Windows XP Build

[caveman123]

Hey everyone, I have another random question. I've been playing around with an older Windows XP machine for older games. I have an Radeon HD 5870 that I want to put in it but the power supply only has one 6-pin connector and the card needs two. There's extra connectors of different sorts ready to use so I was wondering if there are addapters to make one of those work to power the card. The Power Supple is a 460 watt unit so it should have enough juice. Also the case I have didn't have alot of ventilation, only one 90mill fan on the back that wasn't connected yet, is this going to be a problem for gaming and extended use 

 

Thanks 

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

Radeon HD 5870

• The card requires you to have a 500 Watt power supply unit at minimum if you use it in a high-end system. That power supply needs to have (in total accumulated) at least 40 Amps available on the +12 volts rails.

 

eventhough that thing is near 460watt i doubt it has 40amp on the 12+ rails

 

that thing looks like a friggen oem psu

 

also u can get molex to pci-e converters, but i wouldn risk that shit

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

8 minutes ago, caveman123 said:

Hey everyone, I have another random question. I've been playing around with an older Windows XP machine for older games. I have an Radeon HD 5870 that I want to put in it but the power supply only has one 6-pin connector and the card needs two. There's extra connectors of different sorts ready to use so I was wondering if there are addapters to make one of those work to power the card. The Power Supple is a 460 watt unit so it should have enough juice. Also the case I have didn't have alot of ventilation, only one 90mill fan on the back that wasn't connected yet, is this going to be a problem for gaming and extended use 

 

Thanks 

 

You could get Molex to PCI-e Power adaptors, but be careful with those. I had a Molex to P4 adapter once and it caught fire when the system was just sitting in storage. Thankfully I think because it was sitting in storage with no power to it, it only fried the adapter. Could've been a lot worse had the system been plugged in I think. 

[kevp453]

+1 to what Valkyrie said. You'll need a better PSU for that. Most OEM PSUs cheap out and won't give enough juice for power hungry GPUs. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

8 minutes ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

Radeon HD 5870

• The card requires you to have a 500 Watt power supply unit at minimum if you use it in a high-end system. That power supply needs to have (in total accumulated) at least 40 Amps available on the +12 volts rails.

 

eventhough that thing is near 460watt i doubt it has 40amp on the 12+ rails

Graphics cards requirements are often grossly overrated to cover 99% of all use cases the manufacturer doesn't want to deal with. My card "requires" 500W, but the total system power consumption I measured is like 230W after efficiency is accounted for.

[NumLock21]

Look at that PSU wires, it's probably not designed for a card like the 5870. It would be better to get a new psu.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

6 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Graphics cards requirements are often grossly overrated to cover 99% of all use cases the manufacturer doesn't want to deal with. My card "requires" 500W, but the total system power consumption I measured is like 230W after efficiency is accounted for.

watts are overrated yes, but rails arent, and i doubt that oem would even reach 300watt without gettin thermal problems... oem watts are overrated aswell

[mariushm]

You can buy 2 x molex (hdd connectors )  to pin or 6+2 pin pci-e connector , so you can plug the 6 pin part into the card.

 

Note that your card will consume up to 150 watts from 12v rail of your power supply, so your 460w must be able to supply at least 150w plus around 100-150w for CPU, motherboard and hard drives on the 12v rail ...

Also note that if the power supply has multiple rails, you'd need the rail with molex connectors to be able to provide at least around 120 watts (12v x 10A = 120w) , so at least around 12-15A per rail.

 

Here's example of cable: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-2-Pack-Molex-Power/dp/B01DV1Z22K/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1523571703&sr=8-5&keywords=molex+to+pci-e+adapter

 

or https://www.amazon.com/TechIntheBox-Express-Molex-Power-Adapter/dp/B01M2VTRTM/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1523571703&sr=8-16&keywords=molex+to+pci-e+adapter

 

or https://www.amazon.com/HXDZFX-Power-Graphics-Cable-7-Inches/dp/B06WGYPM85/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1523571703&sr=8-4&keywords=molex+to+pci-e+adapter

 

[caveman123]

I think getting a better PSU is the best route. I don't have any plans in burning the house down. The wires on this one look like string anyway. 

Is there any PSU anyone would recommend for a decent price ? 

[Stefan Payne]

10 hours ago, caveman123 said:

Hey everyone, I have another random question. I've been playing around with an older Windows XP machine for older games.

Remember to NOT connect that machine to the Internet!!

You might get owned on connect and your PC getting used in a Botnet for various malicious things...

 

 

10 hours ago, caveman123 said:

I have a Radeon HD 5870 that I want to put in it but the power supply only has one 6-pin connector and the card needs two.

Yes, that means that the PSU might not be designed for that load.

 

What PSU are you talking about? 

It seems to be an FSP, but wich one??

They have so many different units that its impossible to find your PSU without you naming the Number!

 

10 hours ago, caveman123 said:

There's extra connectors of different sorts ready to use so I was wondering if there are addapters to make one of those work to power the card.

Yes and burn the cables because they are overloaded.

Just google burned PCIe Adaptor.

 

Most of these Adaptors are so bad they can't handle the current and burn.

And you also need two cables, not just one!

 

 

10 hours ago, caveman123 said:

The Power Supple is a 460 watt unit so it should have enough juice.

Then why doesn't it have two PCIe connectors???

 

The Total Wattage is not that important.

The Rail distribution on +12V is.

How many rails does it have?
What's the combined rating?

 

The "460W FSP" units I've found only have two +12V rails wich 17-19A each. Wich could be a problem and cause the 5870 to switch off the PSU...

And 18A are only 204W, wich has to be enough for GPU, Drives, Motherboards.

The other rail is probably for the CPU only.

 

 

So you might want a new PSU. 

If you are in Europe, the be quiet System Power 9 with 400W is a good choice. The 8 not so much...

[caveman123]

It's a SPI power supply. Nothing special by any means. However being a side project I don't really want to put much, if not any money into it if possible. I pulled a GT 240 out of a dead machine and am just going to use that. 

 

Thanks for the help everyone.