Whats more useful in a power supply: 6+2 or 6 pin connectors.

[luciusad2004]

I think they are for the video card, I've been looking at power supplies and see that I can get power supplies with lots of 6+2 pin connectors or Half 6 and half 6+2 pin connectors.

When I was looking at video cards some seemed to use both a single 6 Pin connector and a single 6+2 Pin Connector and others seemed to use 2 x 6+2pin connector or 2 x 6 Pin.

Is the 6+2 pin connector backwards compatible with the 6 pin video cards? Should I just get a power supply with a lot of 6+2 pin connectors or a mix of both?

I only plan on running one video card but want to be as future safe as possible. I don't know what video card I'll end up getting yet, I'm currently just looking to pick up a new power supply in preparation for a new computer.

Thanks for any input.

[Fuganater]

I have yet to get an 8 pin GPU. I normally buy a new one every like 18 months, staying mid range. Also I've only used NVIDIA. I've seen some ATI cards that use 2x 8 pin power.

[Cale_Hagan]

you can put the 6+2 and only use the 6 of them on a 6pin gpu.... i think at least 2-6+2 pin ones, and 2 regs. in otherwords, half half. 8pins are the future... :whistler:

[Fuganater]

or the 2x 8pin connectors are for your CPU

[slaveofconvention]

Go for the 6+2 if everything else is equal - you can use 6+2's as 6's or 8's - they're different to the motherboard 8pin connector though - that'll either be a solid 8 pin or sometimes a 4+4 to allow for older boards

[NightrainSrt4]

The nice thing about the 6+2 is that you can do just that, add the +2 so you have an 8pin pci-e connector, or don't and you have a 6pin connector with the +2 hanging off the side.

All else equal, grab the one with the 6+2's.

[diluzio91]

Agreed, if it looks sloppy pick up a couple 6 pin extensions and hide the rest. lol... then the +2 is hidden

[TheGreatSatan]

6 + 2 = F T W! :banana:

[luciusad2004]

Thanks for the input guys. Im gonna look for something with plenty of 6+2.

[Konrad]

Go modular PSU, best of both worlds.

[luciusad2004]

Go modular PSU, best of both worlds.
That's the plan.

Possibly next pay check. I haven't decided yet though as all the power supplies I saw that fit my parameters were 150-200 dollars. Just not sure if I want to dump ALL of my Christmas money on a power supply. Have no clue what else to spend it on though.

[dr.walrus]

IMO that's a LOT of money to spend on a PSU. For most computers, any more than 10% of your budget is a bit mad, you usually need 4 GPU cores to need a 1000w PSU - spend about 100 on a good quality 500-750w and forget about it, it's not going to make it any faster!

I've got a second hand Corsair HX1000 and it's insane, only cost me £30 and it's totally, totally pointless (even with dual 6950s). I'd recommend a TX750 - you can get one for $95 after MIR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

[luciusad2004]

IMO that's a LOT of money to spend on a PSU. For most computers, any more than 10% of your budget is a bit mad, you usually need 4 GPU cores to need a 1000w PSU - spend about 100 on a good quality 500-750w and forget about it, it's not going to make it any faster!

I've got a second hand Corsair HX1000 and it's insane, only cost me £30 and it's totally, totally pointless (even with dual 6950s). I'd recommend a TX750 - you can get one for $95 after MIR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

I think it's because I was looking at Modular power supplies.
I was looking in the 750W to 800W range. I used the power calculator that was posted here a few years ago and it told me to look for around 760ish Watts so I just rounded up to 800 to be on the safe side. I may have over estimated my needs though.

[Twigsoffury]

IMO that's a LOT of money to spend on a PSU. For most computers, any more than 10% of your budget is a bit mad, you usually need 4 GPU cores to need a 1000w PSU - spend about 100 on a good quality 500-750w and forget about it, it's not going to make it any faster!

I've got a second hand Corsair HX1000 and it's insane, only cost me £30 and it's totally, totally pointless (even with dual 6950s). I'd recommend a TX750 - you can get one for $95 after MIR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021



I spent 320$ on my Enermax Power supply back in 2003


It's on its fourth set of components, running 24-7 pretty much since 2003 and the voltages are the EXACT same as the day i pulled it out of the box for the first time.

So i'd say i've gotten my 300$ back out of it, Especially since i haven't had to go back and buy another 150$ power supply every...single....time... i wanted to upgrade my components.

ain't s@#t that really used the PCI-E power connectors back then, they were all still pretty much molex connections, but hell now everything uses the 6 pin.

[edit] oh and at the time, when replacing my 400W no-namer power supply, the benchmarks on my computer went up by 200 points... i'm assuming because it was getting all the power it needed and could perform a lil better.

[Konrad]

I disagree with dr.walrus and align more with twigs on this one.

A quality chassis and PSU can outlive a decade worth of computing hardware upgrades; drives, RAM, processors, cards, and even mobos get upgraded quite often in comparison. I would personally drop as much as 25% of the total computer cost into the PSU if I planned to use it for years; a 10-15% guideline is acceptable only when building a "disposable" system which will be entirely replaced with a new system on the next major upgrade.

A lousy chassis will ultimately impose limits on how much hardware you can stuff into it, plus all those sharp edges, poor layout and dimensions, and other crappy cheapness will be a pain every time you need to get inside or move things around. A good chassis provides more "convenience" amenities, is generally better quality throughout, and it's worth paying a few more bucks if you plan to service or upgrade the machine often. It'll also be easier to mod and generally look better than some crappy Shenzhen beige box.

A lousy PSU will also ultimately impose limits on how much hardware load it can sustain, poor or underrated voltage regulation is the biggest cause of inexplicable runtime faults/crashes and puts extra electrical "strain" or momentary spikes into the system which hastens component "aging" and derating. It's easier to overclock or throttle all your GPUs up to full power when you're confident your system won't crash under "normal" load. A quality PSU will last longer and help everything else last longer, plus it'll be more power efficient (run cooler and save money in the long run) and let you plug in more and better stuff now and in the future. A smarter and more robust PSU (or battery/UPS system) might be the only way to run a stable system when plugged into "dirty" electrical sources, the quality of your AC line power is generally not something you can control short of switching utility companies, running off-grid power, or installing major electrical upgrades throughout your facility.

OEM units are notorious for putting barely sufficient cooling into their platforms; thermal faults are the major cause of (momentary or permanent) hardware failure in many PCs, laptops, and XBox consoles. Skimping on cooling is probably not a problem among TBCS members, but it never hurts to upgrade whatever mediocre stock crap an OEM system ships out.

[AmEv]

:stupid: A PSU fan, a stock procy HS/F, and a single 80MM fan ain't gonna cut it anymore.

But why do OEMs insist on skimping out on ultra-cheap fans? And turn around and make it impossible to add more?
(that is, without modding....)

[Konrad]

It all boils down to per-unit manufacturing costs and profit margins.

The power supply and cooling systems are often left right until the end, they're fairly routine stuff and secondary in importance to all the glitz and swag features which really sell the machinery. So they're usually budgeted tightly, left to some junior engineering team, contracted out, or rushed near project completion. This sometimes results in design flaws or unadvertised compromises because constraints in time, part costs, manufacturing logistics (actual availability), or physical dimension/weight limitations cannot accomodate reliable implementations.

It used to be common for the specifications themselves to be unrealistic. Manufacturers would assign rather arbitrary performance margins which were insufficient for the extreme runtimes and duty-cycles imposed by hardcore players. This cannot be exclusively blamed directly on the appliance manufacturer: engineering analyses from Intel or nVidia (for example) are notorious for sometimes producing exhaustively detailed electrical and thermal thresholds for their parts which are only proven very wrong after millions of cumulative man-hours of actual consumer operation. Later-generation software (mostly game titles) can sometimes improve on the stock software/firmware libraries in ways which can push greater hardware performance yet which also exceed initial design parameters.

Some small number of factory defects or substandard parts always manage to slip through factory QA testing, this is unavoidable, expected, and already factored into costs. It's generally doesn't account for high failure rates unless the factory lowers their quality standards to ramp up production quotas or deadlines or profits.

I think the biggest reason for device failure is the simplest one: just like any other consumer appliance they are expected to market for a limited period. Tentative work on Version 2.0 is already underway and the manufacturer's plan is for everybody with Version 1.0 to upgrade when their new product hits retail. Some amount of "it'll last just long enough" instead of "it'll work forever" is built into the product, it's planned obsolescence. Remember, they're not selling you a black box, they're selling you a subscription to a brand.

[luciusad2004]

Definitly don't plan on just getting a throw away PSU. My current PSU has been in use since 05 or earlier. I never actually thought to test how it's running' not that I would know what to check anyway lol.

[diluzio91]

IMO that's a LOT of money to spend on a PSU. For most computers, any more than 10% of your budget is a bit mad, you usually need 4 GPU cores to need a 1000w PSU - spend about 100 on a good quality 500-750w and forget about it, it's not going to make it any faster!

I've got a second hand Corsair HX1000 and it's insane, only cost me £30 and it's totally, totally pointless (even with dual 6950s). I'd recommend a TX750 - you can get one for $95 after MIR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

I kind of disagree. I have a friend running a pair of 570's and an x58 system that shuts down when he oc's it and runs a stress test (all liquid cooled) on an HX1000.

[Konrad]

Higher-end electronics will generally offer more consistent quality, as measured in terms of reliability, performance, and compatibility (this last generally being a non-issue with PSUs if you've got the right form-factor and connectors).

Economy electronics tend to be cheaper throughout, there's reasons why they cost less and not all are associated with brand recognition, measured specs under load often vary considerably from unit to unit and the differences tend to diverge even more widely over time and use. Better not hope that cheap bearing-lubricated PSU fan is gonna help cool your system after 6-12 months, or that you won't get BSoD/restart every time some minor AC voltage fluctuation comes out of the wall, or that your mobo and cards will operate at peak levels while exposed to years of constant grinding ripple (not to mention the electrical noise-impedance the PSU spits back into the line for all your other electronics). Shenzhen-special PSUs are best avoided.

I always lookup the UL File Number (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showpost.php?p=308781&postcount=26) data, sometimes I find surprises which convince me to return/exchange a PSU before I even plug it in. I want my computers to last for years, not suffer from heart attacks at middle-age.

[dr.walrus]

I spent 320$ on my Enermax Power supply back in 2003

I've owned about 4 good quality (£50+) power supplies in a row without a single issue. I've ripped a dozen dead OEM power supplies out of other peoples' systems in that time.

All the old PSUs were replaced for two reasons - either because it was easier to leave them in when the computer was rehomed or because I was moving to a higher wattage requirement. I've probably spent $320 total on power supplies over the last 15 years of computer ownership, even before I factor in resale/gift value...

Now, each of those power supplies have gone to a new home, and my second hand £30 (about $50) 5 year old HX1000 is utterly fine, has even run quad GPUs at one point.


I kind of disagree. I have a friend running a pair of 570's and an x58 system that shuts down when he oc's it and runs a stress test (all liquid cooled) on an HX1000.

You're right, some new GPUs (especially those nvidias) can pull up to 350w each when they're overclocked. That's unusual though, and I think it's fair to say that's a a relatively exceptional circumstance. In that case, you'd be spending about 15-25%, but that's an unusual case that doesn't match my 'most computers' comment!

With a 1090T and a 6950 like my system (would cost a total of probably £650 new now), something like that TX750 would probably be spot on, surely? I don't really need a HX1000 at all...

[luciusad2004]

Does anyone know anything about this PS?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171057

Is coolermaster still a popular brand? Anyone know how there quality is? I remember they were pretty popular last time I was looking to build a computer but that was years ago...

All of the other Modular 800W power supplies were from companies I haven't heard of.

[Konrad]

It looks virtually identical to an 800W Zalman PSU I have, identical specs, 80Plus, Active PFC etc etc. Appears identical in every way except the branding stickers (in the same place on the same chassis), even the same price.

My Zalman has been a reliable and dependable little performer for several years. I really like the high-quality overkill fan, it's worth like 50 bucks by itself. The only thing it disappointed me with was the total PSU price tag ... which I thought was a little too high for what it is, again exactly the same as the PSU in your link.

Coolermaster is a popular brand. I don't know if that means it's a good brand, I never actually happened to buy one, but modders keep using 'em and don't complain much.

[AmEv]

Antec currently is one of the, if not THE, top brands.

[luciusad2004]

I ended up purchasing the Cooler Master that I linked to the other day. It showed up yesterday.

She seems pretty nice so far. Noticeably quieter and has a much larger fan than my old power supply. Feels pretty solid and has a decent finish (as far as my untrained eyes can tell.) I was kinda of iffy at first about the cables. All of the modular cables are flat. It's sort of weird that they don't match the non modular cables which are just regular sleeved cables. However once i started using them i found that they were pretty easy to tuck behind some of the more cramped spots in my case, that my old cabling wouldn't have fit in.

Though I do wish that the cables came in various sizes. For instance, I really don't need full length SATA cable to power my CD drive that is maybe 4 inches from my power supply. Thought about cutting a cable but don't want to ruin it.

Also realized that my old power supply was like ~450W but its an off brand (That i've had since 2005 at the latest) so that's probably not even accurate lol. I should have a lot more power now.