm not too good at explaining it because I don't fully understand it myself.

Basicially.  My GPU came with these cords here http://www.evga.com/products/images/gallery/03G-P4-2884-KR_XL_3.jpg.  All of these are plugged in to what I believe are adapters.. I think they also came with the card but I'm not sure but one of these adapters or extensions has an end that plugs into the power supply that has a bit hanging off the end as seen in the cord on the right in this picture http://techreport.com/r.x/psus-0907/pcie-connectors.jpg but it looks like it can plug into my other slot on my power supply like it was the bigger version of that plug.  Am I meant to plug both of those in or am I meant to have that bit hanging off?

What PSU are you using? You can connect the PSU directly to the card without the molex adaptor, providing that your PSU has sufficiently large connectors. If it has two 6pin PCIe connectors, with the additional 2pin bit hanging off, then your PSU is sufficient.

You should connect the 6pin connector to the 6pin hole. You should then connect the 6pin and 2pin bit/extension together and place them in the 8pin hole. All the holes need to be populated to give the GPU the necessary power requirement.

I am using this power supply http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=1079/ID=22548/SID=727702974/productdetails.html

That's fine. Do you understand what you need to do?

I think so, I will unplug it from the power supply and replug it into the bigger plug so that the little bit along side the other bit can be plugged in as well.

thanks for help, will sort it out in the morning first thing and I will let you know how it went.

Sounds right to me.

FYI, most cards require a single 6pin, or two 6pin connectors. The little extra 2pin piece is for cards that require 6+8. The most power hungry of cards.