PC techie people! Please advise!

[Krugg]

Heya, cheers for reading.

I just bought myself a new graphics card; a second hand Gigabyte HD 5850-OC. Only issue is, when I took out my old card and had a closer look, I only have one single 6-pin PCI-E out that I can use, to the GPU's required two 6-pin PCI-E cables.

Now, if I get a splitter that splits the one 6-pin PCI-E into two, will that still only generate the same 75W of power (ie, 37.5W each), or will it draw more from the PSU and give me 75W each?

I hope that makes sense. Thanks

Oh, and PS; I don't have any free Molex outs, either. So connecting two of those into a PCI-E isn't in the picture either.

[valadil]

From my experience you can usually attach several splitters before you draw more wattage than the PSU can handle. I can't give you any numbers on it though.

[Erloas]

What are the specs on your power supply and what all do you have hooked up in your computer? I've never ran out of molex connectors in a computer, usually there are more then anyone would normally use. Of course I always make sure to have plenty of headroom with my PSUs so I don't run into problems. So if you have a fairly low powered PSU, or lots and lots of extra things connected to power, you might not have enough power to run the video card no matter how you get the extra 6-pin to the video card.

Normally speaking, most things that get connected to your normal molex connectors don't draw a huge amount of power, fans and LEDs probably don't pull more then a couple watts, hard drives are more, but I don't think they are generally more then 10-20W active.

Not knowing what you have connected its hard to say exactly what I would change. I would put splitters on the molex connectors and get all the fans, and at least 1 HD on the same line out of the PSU and then take the freed up molex connector(s) and put them to the other 6-pin on the video card.

[factotum]

I wouldn't use a splitter on the 6-pin supply--I would see if you can get a converter that turns a normal Molex into a 6-pin; no idea if such a thing is possible, though. If the worst comes to the worst you might have to invest in a new PSU, though.

[Krugg]

It's a 680W PSU, guys. But it has way too few connections. Only the one 6-pin, and only three Molex connections (two of which are in use anyways).

I'm running an AMD 3.2GHz 6-core CPU, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, a Samsung Blu-Ray drive, 1.5TB HDD, currently a HIS HD5570 GPU (which actually runs off the power supplied by the motherboard and nothing else).

edit; I'm starting to think that my best bet is to invest in a new PSU...

So far in my searches, the best I've stumbled across is this: http://www.crazysales.com.au/ritmo-force-1200-tri-fan-gaming-power-supply-2-3v.html

.. any idea if this is a decent buy?

[Erloas]

Ah... someone not in the USA, that always makes recommending computer parts harder (and more expensive).

That power supply is very suspect to me. I've never heard of the brand, its way way to cheap for a 1200W power supply, and they don't give you any of the important specs (which is more of a retailer issue).

Really your 680W power supply should be good enough for anything less then a quad-graphics card setup, at least if its a good quality 680W PSU.

Unfortunately power supply recommendations are one of the hardest things because there are so many variables and no good way to really define what to look for and what to avoid.

The correct answer would be to tell you to do some research on the subject from sites like JonnyGuru but there is a lot there and it tends to leave you more confused then when you started.
The short answer would be look for a high quality 500-600W power supply (all that you will need for any single graphics card system). The high quality part is the tricky thing, generally start with the 80+ bronze or silver certifications (as few of the cheap power supplies will be able to pass those certifications, and extra efficiency is always a good thing) and then do a secondary search of the brand and model and see if you can find some reviews where they actually put the PSU through some load and electrical noise testing.
In the USA I would expect to pay in $50-80 range for that, but I have no idea what it would be for you because the price difference in computer parts is a lot more complicated then the exchange rate would imply.

[Don Julio Anejo]

I would see if you can get a converter that turns a normal Molex into a 6-pin; no idea if such a thing is possible, though.
Such a thing is possible and many video cards in fact come with them from the box (my last two cards, an nVidia 8800GT and an ATI HD 4870 did). Search ebay or your friendly neighbourhood computer store for one.

680W is probably more than enough so just leave it at that. Unless, of course, you're running two physical CPUs and already have a video card.

[tyckspoon]

So far in my searches, the best I've stumbled across is this: http://www.crazysales.com.au/ritmo-force-1200-tri-fan-gaming-power-supply-2-3v.html

.. any idea if this is a decent buy?

That almost certainly won't put out anywhere near 1200w. On the other hand, you're not actually asking it to, as you simply need more connectors and not more power.. *googlegooglegoogle*

Yeah, ok, don't get it. It's cheap, but that's the only good thing going for it.

[factotum]

I would always advise spending a bit extra on the PSU. Think about it for a minute--everything in your PC is powered from that little magic box, and a big surge due to a fault could burn out everything. Replacement motherboards, CPUs etc. are a lot more expensive than just getting a PSU with decent safeguards against that sort of thing!

[Crispy Dave]

Well it really wouldn't hurt seeing if just getting a splitter would supply enough power, 680 watts should cover that system with no issues.

[Krugg]

Just checked my PSU again, turns out it's actually the same brand as that dodgy 1200W one. "Ritmo". So I'm definitely ditching this PSU as soon as possible, before it detonates and kills me.

Anywho, is AeroCool a decent enough brand? Andwould 550W do the job for me? Or should I bump it up to 600-650 for my system? I am using a Hex-core CPU, and soon to be using a tank of a GPU.

Here's that 550W AeroCool I found.

http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4898

[tyckspoon]

Not really familiar with that brand either, but based on the prices that website offers for things I do know are high-quality PSUs (the Corsairs, Antec's Truepower and Earthwatts lines).. it's probably similar cheap stuff. Sorry :smallfrown:

mmr... well, some of the other AeroCool supplies I did find technical reviews for rated along the lines of "not awesome, but if you absolutely have to cut money you can give this a try." Those were for the E80/85 models, tho; in a quick search I didn't find anything for the VP-series you linked.