Can't power video card?

D

Danoroth

banned
Hey guys I just got my new pc, and the power supply dosent have a 6 pin power cable to power my video card Raedon 6870 what should I do?
 
Ok. so you are going to power a 6870 with a store bought pc? lol Don't come crying back here when your psu goes up in smoke, just warning you. And hopefully you will only have to buy a new psu instead of a whole new system. You have a crappy psu since it don't have any pci-express power connectors.
 
johnb35 said:
Ok. so you are going to power a 6870 with a store bought pc? lol Don't come crying back here when your psu goes up in smoke, just warning you. And hopefully you will only have to buy a new psu instead of a whole new system. You have a crappy psu since it don't have any pci-express power connectors.
Click to expand...

So why do they sell adapters? Tell me that, and what will go wrong so much that it will go up in smoke? Tell me. And my psu actually is good if it can power an i7 processor don't u think?
 
Johnb is absolutely right, a store bought psu is just enough to power the system you buy. Adding a decent gpu to the mix is asking for trouble. Rarely do oem psu's pump out what they say on the tin, and if they are they are generally cheaply built and unreliable.

You can have a look all over the internet at oem pc's with i7's and they have 400 (if that) watts of power from a rubbish psu. Its barely enough to run the system so obviously adding a powerful gpu is going to cause problems.

You have to take into consideration the actual amount of juice from the psu and not whats on the tin.

If your getting a 6870, dont use the connectors unless you have a decent psu such as corsair/ antec/xfx etc.

If it is oem, buy a new box its as simple as that, or like johnb said your system will end up in smoke.




I would suggest finding out exactly what your psu is, and also reading the psu 101 on this forum, its very helpful and explains a lot in terms of power useage. It also shows you on one of them what you need minimum for a hd 6870. and most other cards out.

EDIT: Psu 101, http://www.computerforum.com/computer-cases-power-supplies-cooling/announcements.html

This one tells you howmany watts you need, (based on a decent psu) http://www.computerforum.com/186629-power-supply-psu-tech-guide.html
 
Last edited:
Danoroth said:
So why do they sell adapters? Tell me that, and what will go wrong so much that it will go up in smoke? Tell me. And my psu actually is good if it can power an i7 processor don't u think?
Click to expand...

The reason is what Mikeb2817 just told you. If you bought an HP, compaq, Dell, Emachine, Acer pc... you will be lucky enough to have a 350-400 watt OEM psu which will only put out enough power to power the system as it is. When adding a powerful video card like the 6870, you need a more powerful power supply. Whats the model number of computer you bought? That way we can get a better idea of what psu it has. Or you can open the side of the case and give us the model number that is listed on the psu itself.
 
Take it from someone who has had this experience... Don't upgrade your card without upgrading the PSU.

My last rig lasted about 2 mos after upgrading the video card on a OEM PSU.

I had no idea until I got on these forums how important the PSU is.. but with the research I have done, It is one of the most important pieces in your system.

These guys know what they are talking about.. It will end up in smoke.
 
they have adapters for if you have an older psu, like mine, i have one of the first versions of the hx 620, i only have space for 2 pcie connectors.

If i had weaker cards, i could crossfire potentially with my psu ( i cant do this as i have 620watts, minimum for hd 6850's is 650)

You have 500 watts granted, but its inneficient (or so we presume as you have bought it new prebuilt).

If you can link us to the pc you have or tell us your psu make and model we can get a better idea on wether you need an upgrade.

a massive tell tale sign is that you dont alredy have a pcie connector, i have never seen a psu without, so that straight away suggests to me oem. I could be wrong and you may have a modular psu that hasnt had the pcie connectors placed in it. This is why we need to know what make and model you have.

And 500 watts for the 6870 is from a reputable brand, not a dell/hp/acer/toshiba oem psu.


EDIT: please read the psu guides, they are very helpful and will show you why you need a decent psu.

A link to the exact pc you bought would be good as well.


IIRC, you warranty will not cover you for adding component that leads to a broken pc. i could be wrong as i am not sure where your from but my understanding is most warrantys only cover the parts in the pc, if you add parts which lead to a failure that was on you for not ensuring compatibility etc.
 
Last edited:
Danoroth said:
I bought my pc off eBay, brand new and bought my videocard from the local pc shop. My power supply is a 500W, the video card I have needs OMG! 500W! So why the heck do they have adapters? No1 answered that did they? NO! Maybe some cheap PSU's can't hold that many wires, it's the same power only in a different plug!, r u guys stupid or something? Ad the friken eBay seller said it will be fine to run a 6870, and I have warrenty if it does "go up in smoke".
Click to expand...

Maybe you didn't see it, but mikeb2817 already answered your question.


First off, they sell adapters for different situations. But let me ask you a question.... If you PSU was made for this type of upgrade, then why wouldnt it already have the proper wiring? I can tell you why it doesn't. It is likely a cheap power supply.

Second, Cheap power supplies have wattage ratings on them but there is more to a power supply than just wattage. Almost all cheap power supplies NEVER actually do what they state on the package. It is this way in the car audio market as well... Buy a cheap AMP and get less wattage.

Third, as far as warranty is concerned, I am sure when you do "GO UP IN SMOKE" that the warranty will not cover it due to you replacing parts within the unit. When you build a computer on your own, each piece has warranty. When a prebuilt is bought, you only have the factory warranty that will not cover ANYTHING that you replace.

You asked the questions and you recieved the proper answers from both John and Mike... Up to you if you want to take thier suggestions.



***EDIT*** I had looked at a few recent posts that you have made and realized that several people have said similar things to you about the power supplies in former posts. Please keep in mind that no one here wants you to spend unecessary money on anything..... But we all suggest that you upgrade your PSU to not cause future problems.
 
Last edited:
Exo said:
Please keep in mind that no one here wants you to spend unecessary money on anything
Click to expand...

^^^ +1

None of us are here thinking we want you to spend stupid amounts of money on something you dont need, some of us know from experience such as exo, that spending a bit extra now can save a fortune in the future.

You already have an I7, they arent cheap i know that, but no sense in paying for a new one plus all the other components in lieu of a decent psu.
 
Still waiting to find out what model number the power supply is. Would you rather run your system off of a $30 500 watt psu or a $60 500 watt reliable/dependable psu? Does your power supply have 32 amps on the 12 volt rail? Is it a single rail or dual rail psu?
 
mikeb2817 said:
they have adapters for if you have an older psu, like mine, i have one of the first versions of the hx 620, i only have space for 2 pcie connectors.

If i had weaker cards, i could crossfire potentially with my psu ( i cant do this as i have 620watts, minimum for hd 6850's is 650)

You have 500 watts granted, but its inneficient (or so we presume as you have bought it new prebuilt).

If you can link us to the pc you have or tell us your psu make and model we can get a better idea on wether you need an upgrade.

a massive tell tale sign is that you dont alredy have a pcie connector, i have never seen a psu without, so that straight away suggests to me oem. I could be wrong and you may have a modular psu that hasnt had the pcie connectors placed in it. This is why we need to know what make and model you have.

And 500 watts for the 6870 is from a reputable brand, not a dell/hp/acer/toshiba oem psu.


EDIT: please read the psu guides, they are very helpful and will show you why you need a decent psu.

A link to the exact pc you bought would be good as well.


IIRC, you warranty will not cover you for adding component that leads to a broken pc. i could be wrong as i am not sure where your from but my understanding is most warrantys only cover the parts in the pc, if you add parts which lead to a failure that was on you for not ensuring compatibility etc.
Click to expand...

this is the pc i have: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290571358865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
i have it right now, and the seller said it will be fine to run a 6870?
 
Since this is a new computer and the power supply has 500W and doesnt have any PCIe power connectors. This tells you that its a cheap lowend supply. A new quality 500W power supply will have atleast one PCIe power connector. Plus cheap supplies dump alot of watts and amps off on the 3.3/5V rail. So it has nowhere near 500W on the 12V rail.

If you have the computer already, pop it open and give us the make and model of the supply. No one here is trying to give you a hard time, they are just giving you good advice and dont want to see you fry a supply and end up taking more hardware out with it.
 
mikeb2817 said:
they have adapters for if you have an older psu, like mine, i have one of the first versions of the hx 620, i only have space for 2 pcie connectors.

If i had weaker cards, i could crossfire potentially with my psu ( i cant do this as i have 620watts, minimum for hd 6850's is 650)

You have 500 watts granted, but its inneficient (or so we presume as you have bought it new prebuilt).

If you can link us to the pc you have or tell us your psu make and model we can get a better idea on wether you need an upgrade.

a massive tell tale sign is that you dont alredy have a pcie connector, i have never seen a psu without, so that straight away suggests to me oem. I could be wrong and you may have a modular psu that hasnt had the pcie connectors placed in it. This is why we need to know what make and model you have.

And 500 watts for the 6870 is from a reputable brand, not a dell/hp/acer/toshiba oem psu.


EDIT: please read the psu guides, they are very helpful and will show you why you need a decent psu.

A link to the exact pc you bought would be good as well.


IIRC, you warranty will not cover you for adding component that leads to a broken pc. i could be wrong as i am not sure where your from but my understanding is most warrantys only cover the parts in the pc, if you add parts which lead to a failure that was on you for not ensuring compatibility etc.
Click to expand...

Yeh sure, this is my pc: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290571358865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
The seller said it can handle the 6870, and the minimum Wattage for the 6870 is 500W: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...6870/pages/amd-radeon-hd-6870-overview.aspx#3
 
The 500 watts, is essentially considered from a decent psu, either open your tower and have a look at the make and model of your current psu or email the seller and ask which brand they use.

I had a look at the ad, and also the seller in general, they never specify which model of psu they use.

Think of it this way, you have a 4gb ipod nano and a 4gb chinese mp3 player that looks like a nano, which is going to be made with better parts and essnetially last longer. I can tel you now i still have my ipod 2nd gen nano, and none of the chinese rip offs iv had over the years.

Ask the seller what brand he uses, once you know that post back and we can let you know if it will handle the gpu.

Basically a 500 watts crappy make psu will be very inefficient and be unable to provide enough consistent juice to the card, where as quality brands such as corsair, antec etc are much more efficient, making them a lot more failure resistant and actually pumping enough power that they suggest they do on the tin.
 
Don't argue with Johnb...he knows his stuff and wouldnt steer you wrong.

when your pc burns up from using a crappy psu, please post pictures in the LOL thread.
 
Laquer head is right, john has helped a lot of us, and as such knows a lot more than most on here, including me, hes also helped many a user out of a jam, me included. SO what he says goes above what most others do.

if that makes any sense :P
 
Im confused on why and how you just dumped 700 dollers into a computer and what not and have so much resistance to buy a new PSU, there a small fraction of the investment and will in the long run if nothing else give you peace of mind, and you will have another powersupply lying around if you ever wana make another computer or something.


I my self learned a lot reading this thread, i have a 4 year old pc with a 585 watt Orion PSU, its running my 6850....it seems to be fine but now i'm wondering if i should upgrade my psu....i don't know if Orion is a crap company or what, but its been dependable for 4 years, and i don't think its going to make my system fail. any ideas?

sorry to ask a question on someone elses thread!

but thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top