6800 Ultra and the Molex Connector issue

[shpanky]

Hey folks,

I have an Antec trueblue 480w PSU in my machine (had it for a while...was having power problems on an older mobo that turned out to actually be defective...<shrug>) Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how I can drop my preordered BFG 6800 Ultra OC into my case and use this PSU. I only have 6 molex connectors (2 each on 3 different lines), which means two of those lines are GONE for the Ultra. Essentially, I'll need to string 2 drives (CDRW burner and DVD Burner) and two hard drives to the single existing molex connector. Will a single molex be adequate to run all these devices on one line? What would you guys recommend? I know I have adequate power on my PSU now to run the card, but would I have adequate power to run my other devices? ;-) Otherwise, I also preordered a 6800GT and I'll cancel the ultra. Thank you!


adam

 

[darkswordsman17]

How do you have only one molex left for the drives? You have 3 lines with 2 molex on each and so you have 6 connectors. Then the Ultra will take 2 (provided you are overclocking it, otherwise it only needs 1), so that leaves you with 4 connectors. Well you have 4 drives, so that should take care of that for you I think.

And also, do NOT try to connect all 4 of those to a single molex. It'd be smarter to run your 6800 on one molex than to do that.

 

[VisableAssassin]

you dont have to use two seperate leads off the PSU (IIRC) there was a review somewhere where they just used one lead and a splitter and it worked fine.

 

[Gamingphreek]

nvidia went overboard, once again, on the power and cooling requirements on there card.

There card acutally runs much cooler than the ATI card, however it does need 25watts more power. Ive seen reports of people running the 6800Ultra with a good 350Watt PSU. Youll be fine. BTW you dont need dedicated lines to the video card, just hook one line with 2 connectors up to the card and youll do fine.

-Kevin

 

[LTC8K6]

The BFG is an overclocked card and the BFG site still says you need the two connectors and the 480W PS. You will probably get away with one power connector, but I just wanted to point this out.

 

[VisableAssassin]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
The BFG is an overclocked card and the BFG site still says you need the two connectors and the 480W PS. You will probably get away with one power connector, but I just wanted to point this out.

well weve got one guy here allready that has a 6800u OC lets ask him to run the card on two seperate leads from the PSU the from a splitter and see if he notices any difference or any "strange" htings happoning

 

[EngenZerO]

lol... i run from two different lines.

Line 1 to my Ultra consists of a daisy chain of 3 fans (1 led 2 normail), 2 blue led lights, 1 fdd, and 1 audigy live bay

Line 2 to my Ultra consists of a cd burner only

I had zero problems last night when I tested with 3dmark and gamed for a few hours.

btw... I run an antec 550

 

[LTC8K6]

What if the card just underclocks automatically for a poor power supply?

Seriously, I said he would probably get away with with one connector, since that's what NVidia said the new bios would do. He will probably only need one connector period, not even a splitter if his PS is decent.

 

[nippyjun]

I've run an ultra extreme with an antec true 330 power supply. I took a molex from each of 2 leads. No problems.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hopefully the 400Mhz ultras will run with only a single molex connector used, as NV said they would, and only overclockers would need to bother plugging anything into the second connector.

 

[shpanky]

In regards to the top msg, I was assuming I needed two SEPARATE molex lines going to the video card. Looks like that's not the case, according to some of the msgs here. As long as I can split the one molex leading to the video card, I'll be a happy camper. I think i'll put an email into BFG tech support and ask them for verification. Thanks folks!

 

[Rankor]

The card package should come supplied with 2 power y-splitters, so from using these on your existing power cords you should be able to connect the rest of your components using these.

 

[shpanky]

BFG got back to me...here's their answer:

My email
------
hi there,

I have a question regarding your upcoming BFG 6800 Ultra card. I know that this card requires two molex connections to run, but here's the problem. I have an Antec 480w truepower PSU with I believe 5 molex connectors on it. I have two disk drives (cdrw and dvd burner) and two hard drives. Essentially, I have ONE molex connection left over to connect to the video card after I've connected all the other devices. Now...can I use a splitter to divide the molex connector for the video card or is that a no-no? It seems a bit frustrating that I have an appropriately powered PSU and have in my machine what many others would, and have to use two separate molex connectors to run this card. Thanks for any info you can provide.


Their reply
-----
Yes, that would be a No-No. This card is significantly power hungry and it is one of the reasons that we actually offer a bundle of a 550watt power supply and the card. As a matter of fact, I would not be so sure that your 480w supply would be enough even if you did have enough molex connectors to run it. As to you having what many others would, and not being able to run this card, the truth of the matter is that most people who get this card are going to find that there power supply does not have enough juice for the card. But the card is meant for the truly hardcore user who must have the best of the best in everything. Unfortunatly in this instance, having the best possible power supply is almost a requirement to have this card.

BFG Support.

-----


Now, I'm wondering, when the hell did min requirements for this card jump from 480 to 550?? Nvidia never states this anywhere and this response feels more like a sales pitch to buy their damn PSU. What do you guys think?


adam

 

[Willian]

Hmmmm.....Interesting...hehe. I think Im staying with the Radeon X800 XT, Although I do have the Antec True 550

 

[VisableAssassin]

they may be falling back on what NV was telling them...try to use a splitter and see what happons.
ive got an antec TP 550 and i plan on splitting the damn thing up anyways...unless I stop being lazy and redo my cabling

 

[Marsumane]

I think they are just playing it safe. It would cause much bigger problems if they were advising something underspec then overspec. If i was in your position, id still get the card.

 

[hysperion]

figure it this way....you have 3 lines and 2 connectors on each line....lets say one connector for the 6800u stresses 60% of the line which is just a guestimate but on a 480w card it probably isn't much higher then that.... Lets call it line 1, 2, and 3 and the different connectors will be A and B...make sense?

Connect Line 1A to the first molex on the 6800u and Line 1B to a cdrw drive
Connect Line 2A to the second molex on the 6800u and Line 2B to the dvd burner
Line 3A and 3B can then be used for the hard drives.....and case fans if you got em' with an adaptor....

Make sense?

 

[hysperion]

you'll be fine with the truepower 480...in fact the 12v rails are probably as high as that fortran they're bundling....just do what I said above...I've got the truepower 430 and I'm not worried....

-bfg already stated that their card ran with only 1 connector plugged in and had only slight shimmering, I think you're fine.....it was posted on hardocp awhile back...

 

[manko]

Originally posted by: shpanky
BFG got back to me...here's their answer:

Yes, that would be a No-No. This card is significantly power hungry and it is one of the reasons that we actually offer a bundle of a 550watt power supply and the card. As a matter of fact, I would not be so sure that your 480w supply would be enough even if you did have enough molex connectors to run it.

I also detect just a hint of a sales pitch in there.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

Originally posted by: manko

Originally posted by: shpanky
BFG got back to me...here's their answer:

Yes, that would be a No-No. This card is significantly power hungry and it is one of the reasons that we actually offer a bundle of a 550watt power supply and the card. As a matter of fact, I would not be so sure that your 480w supply would be enough even if you did have enough molex connectors to run it.

I also detect just a hint of a sales pitch in there.

I concur. Sounds like they are trying to get you to buy a nice 550W power supply along with your card.

-D'oh!

EDIT: Hysperion's suggestion above (a detailed description of the general feeling of the posts here) seems to be like a good solution. Try it out. The worst that can happen is you get an error message from the card asking for more power. Well, I guess the worst that can happen is that you burn down your neighborhood, but most likely you'll be fine

-D!

 

[shpanky]

hey folks,

One more msg from BFG:

My msg
----
I'm confused by your response. In ALL documentation/previews relating to the 6800 ultra, Nvidia has stated that a 480w power supply should be sufficient for running this video card. 480w is a very high PSU for any PC (most come standard with 300-350w) and I'm running a very high quality PSU. Why does it need to be a 550w PSU now?



Their response:
-----
Allow me to clarify. Yes, we will be bundling a 550 watt power supply with this card. This does not however mean that 550 is your minimum power supply that you can get away with. The 480 watts you have been seeing is the minimum power supply required to run this card. Your current pcs that ship with a 300-350 watt power supply will, in all liklihood not be able to run this card at all or experience system instability as a result of the fairly impressive power demands that this card makes. So, to address your question. Is 480 watts enough to run this card, officially yes, and in application, quite likley. However you do still have a dearth of molex connectors to run and it is suggested that you use molex connectors from different branches, once again, to assure the card gets enough power. You MAY be able to get away with branching your one connector into two, and if you do, more power to you. However, do not be surprised if your computer dosent post or cant seem to run graphically intense applications with the card hooked up in this fashion. Its simply a case of try and see, just to a higher degree than with any card previously out there. Ive seen people run FX cards with a 180 watt power supply too...partly due to them having a very good make of power supply and partly due to not having a whole lot of other power hungry hardware in the system. Just goes to show that the suggested system requirements are just that, suggestions. If you are unable to meet the suggestions, then be prepared for it to not work up to snuff. Or it may work just fine, but the suggestions are certainly something to keep in mind when choosing a piece of hardware to put in the system.




------


They're bundling a 550w psu with the card? I find that hard to believe, unless you get their special watercooled package. I'll wait and see what Best Buy ultimately sends me in the mail. I noticed the ultras are sold out on BB site ;-) Fortunately I got one early!


adam

 

[Gamingphreek]

Here is a really good idea!

ench the card with it wired with 2 seperate power connectors not using an cable splitters or anything. Then benchamrk it again with only 1 pugged in, and then benchmark it with a cable splitter. There problem solved .

-Kevin

 

[shpanky]

Oh, i'm going to get the card...just gonna use a splitter. Just thought you guys might like the know the type of (mis)information that seems to be out there in the channels.


adam

 

[Illissius]

A local (meaning hungarian) hardware site recently (meaning today) did a 6800U review and they tried running it off a 300W Seasonic PSU, with only one molex, and even overclocked it to 449/something and didn't have any issues with it (here's a link, but good luck making any sense of it). God nVidia's marketing dept. sucks .

 

[LTC8K6]

Yeah, months from now boxes and websites will still say you need 480watts and 2 connectors and folks will still think they can't run the cards.