XFX 6800 GT Power cord???

[esgabriente]

Ok i'm confused, my vid card works and everything, but having an extra cord seems wierd. I bought the XFX 6800 GT PCI-E, kickass card btw, and it requires a power supply. It came with a cord that fits perfectly in the back of the card, like a 6 pin atx cord, and it splits into two male 4 pin power plugs, like the Hard drive plugs. It's like a Y plug. They are both male ends, so me question is...
Do I plug in both or just one? What's the extra one for?
I have one plugged in, and it works just fine, but what's the other one for? I know the 6800 Ultra PCI-E requires two plugs but they also have to plugs in the back of the card, while the GT only has one. Anybody have the answer?

 

[Insidious]

The other one is to "give you back" one connection point to make up for the one that is taken when you hook up your video card. The video card doesn't need both plugged in. It's just there for anything else you might need to supply power to.

-Sid

 

[esgabriente]

Even if they are both female ends with 3-pins inside and not 4? I would think it would've been a 4 pin adapter. Same size and shape, though, just curious, thanks.

 

[MDE]

You have to plug both connectors into the PCIe power adapter. The second one is to supply more and cleaner power for more powerful cards like the 6800 Ultra that requires the extra power.

 

[SpeedTester]

I dont see how this supplies more power. I mean the 12v molex is 12v no matter how many you put into it.

Originally posted by: MDE
You have to plug both connectors into the PCIe power adapter. The second one is to supply more and cleaner power for more powerful cards like the 6800 Ultra that requires the extra power.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: SpeedTester
I dont see how this supplies more power. I mean the 12v molex is 12v no matter how many you put into it.

Originally posted by: MDE
You have to plug both connectors into the PCIe power adapter. The second one is to supply more and cleaner power for more powerful cards like the 6800 Ultra that requires the extra power.

Then why do the AGP 6800 Ultras need two molex connectors? Sure it's still 12V but you're forgetting wattage and amperage.

 

[esgabriente]

ok, as long as i have the 6 pin in the 68800 GT and the 4 pin into the the power source, the one that looks like a hard drive power supply, i'm good, but I absolutely should not plug both ends in the power source right? that's just extra for something else. Does the 6800 Ultra PCI-E really require so much power that it needs to slots to plug into power while the 6800 GT PCI-E only need one.