Just got EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra Gaming - PCIE cable questions, capacitors

[Shai Hulud]

Just got a confirmed order for this card, EVGA switched to a queue-based system based on when you request an auto-notify, which I did on launch day so they sent me a link and I was actually able to buy this card. I had requested auto-notify for all their cards and wanted a 3080 but unfortunately had to shell out 2k for the most expensive 3090. Still better than the scalpers, I suppose...

 

Anyway, I didn't have time to research whether this is one of the cards with bad capacitors or whatever. Looks like it has 2 MLCC and 4 POSCAP which is what the FE has, I'm guessing that's fine but IDK. Thoughts?

 

Also concerning is this thing takes THREE 8 pin PCIE connectors? Does anyone make a custom cable for these AIB cards, or am I going to have to run three separate PCIE cables? My PSU (Phanteks Revolt Pro 850, chained with Corsair RMX 750) only comes with three PCIE cables, and they each have two 6+2 pin connectors. If I have to use all three cables it is going to be an absolute mess of cables. Or can I use two connectors from one cable and a second cable with one connector? Still a bit of a mess but not quite as bad...I could also use the Corsair PCIE cables but would have to run them from the Corsair PSU since Phanteks uses a proprietary connector format. I'm not exactly sure how that would work, right now I just have the Corsair PSU MB + CPU connectors going into the Revolt Pro for theoretical combined 1600W.

 

Really hoping there's a nice 3xPCIE cable I can get. I've seen lots of PSU manufacturers, including Phanteks, have made the 12 pin Founders Edition custom cables, but ironically the Founders Editions are one of the least common cards and the double / triple 8 pin connections seem more common.

 

Thanks, and for anyone trying to get one of these cards I highly recommend using the EVGA auto notify, I signed up for auto notify for basically every site in existence and most of them don't even notify me, others notify me too late, and all but EVGA sell the cards immediately which are typically gone in seconds. I was pleasantly surprised to see one site at least figured out something sensible, although it took them a while to implement it.

[Skiiwee29]

FYI, CAPS ARE/WERE NOT THE MAIN PROBLEM!!!

 

The CAPS are the last line of defense... issue was Nvidia was overly aggressive in boost the clocks in the boost tables.. they dialed these back with subsequent driver releases and is no longer a problem. 

[Shai Hulud]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

FYI, CAPS ARE/WERE NOT THE MAIN PROBLEM!!!

 

The CAPS are the last line of defense... issue was Nvidia was overly aggressive in boost the clocks in the boost tables.. they dialed these back with subsequent driver releases and is no longer a problem. 

Oh okay, I was just wondering since the model I got is factory overclocked (I think)

[LIGISTX]

Use three cables individually. 3090 pulls lots of power.... and no, no one is going to make a single 3x8 pin cable.

 

Also, why do you run dual PSU..?

[Shai Hulud]

3 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Use three cables individually. 3090 pulls lots of power.... and no, no one is going to make a single 3x8 pin cable.

 

Also, why do you run dual PSU..?

My system draws a lot of power. When I was planning the build I originally planned a Ryzen 3950x and didn't expect 3080/3090 to draw so much power so I thought the Phanteks Pro 850W would be sufficient and bought it as PSUs were going out of stock really fast. Changed my specs to Threadripper 3970x + 3080/3090, PCPartPicker estimates 988W with no overclocking (and I want to overclock once I finish watercooling setup), and I already had the Corsair RMX 750W from previous build and a case that fit multiple PSUs so I just chained them together

 

Here's my specs. It's slightly incomplete I'll be adding more SSDs (waiting on Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus), fans, radiators etc., haven't ordered GPU water block as I didn't know what I'd be able to get, air cooling for now

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Threadripper 3970X 3.7 GHz 32-Core Processor  ($1949.99 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  ($79.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG ZENITH II EXTREME ALPHA EATX sTRX4 Motherboard  ($843.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 256 GB (8 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($1149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.97 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card 
Case: Lian Li O11D XL-W ATX Full Tower Case  ($257.70 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Phanteks Revolt Pro 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($139.88 @ Other World Computing) 
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 PST CO 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $4964.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-15 19:35 EDT-0400

[Jurrunio]

two cables will do, I dont think the card has power limit so high that it will come close to saturating three PCIe 8pins.

[Ankerson]

13 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

two cables will do, I dont think the card has power limit so high that it will come close to saturating three PCIe 8pins.

 

 

It's actually going to come pretty close.....

 

Once they put out the VBIOS Update for the 3090 FTW3 Ultra like they did with the 3080 FTW3 Ultra.

 

3X 8 Pin = 150W X 3= 450 + 75W = 525W.

 

The 3080 FTW3 Ultra is 450W+ now with the update.

 

The 3090 FTW3 Ultra could be 500W....

 

 

[Shai Hulud]

7 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

 

 

It's actually going to come pretty close.....

 

Once they put out the VBIOS Update for the 3090 FTW3 Ultra like they did with the 3080 FTW3 Ultra.

 

3X 8 Pin = 150W X 3= 450 + 75W = 525W.

 

The 3080 FTW3 Ultra is 450W+ now with the update.

 

The 3090 FTW3 Ultra could be 500W....

 

 

So each PCI cable delivers 150W? Though you summed to 525W... I am confused

[LIGISTX]

2 minutes ago, Shai Hulud said:

So each PCI cable delivers 150W? Though you summed to 525W... I am confused

The pcie slot does 75 watts.

 

The cables will be fine above the rated 150, but..... just run more cables. Stable power and not dropping voltage due to high resistance (more cable = less resistance) is only a good thing. 

[Ankerson]

2 minutes ago, Shai Hulud said:

So each PCI cable delivers 150W? Though you summed to 525W... I am confused

 

75W for the PCIe slot in the MB.

 

450 + 75  = 525.

[Shai Hulud]

1 minute ago, Ankerson said:

 

75W for the PCIe slot in the MB.

 

450 + 75  = 525.

I have a Asus Rog Zenith II Extreme Alpha, there is a 6 pin PCIE connector on the board next to the two 8 pin CPU connectors and 24 pin MB, I am not using it currently, is this what you mean?

 

Sorry, power supply is probably the area of computing I understand the least

[Ankerson]

2 minutes ago, Shai Hulud said:

I have a Asus Rog Zenith II Extreme Alpha, there is a 6 pin PCIE connector on the board next to the two 8 pin CPU connectors and 24 pin MB, I am not using it currently, is this what you mean?

 

Sorry, power supply is probably the area of computing I understand the least

 

NO, the actual slot the GPU goes into on the MB.

[Shai Hulud]

8 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

 

NO, the actual slot the GPU goes into on the MB.

Oh LOL

 

thanks for clarifying, I should have thought of that first

[dilpickle]

You can buy 8+8+8 bridged cables from the custom cable makers like cablemod. It's basically 3 cables clipped together and it will probably be tidier than what you have now.

[Shai Hulud]

6 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

You can buy 8+8+8 bridged cables from the custom cable makers like cablemod. It's basically 3 cables clipped together and it will probably be tidier than what you have now.

Cool thanks I will look into this, my current cables are way too long and just jammed in the back of the case, getting two more PCIE cables back there would be tough

[Jurrunio]

48 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

It's actually going to come pretty close.....

 

Once they put out the VBIOS Update for the 3090 FTW3 Ultra like they did with the 3080 FTW3 Ultra.

 

3X 8 Pin = 150W X 3= 450 + 75W = 525W.

 

The 3080 FTW3 Ultra is 450W+ now with the update.

 

The 3090 FTW3 Ultra could be 500W....

 

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/asus-geforce-rtx-3090-strix-oc/29.html

 

when overclocked the 3090 (albeit in Asus Strix flavour) nearly hits 450w in Furmark, I doubt a higher power limit will be any useful without going extreme

 

15 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

buy 8+8+8 bridged cables

if that is connected to only 1 socket on the PSU, it's unsafe.

[dilpickle]

17 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

if that is connected to only 1 socket on the PSU, it's unsafe.

 

33 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

It's basically 3 cables clipped together

 

[Jurrunio]

2 hours ago, dilpickle said:

 

 

That's why I have to use "if".

[avTronic]

I know this thread is getting older but figured I would put in my experience thus far with my 3090 Kingpin. Comparable to the FTW but of course slightly more powe hungry. I have a Thermaltake 850w 80+ Gold PSU and it’s time for an upgrade. I thought I would be fine since this PSU has 4 PCIe plugins where I can utilize the 3 I need feeding into the card via 6+2 (8pin) connectors. The cables are 16 gauge as opposed to my previous 650w PSU with also enough power leads but 18gauge wires. On paper the 850w should be enough but under the heaviest of loads, the PSU is shutting down and restarting my rig. 
  The Kingpin has a nice display right on the card that I have it set to only display watts. On moderate loads, I am near or barely spiking over 400. On the heavy loads I’m spiking closer to 470 and when it spikes higher than that is when it shuts down. I bet if they offered 14 gauge wired cables, I would be okay but looks like I will need a 1000watt. I have a feeling that the card does not utilize the 75 watts from the PCIe connector effectively and it’s not helping the card to make up for that last bit it needs when maxing out the PCIe power cables. Or, if it is maxing out those cables then it does draw from the PCIe/motherboard and maxes out that 12v rail? Either way, something needs to get upgraded (again).
  I love this card, and what it’s doing for me, but it’s taken a lot to make this card happy. I use it for business more than gaming. Luckily I can avoid certain processes that have it maxing out and have been avoiding shutdowns since finishing the build in late December. Well this last upgrade will be the 3rd build technically. Oh and I would never suggest using “Y” cables or other ways to cheat getting power to this card. I just had to RMA my 1070ti after running a “Y” cable joining two 6 pin leads from and older PSU into one 8 pin. It’s not certain that is what causes memory issues on the card but don’t take any chances. Invest in a solid PSU with the correct cables and pins. We will see if the 1000 watt one will cure the issue, even though it will still most certainly have 16gauge wires. 

[Blai5e]

@avTronic - EVGA 3090 FTW3 Ultra owner here using a Corsair AX 1200i PSU (set to Single rail OCP) with 3 separate PCIe power connectors all CableMod Pro series full replacement cables. I hear you regarding the PCIe slot power draw balance (there's a 140+ page thread bemoaning this on the EVGA forums) and the main reason I haven't bothered with the 500W Beta BIOS at this time. That plus the fact I use an EK waterblock and save about 20-30W without any fans coming into play within the card's budget.

 

I think the biggest issue with PSU's (besides users trying to get away with a weak/inferior PSU) regarding the 3080/3090 cards isn't simply sustained loads but rather transient spikes tripping the over-current protection circuitry within the PSU. This series appear to find any weakness in older or lesser quality PSU's; in the case of one manufacturer they are outright allowing RMA's due to such a weakness. Users have also experienced issues with the Corsair AX 1200i if they have "Multi rail OCP" enable rather than "Single rail OCP" which again would be down top transient spikes.