Newbie needs advice connecting graphics card

[Floob]

Thanks very much guys.

@terley - Yes, its a silent PC. (unless I swap the 750 Ti Kalmx for the 1060 SC!)

@Quartz - I guess I mean its expensive if I replace with a similar silent PSU that I have now. I'm thinking I'll just have to battle on with the 750Ti until the whole PC could do with an update.

@lee32uk - Yes, that sounds good, but I cant see a single spare molex coming out of the PSU, just the empty VGA slot, and the unmarked one at the top.
http://fsp-europe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/aurum_xilenser_3d_view.png

@Kurgen - Are you saying I should get a £40 PSU - that could be an option but would probably cancel out my silent PC.

If this doesnt work out, I have an unused EVGA 1060 SC for a bargain price guys

 

[new boy]

If you cant find the PCI-e cable, or a cable that has molex connectors on it then I think you might be out of luck which is pretty unfortunate I dont think its going to be possible to buy the cable on its own if FSP cant provide one directly.

The only suggestion I could offer is maybe you could buy the same PSU as you have now, take the cable you need from it and then sell the PSU on (obviously stating the cable is missing). I dont know how much that's going to end up costing you though, I'm not sure its a good idea really.

 

[lee32uk]

Thanks very much guys.
@lee32UK - Yes, that sounds good, but I cant see a single spare molex coming out of the PSU, just the empty VGA slot, and the unmarked one at the top.
http://fsp-europe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/aurum_xilenser_3d_view.png

The unmarked one is SATA unless they are all interchangeable. So from left to right it would be:

SATA, HDD and FDD. The FDD isn't used anymore as that was for the old Floppy Disk Drives, but it looks like that is just an adapter in the pic so it won't plug directly into the unit anyway.

So looking at your original pics (Pic6) it looks like you have 2 cables plugged into the 6 pin housing on the psu ? Are you sure one of those isn't molex ?

 

[Quartz]

I just called, and whilst they were very helpful they simply dont have any spare cables that I need to connect the PSU to the video card. Otherwise they said they would send me one.

Try emailing their head office and asking to buy one. Otherwise, dig some more and find the box in which it came!

I'm very much a proponent of the sound of silence, so I wish you the best of luck. I have a 460W fanless PSU and it's wonderful.

 

[Floob]

Thanks again for the advice. At the weekend I'm going to rip the place apart to make sure I dont have that cable that came with the PSU anywhere.

@new_boy - I think my best bet may be to see if I can find an existing cable that has an unused molex as you say. Thats not a bad idea about buying another PSU and reselling it - it may well come to that.

@lee32uk - I'll re-check tomorrow night when I have the case off and make a video and see if anyone can help determine what the cabling situation is. Annoyingly/Usefully its really tidy in there and it makes access pretty difficult.
For reference, in the PC it has 1x SSD, 1x HDD, 1xDVDROM, 1x GUP Japan Smart Drive Classic SATA HDD Silencer.

@Quartz - I'll definitely be digging this weekend. I have just had an email back from the PC supplier who have said that they would be willing to ask FSP themselves for a spare if I cant find it anywhere, so glimmer of hope there as well.

 

[new boy]

I hope something works out for you mate. Keep us updated.

As you said, if you get some decent images of what's under the other side panel, then we can probably advise if there is anything we can do with the free connectors that are available.

 

[Floob]

Here are some pics and a video of the internals, do you think anything can be used to power the card, or will I need to see if I can get a replacement?

Video:
https://youtu.be/VpId_GMWZsw

 

[new boy]

delete

 

[new boy]

OK, I have a solution

Use the free molex plug you have available (you have it in your hand at 2:20 in the video) for one side of your adaptor.

I think your DVD drive is powered from a molex plug? If so, just steal that for the other side. Seriously, its 2016, you dont need a DVD drive man.

If its not a molex plug on your DVD drive, but a SATA power thing, then just buy a sata to molex adaptor.

You might need to buy a molex extension or two if it wont all reach.

Job done.

 

[pastymuncher]

While you have the sides off get rid of all that dust. Probably a good idea to get a can of compressed air, remove the psu and give it a blast. I bet it's full of dust (not good).

Somewhere you should have a cable with a pair of 6+2 pin pci-e plugs on it which is what you will need to power your gpu. I can only see a single spare molex plug in your pictures so that's a non-starter. Always keep your accessories in a safe place so that you know where they are.

 

[Floob]

Success!!!!!

I found the box under the shirts at the bottom of the second wardrobe. Obviously.
Thanks for the all the help given here, it made me persevere!

So..., now I have the cables, just want to make sure I dont screw it up.



The cable that came with the graphics card had a 6 pin and 2 molex, so I could plug the 6pin cable from the box in the SATA 6pin port on the PSU and connect the 2 molex cables that way?
I'd assume thats wrong though, as that 2x 6pin marked VGA1/VGA2 sounds like its purpose is for graphics cards, so I'd plug that longer cable in the last pic above into the PSU, and the other end straight into the graphics card avoiding molex altogether?

Even though 1 end of that cable has 2 6pins marked PCI-E1 I guess I can use either of those to go straight into the card?

 

[lee32uk]

Yeah just plug the 12 pin end into the vga1/vga2 on the psu and then one of the 6 or 8 pin ends depending on what you need into the gpu. If you only need 6 pins then leave the extra 2 dangling.

You won't need to use the molex cable now.

 

[Quartz]

Even though 1 end of that cable has 2 6pins marked PCI-E1 I guess I can use either of those to go straight into the card?

Correct.

 

[new boy]

Fantastic news that you found the cables

As has been stated twice before, ditch the molex to 6pin PCI-e converter and just use the proper 6 pin PCI-e connector you now have.

How are you liking the card?

 

[Floob]

Powered up 10 mins ago! It works! Thanks again for everyones help.
I tried World of Warcraft for 5 mins, and it certainly seems to be happier at higher settings. No Mans Sky and DOOM next.

However, its definitely a step up noise wise from silence (obviously). So I'll give this a go:
http://forums.evga.com/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-1060-BIOS-Update-Single-Fan-Models-Only-m2520978.aspx

Its still pretty quiet, but I'm used to not hearing anything.

 

[new boy]

Yeah, the BIOS update should restore silence at idle / very low loads.

You can tweak the performance / noise under load later if you like with overclocking tools like MSI afterburner (even if your not overclocking as such) You can control clock speed and/or fan speed in relation to temperature to tweak the cards priorities to your liking.

 

[Floob]

Its silent again!

The firmware update worked well. Would you recommend I download software to set a profile for the fan, or just let it crack on and manage itself? As long as the fan hasnt fixed itself at "off" or anything I may just leave it.

 

[new boy]

If your happy, then just leave it. If its too loud / too slow then play around with it.

Though this goes against my personal feelings where I try my best to gain maximum efficiency on the noise / performance scale.

 

[Floob]

I just played World of Warcraft for about an hour, and I noticed when I took my headphones off I could hear the fan. I quickly ran CPUID HWMonitor and it showed that the 1060 fan was about 900 RPM and the temp about 75 or so, but it quickly dropped back to 56 and was silent again.