gpu What is your opinion on 3x 8pin graphics cards

[Celeron]

Are they annoying or do you tolerate them

[TomvanWijnen]

I don't think there's anything wrong with them using more connectors. Whether the power draw is acceptable.... depends on how hot you'd like your room to be.

[dilpickle]

I'm old enough to remember when video cards didn't have any power connectors.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Ehh..... I think its nice for heavy overclockers, who may use more than 2 can provide, but for normal use, it doesnt really matter.

 

Though it does look pretty nice when you have rgb 8pin pcie powers

(like these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRZc4-Lc05k)

[Fasauceome]

they exist for the people who want to push their hardware as far as possible. There's nothing to "tolerate" because nobody is forcing me to use one.

[DominicNikon]

I buy graphics cards based on 3 8 pins. I hate being power limited 

[Lord Nicoll]

42 minutes ago, Celeron said:

Are they annoying or do you tolerate them

I love more power connectors, the ROG ARES III has 3, the PowerColor Radeon R9 390 X2 Devil13 has 4, those are pretty fun cards, and a lot of fun to overclock. 

[whm1974]

39 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

I'm old enough to remember when video cards didn't have any power connectors.

This is the way they should be... But if dGPUs must use a power connector, limit them to one and only one.

[Jurrunio]

More powah = strongah arguments

 

as long as they are not the only options, I'm good with them existing.

 

8 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

But if dGPUs must use a power connector, limit them to one and only one

So less power hungry cards have to share the same big connector as the flagship cards? Or PSUs come with more different connectors to suit different power level of cards, as a result a lot of unused cables per PSU?

[Lord Nicoll]

11 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

This is the way they should be... But if dGPUs must use a power connector, limit them to one and only one.

Then only buy a GPU with no power connector or only one power connector, don't ruin it for the rest of us. 

 

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

More powah = strongah arguments

 

as long as they are not the only options, I'm good with them existing.

 

So less power hungry cards have to share the same big connector as the flagship cards? Or PSUs come with more different connectors to suit different power level of cards, as a result a lot of unused cables per PSU?

Also this, imagine having two or three different kinds of connectors, would be a nightmare

 

[whm1974]

6 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

More powah = strongah arguments

 

as long as they are not the only options, I'm good with them existing.

 

So less power hungry cards have to share the same big connector as the flagship cards? Or PSUs come with more different connectors to suit different power level of cards, as a result a lot of unused cables per PSU?

If dGPUs were limited to only one Connector, then their wouldn't be any need for PSUs to extras now would there? Do you want a Computer or a Space Heater?

[Lord Nicoll]

1 minute ago, whm1974 said:

If dGPUs were limited to only one Connector, then their wouldn't be any need for PSUs to extras now would there? Do you want a Computer or a Space Heater?

If you don't want a powerful computer don't buy components that use a lot of power and produce heat. Some of use need or want more power and don't mind the heat. If a GT1030 is enough for you, leave us alone. Nvidia is trying to push a single connector but the connector is very large and unsuitable for lower power cards as it's sorta tall and awkard, again, buy GPUs with a single 6 pin or 8 pin if you don't need or want a lot of power. 

[Jurrunio]

7 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

If dGPUs were limited to only one Connector, then their wouldn't be any need for PSUs to extras now would there?

in that case my first question applies

14 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

less power hungry cards have to share the same big connector as the flagship cards?

I used "or" for a reason

Quote

Or PSUs come with more different connectors to suit different power level of cards, as a result a lot of unused cables per PSU?

 

[whm1974]

1 minute ago, Lord Nicoll said:

If you don't want a powerful computer don't buy components that use a lot of power and produce heat. Some of use need or want more power and don't mind the heat. If a GT1030 is enough for you, leave us alone. Nvidia is trying to push a single connector but the connector is very large and unsuitable for lower power cards as it's sorta tall and awkard, again, buy GPUs with a single 6 pin or 8 pin if you don't need or want a lot of power. 

The amount of Wattage consumed and waste Heat outputted has little to do with performance.

[whm1974]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

in that case my first question applies

I used "or" for a reason

What is wrong with using the same 6+2 connector we have been using?

[Lord Nicoll]

Just now, whm1974 said:

The amount of Wattage consumed and waste Heat outputted has little to do with performance.

What.... it scales almost linearly within arches for the same voltage and temperature. An RTX 2060 will use less power than an RTX 2080 but gets less performance. At the very top end yes it no longer scales, more performance usually equals a lot of extra power but that's only at the very high end if you push the hardware too far. Compared to 2010, the new generations of GPUs are getting better and better each time at not ballooning power limits, however I'm an extreme overclocker so pushing a single GPU to 500 watts is normal for me. 

[Lord Nicoll]

2 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

What is wrong with using the same 6+2 connector we have been using?

150 watt power limit, in actuality it can draw a lot more than that, but the specification for the 8 pin connector is 150 watts. 

[Fasauceome]

4 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

What is wrong with using the same 6+2 connector we have been using?

if you ask nvidia, too big

[whm1974]

4 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

What.... it scales almost linearly within arches for the same voltage and temperature. An RTX 2060 will use less power than an RTX 2080 but gets less performance. At the very top end yes it no longer scales, more performance usually equals a lot of extra power but that's only at the very high end if you push the hardware too far. Compared to 2010, the new generations of GPUs are getting better and better each time at not ballooning power limits, however I'm an extreme overclocker so pushing a single GPU to 500 watts is normal for me. 

Why does this remind me of the development of the Commodore C128?

[Helpful Tech Witch]

39 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

I love more power connectors, the ROG ARES III has 3, the PowerColor Radeon R9 390 X2 Devil13 has 4, those are pretty fun cards, and a lot of fun to overclock. 

WTF??!?!?!?!??! THATS LIKE 700W MAX POWER PULL???!?!?!??!?!

[Lord Nicoll]

Just now, HelpfulTechWizard said:

WTF??!?!?!?!??! THATS LIKE 700W MAX POWER PULL???!?!?!??!?!

They're both dual GPU cards, one is a custom R9 295X2 and one is a dual R9 390.

[Teddy07]

It is getting ridiculous.

 

I used to run my GPUs for F@H but the power draw has come to a point where I can not justify it anymore. Germany has the highest electricity costs in the world with ~0,28 Euro per Kw/h. 

[CommanderAlex]

38 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

Then only buy a GPU with no power connector or only one power connector, don't ruin it for the rest of us. 

 

Also this, imagine having two or three different kinds of connectors, would be a nightmare

 

That is why they have standards for cables. We won't be using a 24 pin power connector for our SATA drives anytime soon. 

 

Personally, I tolerate the cables as it doesn't make a difference if its one or two cables, at least have enough power and room for the power draw in three PCIe cables instead of overloading and melting two or less. As they say, you gotta have the right tool for the job. 

[Jurrunio]

15 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

The amount of Wattage consumed and waste Heat outputted has little to do with performance.

If the hardware is made with the same technology (which is always the case if they are from the same period of time and company), it does.

 

16 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

What is wrong with using the same 6+2 connector we have been using?

Only 3 12V and 5 ground 18AWG (in most cases) wires of up to 650mm length, not sure if some PSUs have longer cables for the PCIe 6+2 plug. 18AWG wires have resistance of 0.021ohm/metre, or 0.00728ohms for a single 6+2pin cable. Since V*I = P and V = I*R, in ideal cases at 150W@12V output from the PSU there will be 12.5A of current and the overall resistance of the wires and PCIe device will be 0.96ohms only. Wire and card are connected in series, which means about 0.76% that power or 1.14W is loss through the cable, pretty safe at this point. At 200W (that's what Nvidia's older flagship cards roughly pull when they are under the 250w power limit reference spec), that's 16.67A of current and overall resistance has to be only 0.72ohms. Heat output from cable is now over 1% (2W) at this point and the cable will feel warm if you touch it with your bare hands. At 300W (since each cable usually has two 6+2 pin plugs, this is the number each cable is rated to supply), now we need 25A and overall resistance of 0.48ohms. This means 1.516% (4.55W) of heat loss from the wires and the card is only receiving a voltage of 11.8V from its 12V to ground connections. That's a problem and apparently, enough to make cards like the 2080Ti crash.

 

44 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

Why does this remind me of the development of the Commodore C128?

When the performance of hardware customers want outpaces technology?

[whm1974]

45 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

When the performance of hardware customers want outpaces technology?

Well I did watch a video on YouTube where the Main Designer of the C128 talked about why made the design choices he did. Given that very few C128 owners actually used the CP/M Mode, it seems a bit silly to put an extra Z80 in the Machine.

 

I would have chosen the WDC 65816 instead. That would have ensured backward compatibility updated the CBM 8-bit line to 16-bit. The CPU was aviable, abet in limited numbers.