Posts by wanderingbison9

Edward Thompson86 said:Sure, but their argument is that you aren't actually losing any raw hardware performance; they're just throttling it specifically for crypto mining, which isn't even my concern since I'm strictly focused on video editing.

I suppose we can only hope the algorithm doesn't mistake heavy video rendering for a false positive and flag it as mining activity. 😁

Emily Smith6 said:Republican Spider: I’ve finally reached the point where I’m the one asking for a job, much like the countless people who used to come to me begging for work

Word on the street is that this "new opportunity" for Spider might be the Director position at Yosemite National Park.

"I really wouldn't comment on those rumors right now. But if you're asking whether I'll find myself in the same position as so many citizens who sat in my office pleading for any kind of help finding employment... well, I suppose I am in that situation now," said Spider.

The Republican Party will surely look after its fallen soldier

If someone were to be Jelić and find a position within the county, considering how much experience they have... who could possibly afford to pay for that kind of expertise?😛

wiredotter14 said:Why not just buy two separately or under two different names?

I actually tried that. When you're logged in and try to add a second one to your cart, it just won't let you. You end up having to log out, add the item, and then log back in again. I mean, why should they care how many I want to purchase? It's the first time I've run into this kind of thing... it's almost as if they assume things are so cheap that people will just hoard them all to flip for a profit, so they limit you to a maximum of two units to ensure everyone can get a pair for dual channel setup.

I'm actually trying to grab two of these on Links:

But the site is being stubborn and only letting me add one to my cart at a time, even though it clearly says there are 37 units left in stock. Is there some kind of weird glitch happening here, or am I just missing something?

Ryan Gonzalez4 said:One solid NVMe drive should be plenty, especially since you still have to worry about your RAM and CPU potentially causing a bottleneck.
The real issue is that when I go to render a plot, the system still needs to be connected to the Hard Drive Corp. This means I’m going to run out of SATA ports. Right now, I have ten Hard Drives in the mix, leaving me with only two available ports. So, I'm just trying to figure out the most efficient way to handle that. 🤔

So, if the motherboard has two M.2 slots, wouldn't we need to be careful about which one is wired directly to the CPU and which one runs through the chipset? It might make sense to plug a SATA adapter into the one controlled by the chipset instead.

What’s the actual strategy here if you aren't going with a fast Chiu 1 x M.2 NVMe paired with several mechanical hard drives? If that isn't the plan, then you really shouldn't be tying up that M.2 slot, should you?

Ryan Gonzalez4 said:I'm not really worried about the OS side of things and I won't be using an SSD, just a 7200 RPM Hard Drive. I'm honestly just weighing which option makes more sense here. So, are you suggesting that an M.2 card would be the better way to go for my specific setup?

Hmm... if you're absolutely certain that you won't find a use for an M.2 NVMe drive down the road, then perhaps. But since most motherboards usually come with extra PCI-e slots that you might never actually end up needing, wouldn't it make more sense to just go with one of those instead?

So, why exactly have you got your PC hooked up to the TV—is it just for watching movies, or is there more to the setup? If you're mainly just looking to stream content, wouldn't it be much easier to just grab a dedicated streaming stick or a Chromecast instead?

Aaron Evans2 said:What kind of power supply would you recommend if I'm working with a tight budget?

Hey there, could you please let us know which graphics card and processor you're actually using? It would be great if you could give us a bit more detail about your components rather than just these short bursts of info, so we can actually provide some meaningful advice.😬

My budget option is the MS industrial Platinum 400 V2, which realistically puts out about 250W, though that's really only enough to run a Celeron with its iGPU, a single 2.5" drive, and a satellite card. Interestingly enough, it still includes a 4+4 connector for the CPU and a 6+2 connector for the GPU.

So, we'll be waiting to hear back from you.

Aaron Evans2 said:Is there any way to make this work with a different connector, or am I stuck having to buy an entirely new power supply?

It’s definitely doable, but could you grab a few clear photos of all the connectors first? You likely already have the specific cable needed for the GPU, you just might not recognize it at a glance. If you take a look at the image right where it labels the PCIe section:

https://www.pcinside.info/inside/ins...0image%20above).

Aaron Evans2 said:There's that one specific connector meant for the motherboard...

Right, you have the 4-pin for the CPU, but you really need to make sure you have one with 6 pins as well.

Aaron Evans2 said:I picked up a Mission Q 400 w power supply, but I just realized it doesn't have the specific pin for my GPU, whether it needs 4 or 8 pins. What should I do? I feel a bit silly since I didn't double-check the specs when I was shopping for it..

Actually, it does have one:

1xPCIe

Terry Collins9 said:I honestly thought the same thing until I finally cleared my vision and took a closer look at the numbers.

It turns out I’ve been calculating the required power slightly incorrectly all this time, or at least that’s how it feels. Beyond just looking at the TDP, I figured I should probably tack on an extra 75W just to account for powering the slot or the riser. But when you think about it, the GPU draws its total power through both the slot and the cables combined. This realization suggests that I don't actually need such a massive power supply after all. Ultimately, what matters to me is the sum of the TDP plus the power draw from the motherboard, the CPU, and everything else in the loop.

People often suggest adding a 20% buffer to your total wattage calculation, but I can't quite wrap my head around why that's necessary—maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part—because it doesn't seem to make much sense to me. The actual power the card pulls is usually right around its TDP (though it might spike higher during overclocking for gaming, which isn't something I plan to do), and for most tasks, it'll likely hover around 70% capacity. Even if things go sideways and settings reset back to defaults, the card won't suddenly start pulling its maximum rated power. For instance, an RX 570 8gb pulls about 135W despite having a TDP of 150W, and an RTX 2060 pulls 130W with a TDP of 160W, which means they are typically operating at roughly 80-90% of their limit.

Just be careful if you're planning to pull that 75W for the slot or riser using SATA or Molex cables, because those aren't really designed to handle 75W; they're generally rated for about 54W, though you might get away with it if multiple connections are spread out. On the other hand, a PCIe connection with a 6+2 pin connector is rated for 4.16A per rail, which works out to about 150W, while SATA and Molex are limited to 1.5A per rail, totaling around 54W. That said, the PCIe slot itself is technically capable of handling up to 288W if you're drawing 8A per rail.

Terry Collins9 said:Because I'm trying to power five different GPUs, which is tricky since most power supplies usually max out at four VGA connectors—even those massive 1500W units.
I also need to make sure I can handle the power draw from the slots themselves.

My mistake, though—I misread the number of PCIe connectors listed. It says eight, but looking closer, it’s actually 4x6 + 4x2... I suppose those extra 2-pin ones don't really function on their own without being paired with a 6-pin, so now I see why they're counted separately...

Terry Collins9 said:I don't think you quite caught my drift. What I'm trying to do is plug a 6+2 connector into an 8-pin CPU slot.

Yeah, I follow you now, but I'm just wondering why on earth you'd try that if your power supply already has 8x6/8-pin PCIe connectors available? Are you actually planning on trying to power the CPU using a PCIe cable???

wiredotter14 said:Yeah, it really just depends on the specific card. Honestly, I’ve never quite understood why my RX580 comes with an 8+6 pin setup, though I suppose it could be a benefit in certain scenarios since it likely draws less—or maybe nothing at all—directly from the motherboard. I can't help but wonder how things stack up when you have six different cards running, where each one might be pulling anywhere from 50 to 75W straight from the board....
And I’m not entirely sure if leaving a 6-pin connector unplugged actually increases the load on the PCIe slot, or if there's a set limit on how much power it can draw regardless.

It's most likely because those cards are designed to be pushed quite a bit past their stock settings, provided you have decent cooling...😉 Those extra 6 pins are there to provide that extra headroom for maintaining clock speeds when needed, even if they aren't being fully utilized all the time. And let's not forget that Nvidia has its own automated overclocking feature running in the background on almost all their cards, so they probably insist on having the full 8+6 connected just so they can pull more juice for that hidden boost.

wiredotter14 said:Wait, aren't two of those pins in the +2 meant for voltage? 😁
You live and learn... 🤔

No, those are just sense and ground pins; the actual voltage lines are only the 6 pins, consisting of 3 voltage lines and 3 ground wires.

Terry Collins9 said:From what I can tell, that cable is just a 6-pin to dual 8-pin setup, so I'm not sure if it would actually solve my problem. I already ordered an EPS to PCIe adapter from a vendor overseas. For now, only one of my cards requires dual power connectors, so my logic is that a single connector should be able to handle both the card itself and the slot power.
Plus, this PSU would really just be a backup, so I don't actually need it to power the motherboard.

But why worry? Like we discussed, those extra two pins are just for sensing... trust me, it works; I’ve seen an 8+6 card running off a single 6-pin connector before without any issues. The real question isn't about the connection, but whether the power supply can actually provide enough juice to keep everything stable.

wiredotter14 said:You should check if those cards with dual 8-pin connectors actually require both plugs just to function. Some cards that come with a single 6-pin connector can run without that extra bit—meaning they draw enough straight from the motherboard—or even when you have an 8+6 setup and skip the 6-pin. Since you're planning on undervolting the card anyway, it shouldn't be pulling more than 150W. We're really just talking about those "edge cases" where that last connector isn't strictly mandatory. For instance, I'm fairly certain my RX580 would run fine with just the 8-pin despite having an 8+6 layout, and I believe some RX460 models could even run without any PCIe power at all, even though they were rated for a 6-pin.

My own RX 580 only has a single 8-pin, yet it runs perfectly fine on the 6-pin alone without asking for those extra 2 amps. On the other hand, my old Black Titan has an 8+6 setup, and it won't even allow the system to boot unless those two extra pins are connected; if I try running it with just 6+6, it basically refuses to start because it's demanding those last 2 pins. Is this perhaps a quirk mostly found with Nvidia hardware? It seems like AMD is a bit more relaxed and lets things just go their own way.😬 Maybe we'll need to consult some online prophets if anyone wants to debate this further.

From what I can tell, the power supply mentioned here has 8x8 PCIe connectors... so that covers three cards if they are 8+6 setups. For the remaining two, you can just grab two of those PCIe cables from Best Buy that we were discussing recently:

https://www.amazon.com/delock-pcie-cable...erni-202300065

That way, you don't have to mess around with cables for any other components. Just apply an undervolt, and everything should work smoothly.

rapidstag2 said:I originally posted this back in January. I was just browsing through Craigslist earlier today and noticed people are asking for an RX580 8GB for about $1333 ? 😲

I definitely understand how the market is right now and how everything is in short supply, but is this crowd looking for something in the $30-$40 range just being overly optimistic, or are they actually finding an RX580 at those prices?

I mean, if I could flip my money three times over in just three months, I’d probably sell it right away; after all, this card is basically just sitting there unused since I haven't even launched a single game on it yet. The fans have only really spun up when I manually turned them on just to blow some dust out of the card.😁

I would buy it from you immediately for $11! :z: Yeah, the RX580 8GB goes for around $50-$60 in retail stores, though they're only available sporadically. I suspect they're more appealing to miners, whereas gamers could probably pick up a new GTX 1660 for even less.

Sent from my iPhone

Terry Collins9 said:...How much load can I actually put on the EPS vs. the PCIe connectors? From what I can see, the "standard" 6+2 pin setup only really has three pins carrying 12V, while the other five are just ground. Is there some kind of catch I'm missing here?

Not really, there isn't any catch. Whether it's a 6-pin or an 8-pin, those three specific pins are the ones actually providing the voltage (up to 150W total), while the others serve as ground. Those two extra pins are essentially just for sensing; they exist so the PCIe device can verify it's connected to a sufficient power supply, though I know some cards tend to ignore that check entirely.