Does a GTX 260 have to have both power plugs to work?

[mazeroth]

My power supply just died and I have a backup 400w FSP that I was going to use for the time being. Problem is, the 2 6 pin plugs on the GTX 260. This FSP doesn't have the 6 pin type and my video card only came with a single 12v (4 pin) to 6 pin adapter so I can only put one in. The adapter has two 4 pins to a single 6 pin. Does that mean I put two of the 4 pin plugs into the one adapter?

I did try it with a POS Ultra 500w FAR from Fry's that does have a single 6 pin and then used the adapter. First, with only one 4 pin, then with both. Every time, with both power supplies, my motherboard lights up, the hard drives move, but the video card fan doesn't come on and my monitor says it can't detect a signal.

I'm wondering if my Enermax Liberty 500w killed my video card or even some other parts of my computer when it died on me 2 nights ago.

I'm ordering this PS right now off Newegg. I'm not playing games anymore with power supplies. Hell, when I bought the Enermax for $110 3.5 years ago I thought I was golden.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371025

Any input is GREATLY appreciated!

 

[dflynchimp]

yeah, you need to to fill both 6-pin power plugs for it to work. You're right about Ultra being a POS though.

 

[Painman]

The Antec you're looking to buy seems pretty decent - reviewed here.

So, you tried running the system with the FSP powering the mobo, etc. and the Ultra running the 260? Just making sure I understood correctly. You can do that, but you have to manually power on the second PSU in that case (short the green wire in its main 20/24 pin connector to a black wire in the connector using a paper clip or what-not).

Maybe you already knew that... just wanna make sure.

 

[mazeroth]

No, what I did was used the Ultra by itself with its single 6 pin plug and then the 6 pin adapter that shipped with the video card. I also tried the FSP by itself with just the 6 pin adapter because the FSP doesn't have a 6 pin plug.

Crossing my fingers a new PS will remedy this. If not, I don't even want to think about what could be wrong!

 

[Painman]

Ah OK, I gotcha.

Try pulling the video card out of the sytem and turning it on. If you get the good old 1 long, 3 short beep code out of the motherboard, that would probably be a good omen.

 

[myocardia]

$300 for your CPU
$500 for your GFX card
$100 for your memory
$200 for your motherboard
$9.99 for your PSU

Having an Ultra psu take out your computer-- PRICELESS!

 

[Schmide]

I did try it with a POS Ultra 500w FAR

You're right about Ultra being a POS though.

$300 for your CPU
$500 for your GFX card
$100 for your memory
$200 for your motherboard
$9.99 for your PSU

Having an Ultra psu take out your computer-- PRICELESS!

Dude the Ultras are not that bad, they're quiet and put out enough juice to run with very little vdrop. Back when ultra was giving them away after rebate, I picked up 5*. All of them have been running relatively high end systems since. Including a watercooled overclocked q6600@3.3 and a 4870. They don't even put out that much heat.

* Edit3: Checked my purchase log. It was

1 400w xFinity
2 500w xConnect
2 600w xFinity

All going strong.


It never ceases to amaze me how people classify things that aren't enthusiast.

I don't think your PSU is the problem. Even the 400w has enough juice to run most systems, except maybe an overclocked i7 or phenom 965. Even then they would probably boot fine.

Edit: In fact I would put an Ultra above any pre 2006 Antec any day. Those PSUs failed.

Edit2: I checked out the q6600 4870 system and it's actually an Ultra 600.

 

[Ben90]

Actually it doesn't need both power plugs to work.... I bet everyone that says otherwise hasn't even tried pulling one

Dude the Ultras are not that bad

LOLOLOLOL, there have been some ultras in the past that couldn't even reach 50% of their advertised power. My friend had a LSP 750 that died in 6 months powering a q6700 and a 9800gtx (nothing overclocked). Fortunately it didnt take anything out with it...

Following Test #2 both (yes, we had two units) Ultra X2 750w power supplies we had failed to turn on. They did complete Test #2 but one unit died outright while a second would simply not scale any higher than Test #2 load.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/02/06/ultra_x2_extreme_edition_750w_power_supply/1

If a company does shit like that, i have no intentions of supporting them, or allowing them to redeem themselves. Especially with something as important as a PSU... If a video card is slow, thats different, you just wasted some money. If a power supply decides to light itself on fire while running F@H and your at work, you lose your house and everything in it. Ultra just flat out lied on the x2 supplies, they claimed their shittly built 350w supply was a 750w and was SLI certified, when in fact neither of those were true.

Im surprised Nvidia/consumers didn't sue Ultra for its beyond shit product

 

[mazeroth]

$300 for your CPU
$500 for your GFX card
$100 for your memory
$200 for your motherboard
$9.99 for your PSU

Having an Ultra psu take out your computer-- PRICELESS!

$140 for my CPU
$130 for my GFX card
$60 for my memory
$100 for my motherboard
$110 for my power supply

Having a douchebag try to make fun of you in your thread and fail-- PRICELESS!

It was my Enermax Liberty 500w that failed. I only tried the backup Ultra to see if it would work.

Please, no personal insults in here in Video Cards and Graphics. This isn't OT or P&N, it's a tech forum.

TIA

Fern
Super Moderator

 

[Ben90]

$140 for my CPU
$130 for my GFX card
$60 for my memory
$100 for my motherboard
$110 for my power supply

Having a douchebag try to make fun of you in your thread and fail-- PRICELESS!

It was my Enermax Liberty 500w that failed. I only tried the backup Ultra to see if it would work.

I think he was making a joke about ultra PSUs, not about you specifically

 

[AzN]

Actually it doesn't need both power plugs to work.... I bet everyone that says otherwise hasn't even tried pulling one

Actually you need both plugs or it will not boot.

 

[Ben90]

Actually you need both plugs or it will not boot.

Hmm, I dont have one on hand to check, but I thought they could run off only pci-e power for 2d mode. I guess times have changed, my friend had a 8600 that ran 100% off pci-e power even though it had a 6 pin, even had room for a overclock.

Granted the 8600 isnt the power hogging beast the 260 is, but I didn't know it was THAT power hungry

 

[yh125d]

As for the ultra PSUs...


Some are pretty good. Some are absolute shit. Some are mediocre. You really have to judge them by the model, not by the brand. (You see the same with OCZ and Thermaltake. Some are good, some are bad)