Is It Fine To Use A 6+2 Pin Connector For My GPU? - Linus Tech Tips

• VincentVolaju

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I got my PSU yesterday, installed it into my build, and started routing some cables to where I think they're going to be needed. The PSU I got is a Corsair RM 550x (https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/product/B07DND1B7C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

It only comes with 1 PCI-E cable. One side is an 8pin, and the other side is 2 split 6+2 pins (see photo). The GPU that should be arriving today or tomorrow, is a Sapphire Pulse 5600 XT. I'm pretty sure this GPU is just 1 8pin connector.

So I have 3 questions for you guys...

1) How much does it matter if I use a solid 8pin connector vs using a 6+2pin connector? I assumed there was no difference, however, I saw on another forum someone mentioned using a 6+2pin to connect to your GPU is a bad idea. How true is that?

2) If using a 6+2pin connector on an 8pin GPU is fine, then does it matter which of two 6+2pin split ends I use? I'd prefer to use the smaller/thinner one since it is the very end of the cable and would make the case/cable management look better. Whereas if I used the thicker/main part of the cable to plug into the GPU, I'd have the 2nd smaller/thinner split cable hanging off/around the GPU.

3) What if I flipped the cable backwards, and plugged the 6+2pin connector into the PSU, and then the solid 8pin end of the cable into the GPU? Would that be fine also?

Thanks!!!

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• The_russian

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1) That is perfectly fine, almost all power supplies come with 6+2 pin connector for better compatibility since some cards only use a 6 pin while others use an 8 pin. 

2) Either end should be fine for that card.

3) That won't work, the connectors should be keyed differently to physically prevent you from doing that, the 8 pin side is for the PSU, the 6+2 pin side is for the graphics card side. 

• Spotty
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• Jeffrom

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Good Question, 

1. It makes no difference as It's only in one graphics card, its pulling the same current on the 12v rail regardless if you use a soild 8 pin connector or 6+2

2. It still doesn't make a difference which one you use, I would use the thicker one and zip tie the thinner one to the cable or somewhere convenient

3. No I wouldn't, use it as designed so you don't do anything stupid 

• Spotty and Michael C
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• Spotty

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9 minutes ago, VincentVolaju said:

1) How much does it matter if I use a solid 8pin connector vs using a 6+2pin connector? I assumed there was no difference, however, I saw on another forum someone mentioned using a 6+2pin to connect to your GPU is a bad idea. How true is that?

Power supplies use 6+2 pin connectors so it's compatible with graphics cards that use 6pin or 8pin. If you want 6pin you just use the 6pin part and leave the 2pin part dangling. If you want 8pin you click the 6+2 together and you have an 8pin. Very few power supplies have solid 8pin connectors for GPUs. It's almost always 6+2.

It makes no difference in terms of power.

10 minutes ago, VincentVolaju said:

2) If using a 6+2pin connector on an 8pin GPU is fine, then does it matter which of two 6+2pin split ends I use? I'd prefer to use the smaller/thinner one since it is the very end of the cable and would make the case/cable management look better. Whereas if I used the thicker/main part of the cable to plug into the GPU, I'd have the 2nd smaller/thinner split cable hanging off/around the GPU.

Not really. I would use the first one and cable tie the second one back on the main cable if you don't need it.

11 minutes ago, VincentVolaju said:

3) What if I flipped the cable backwards, and plugged the 6+2pin connector into the PSU, and then the solid 8pin end of the cable into the GPU? Would that be fine also?

 

Thanks!!!

No. Don't do this. They're keyed differently to prevent this. They're labelled which end goes where. The 6+2 side goes in to the graphics card and the other end goes in to the power supply.

CPU: Intel i7 6700k  | Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170x Gaming 5 | RAM: 2x16GB 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX | GPU: Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1080ti | PSU: Corsair RM750x (2018) | Case: BeQuiet SilentBase 800 | Cooler: Arctic Freezer 34 eSports | SSD: Samsung 970 Evo 500GB + Samsung 840 500GB + Crucial MX500 2TB | Monitor: Acer Predator XB271HU + Samsung BX2450

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• Jurrunio

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13 minutes ago, VincentVolaju said:

1) How much does it matter if I use a solid 8pin connector vs using a 6+2pin connector? I assumed there was no difference, however, I saw on another forum someone mentioned using a 6+2pin to connect to your GPU is a bad idea. How true is that?

As long as they are both PCIe power cables, no difference. Soild 8pin connector can also be EPS power cables for the CPU and has different pinouts compared to PCIe, i.e. not interchangable.

14 minutes ago, VincentVolaju said:

2) If using a 6+2pin connector on an 8pin GPU is fine, then does it matter which of two 6+2pin split ends I use? I'd prefer to use the smaller/thinner one since it is the very end of the cable and would make the case/cable management look better. Whereas if I used the thicker/main part of the cable to plug into the GPU, I'd have the 2nd smaller/thinner split cable hanging off/around the GPU.

Not really, not to a meaningful level

15 minutes ago, VincentVolaju said:

3) What if I flipped the cable backwards, and plugged the 6+2pin connector into the PSU, and then the solid 8pin end of the cable into the GPU? Would that be fine also?

I doubt that would work in the first place, but even if it does (say some Silverstone PSUs without proper keying to stop you from trying) it's better if you dont try it as the pinout on the PSU may not match that of the power plug itself. After all what matters is the power connector on the other end of the cable matches the connector on the card's pinout.

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• Falkentyne

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1 hour ago, VincentVolaju said:

I got my PSU yesterday, installed it into my build, and started routing some cables to where I think they're going to be needed. The PSU I got is a Corsair RM 550x (https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/product/B07DND1B7C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

 

It only comes with 1 PCI-E cable. One side is an 8pin, and the other side is 2 split 6+2 pins (see photo). The GPU that should be arriving today or tomorrow, is a Sapphire Pulse 5600 XT. I'm pretty sure this GPU is just 1 8pin connector.

 

 

 

So I have 3 questions for you guys...

 

1) How much does it matter if I use a solid 8pin connector vs using a 6+2pin connector? I assumed there was no difference, however, I saw on another forum someone mentioned using a 6+2pin to connect to your GPU is a bad idea. How true is that?

 

2) If using a 6+2pin connector on an 8pin GPU is fine, then does it matter which of two 6+2pin split ends I use? I'd prefer to use the smaller/thinner one since it is the very end of the cable and would make the case/cable management look better. Whereas if I used the thicker/main part of the cable to plug into the GPU, I'd have the 2nd smaller/thinner split cable hanging off/around the GPU.

 

3) What if I flipped the cable backwards, and plugged the 6+2pin connector into the PSU, and then the solid 8pin end of the cable into the GPU? Would that be fine also?

 

Thanks!!!

 

 

Some video cards only use a 6 pin connector for the second PCIE power connector.  That's why a 6+2 configuration exists.  (there may even be some that only have one 6 pin connector).  The AMD R9 290X is one such card.  I believe some of the previous cards also were set up like that.

The reason your cable has two connectors instead of just "one" 6+2 is because for some video cards, you can hook up both ends to both power connectors.  However this is *NOT* recommended for any video card that uses over 200 watts.  It's recommended to use a single PCIE cable per video card.  Failure to do this on something like a R9 290X can actually degrade the cable integrity so the 12v can drop slowly over time to 11.25v, at which point you will get random black screens with 100% fan, where then you will have to replace the cable, which is a problem if you don't have 2 spare cables sitting around for a proper "Single cable per connector" setup.

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