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Is it safe to use a sata to 6 pin connector for graphics card?

Hey guyz

 

 I wanted to ask that my freind was giving me an r9 270x for really cheap .. the only problem is that it requires two 6 pin connector and my powersupply support only 1.. although it is a 525 watt dell powersupply.. now i m wondering that using a sata power to 6 pin connector can save the day?.. is it safe for a long period? About 8-9 months?

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You should get a better power supply that won't burn your house down.

If a PSU doesn't have the necessary cables that's an indication you need a better PSU.

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Short answer: yes, it will work.

 

Longer answer:  while it's possible, you really shouldn't do it. 

 

SATA connectors aren't really designed for the power video cards consume.  There's 3 contacts inside each SATA connector that carry 12v, and they're rated for 1.5A per contact, so in total you have a maximum permitted of 4.5A ... which means a 3 x 1.5A x 12A = 54w

The 6pin pci-e connector is supposed to transfer up to 75w to the video card, so if you use a simple adapter that has a single SATA connector at one end, it's not going to end well.

Even with 2 SATA connectors, you'd still transfer nearly 40w through each connector, and while in theory each SATA connector is rated for 54w (so it should be safe), in practice a lot of SATA connectors these days are manufactured using cheaper methods which can cause the SATA connectors to fail in horrible ways when there's significant amount of power going through them (let's say more than 20w).

For example, SATA connectors that use injection molding to seal the covers over the metal contacts can get hot when a lot of power goes through them, which can cause the metal contacts inside to move around and cause short circuits which can cause the connectors to burn. Here's what could happen:

 

 

Your power supply should still have the old molex (that were used with IDE hard drives) connectors. You should buy a 2 molex to pci-e 6 or pci-e 6+2 adapter and use that.  the molex connectors can handle higher currents, around 5A each, and the metal cntacts are much much better and there's much less risk of melting or burning.

 

And, such adapters are cheap, here's a cheap and good model from Newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACJF5497357

 

 

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23 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Short answer: yes, it will work.

 

Longer answer:  while it's possible, you really shouldn't do it. 

 

SATA connectors aren't really designed for the power video cards consume.  There's 3 contacts inside each SATA connector that carry 12v, and they're rated for 1.5A per contact, so in total you have a maximum permitted of 4.5A ... which means a 3 x 1.5A x 12A = 54w

The 6pin pci-e connector is supposed to transfer up to 75w to the video card, so if you use a simple adapter that has a single SATA connector at one end, it's not going to end well.

Even with 2 SATA connectors, you'd still transfer nearly 40w through each connector, and while in theory each SATA connector is rated for 54w (so it should be safe), in practice a lot of SATA connectors these days are manufactured using cheaper methods which can cause the SATA connectors to fail in horrible ways when there's significant amount of power going through them (let's say more than 20w).

For example, SATA connectors that use injection molding to seal the covers over the metal contacts can get hot when a lot of power goes through them, which can cause the metal contacts inside to move around and cause short circuits which can cause the connectors to burn. Here's what could happen:

 

 

Your power supply should still have the old molex (that were used with IDE hard drives) connectors. You should buy a 2 molex to pci-e 6 or pci-e 6+2 adapter and use that.  the molex connectors can handle higher currents, around 5A each, and the metal cntacts are much much better and there's much less risk of melting or burning.

 

And, such adapters are cheap, here's a cheap and good model from Newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACJF5497357

 

 

Thank you soo much but i have one idea more .. first of all i have to tell you my specs.. i have a dell precision t3500 .. with xeon x5670 and it has it's own powersupply and motherboard.. and i also have a dell precision t3400 525 watt powersupply which has two 6 pin connectors.. but the only problem is that it has 4 pin eps board connector and my board require 8 .. i wonder if that matters because i saw videos which says it doesn't matter we can connect 4 pin to 8 pin.. should i do that? Does it work because they are from different pc.. so plz guide me

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your cpu is a 95w chip (with boost could probably use more like 120w) and therefore should be fine with a 4 pin (144w) however i wouldn't recommend going anywhere near overclocking (i do not know if it is unlocked). in my opinion, wait until black Friday then buy a cheap 600w power supply from a reputable seller (corsair, cooler-master, thermaltake, evga) then you will have no issues at all and you will get extra connectors for everything and will come with the 8 pin eps connector (288w) your motherboard needs.

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The EPS connector is rated for 9A per pin. Cables physically can do more.

 

ATX specification limits the maximum current in 4 pin cpu connector to 8A so the max is 2 pairs x 8A x 12v = 192w

If 8 pin connector is used, the standard derates power to 7A per pin, so you have 4 pairs x 7A x 12v = 336w

 

Like guy above says, your cpu is a bit power hungry but shouldn't go over 120w or so and this means using a 4pin cpu cable should be fine.

You should test with the board - some will refuse to start unless 8 pin connector is used.

 

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Would the same be true of a Molex to 6 pin adapter?

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atx standard says molex contacts must carry up to 5A

you have one pair of 12v in connector

you have 2 connectors

=> adapter can do 2 x 5A x 12v =120w safely, shouldn't be used for more.

 

Safe for pci-e 6pin (75w), safe-ish for 8 pin (150w) as long the molex connectors are on SEPARATE chains of connectors coming from the psu - you want two pairs of 12v wires all the way to psu.

If on same chain, your limit is the max a single 12v pair can carry (~9A / 100w, the limit of modular connector contacts on psu)

 

120w is below 150w but most gpu won't actually get close to maximum, they'd rather use 2 connectors instead.

 

For example, this 270x op has will pull up to 125w without oc. Probably 60w will be taken from pci-e slot, so you're left with 65w from extra power connectors.

That's too close to 75w (limit for one 6pin connector) and if they went with just one pci-e 6pin, they'd be forced to limit overclocking, so it was simpler to add a connector to allow for higher oc and maybe also take less power fom mb slot.

So you may have 50w from slot + 40w (pcie 6pin 1) + 40w (pcie 6pin 2) = 130w  and you have 25w/connector left as headroom for OC.

So in default state you may only be dealing with 40-50w per pci-e 6pin which is manageable and safer with molex->pcie

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7 hours ago, Ic3d said:

your cpu is a 95w chip (with boost could probably use more like 120w) and therefore should be fine with a 4 pin (144w) however i wouldn't recommend going anywhere near overclocking (i do not know if it is unlocked). in my opinion, wait until black Friday then buy a cheap 600w power supply from a reputable seller (corsair, cooler-master, thermaltake, evga) then you will have no issues at all and you will get extra connectors for everything and will come with the 8 pin eps connector (288w) your motherboard needs.

My board cannot do overclocking.. i wanted to say that ri8 now i have ha w3565 but.. after 2 - 3 days i will change it to x5670.. i know w3565 is more power hungry then a x5670 but will the w3565 work with 4 pin eps connector?or i should wait for my cpu to change?

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7 hours ago, mariushm said:

The EPS connector is rated for 9A per pin. Cables physically can do more.

 

ATX specification limits the maximum current in 4 pin cpu connector to 8A so the max is 2 pairs x 8A x 12v = 192w

If 8 pin connector is used, the standard derates power to 7A per pin, so you have 4 pairs x 7A x 12v = 336w

 

Like guy above says, your cpu is a bit power hungry but shouldn't go over 120w or so and this means using a 4pin cpu cable should be fine.

You should test with the board - some will refuse to start unless 8 pin connector is used.

 

So there is no chance that my motherboard will fry?

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41 minutes ago, mariushm said:

atx standard says molex contacts must carry up to 5A

you have one pair of 12v in connector

you have 2 connectors

=> adapter can do 2 x 5A x 12v =120w safely, shouldn't be used for more.

 

Safe for pci-e 6pin (75w), safe-ish for 8 pin (150w) as long the molex connectors are on SEPARATE chains of connectors coming from the psu - you want two pairs of 12v wires all the way to psu.

If on same chain, your limit is the max a single 12v pair can carry (~9A / 100w, the limit of modular connector contacts on psu)

 

120w is below 150w but most gpu won't actually get close to maximum, they'd rather use 2 connectors instead.

 

For example, this 270x op has will pull up to 125w without oc. Probably 60w will be taken from pci-e slot, so you're left with 65w from extra power connectors.

That's too close to 75w (limit for one 6pin connector) and if they went with just one pci-e 6pin, they'd be forced to limit overclocking, so it was simpler to add a connector to allow for higher oc and maybe also take less power fom mb slot.

So you may have 50w from slot + 40w (pcie 6pin 1) + 40w (pcie 6pin 2) = 130w  and you have 25w/connector left as headroom for OC.

So in default state you may only be dealing with 40-50w per pci-e 6pin which is manageable and safer with molex->pcie

Thanks alot for giving me this kind info

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/22/2018 at 2:26 AM, mariushm said:

Short answer: yes, it will work.

 

Longer answer:  while it's possible, you really shouldn't do it. 

 

SATA connectors aren't really designed for the power video cards consume.  There's 3 contacts inside each SATA connector that carry 12v, and they're rated for 1.5A per contact, so in total you have a maximum permitted of 4.5A ... which means a 3 x 1.5A x 12A = 54w

I apologize for bringing this old thread to life but do you think it's safe to power an HD7790 from a single SATA to 6-pin connector?

 

The card is rated for around ~90W and I've no idea how much power it draws from the PCIe slot, although it should be around at least 25W so basically looking at around ~50-60W of power from the adapter. 

 

Since it's a GCN card, I should be able to undervolt it from the settings, in case it's absolutely necessary + I tend to play games with either a 30 or 60FPS vsync lock which tends to put less strain on the hardware. 

 

Do you think I should go with it?

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8 minutes ago, Man said:

I apologize for bringing this old thread to life but do you think it's safe to power an HD7790 from a single SATA to 6-pin connector?

 

The card is rated for around ~90W and I've no idea how much power it draws from the PCIe slot, although it should be around at least 25W so basically looking at around ~50-60W of power from the adapter. 

 

Since it's a GCN card, I should be able to undervolt it from the settings, in case it's absolutely necessary + I tend to play games with either a 30 or 60FPS vsync lock which tends to put less strain on the hardware. 

 

Do you think I should go with it?

index.php?ct=articles&action=file&id=273

 

 

In all honesty it is pretty safe, it's not that power hungry but moving forwards, get a more capable PSU with proper PCI-E cables.

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