GTS512MB on X38 - External Power Required?

ginjaninja · 12 Dec 2007 at 19:59

Just bought a GTS 512MB and asus maximus formula X38 pcie board.

Would a GTS 512MB on a PCIe 2.0 motherboard require an external power connector from the psu, or will the board supply the correct amount of power?

helmutcheese · 12 Dec 2007 at 20:06

No, the card only takes what it asks for so even if you run a older GTS on a new PCI-E 2.0 Mobo, the card is designed to use X amount of power from the slot and the rest is got from the PCI-E plug(s).

So having a Slot thats got more power will not give it to a card that aint designed to take it.

simonnance · 13 Dec 2007 at 01:11

the question he is asking is whether a PCI-E 2.0 card on a 2.0 baord cold be run without the 6-pin power plug, as theoreticaly the slot should supply enough power to the card.

anyone want to try it and see with a G92 GT/GTS or RV670Pro/XT?

helmutcheese · 13 Dec 2007 at 02:36

I know what he is asking and I HAVE answered it, that is not how Electronics work, they dont take more power than they are designed to.

His Card has a circuit made to use X amount of power from the PCI-E slot and the rest of the needed power from the PCI-E plug and thats that.

sosrandom · 13 Dec 2007 at 04:41

LoL he is asking weather there will be enough power from ONLY the pci-e 2.0 slot.

Someone on another forum asked a similar question.

pci-e 1.1 - 75w
pci-e 2.0 - 150w
pci-e 6pin plugs - 75w
pci-e 8pin plugs - 150w

As these cards work on the pci-e 1.0 and on have a 6pin plug its natural to assume the only need 150w, which should be provided by a pci-e 2.0 slot. I've also read that the maximum draw from a 8800GT is 110w which should easily be provided by just the slot.

Whether it works this way is another matter all together, you might find that if you boot without the cable the drivers tell you to plug it in anyway

edit:

First, we tested to ascertain whether an X38 board could power the card through just the slot, thus avoiding the need for a separate PCI-E power cable.

Unfortunately, the card wailed like a distressed pre-pubescent on helium until we plugged in the 6-pin PCI-E connector. With a PCI-E 2.0 slot providing 150W of power (double that of a PCI-E 1.1 slot), the GeForce 8800 GT resides in the high-energy bracket of GPUs. However, our test system drew only 240W from the mains when gaming, making the GeForce 8800 GT 6W less energy-hungry than the 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS.

Not enough amps?

helmutcheese · 13 Dec 2007 at 05:10

You still need plug in the PCI-E Plug, the PCI-E 1.0/1.1 GPU card is not made to run soley from the slot.

What part of that cant you 2 grasp ?

It wont matter if the PCI-E 2.0 has 1000watts,it will give the card what it wants, and from the on the card only that uses the PCI-E slots power.

sosrandom · 13 Dec 2007 at 05:23

8800GTS 512MB(just realised there are the old pci-e 1 ones) isn't PCI-E 1.0/1.1 its PCI-e 2.0, PCI-E 2.0 cards are meant to be able to use 150w from the slot + extra from extra cables

That review above was from a 8800GT I should say, not the 8800GTS 512MB, however there probably very similar in design.

ps3ud0 · 13 Dec 2007 at 06:39

Technically the slot should be fine using the figures sosrandom provided though with anything like this I normally just stick in the power connector in. Its not like the card will take even further power and overall will take what it needs from a combination of slot and connector...

I know easyrider has an x38 with a PCIe 2 card so hopefully hell pop in here - though I suspect since hes overclocked it he would have used the connector.

My final word is - stick the connector in if you have one; if you are at all considering overclocking then definitely do so...

ps3ud0 :cool:

clone · 13 Dec 2007 at 07:25

I have a x38 board and you still have to power the card from the psu as it make`s a very loud noise if you dont and will not boot the pc.

sumyungi · 13 Dec 2007 at 09:28

Hi all, i have a Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 plus an Inno3d 8800gt and can confirm that the 8800gt will squeal like a pig if you don't connect the 6 pin power supply.
I recently installed a Zalman ZM-MFC2 fan controller plus 2x 2000rpm silent eagle fans in a P182 case, so i had to remove the 6 pin power supply from the 8800gt in order to get the 2nd silent eagle in. The MFC2 has 4x fan connectors and if you don't use all of them an alarm will sound on start up until you disable the unused fan socket. I forgot to re-connect the 6 pin power supply back on the 8800gt, so when i started up pc i had 3x alarms going off at once.

J.D · 13 Dec 2007 at 09:28

clone said:
I have a x38 board and you still have to power the card from the psu as it make`s a very loud noise if you dont and will not boot the pc.

Poor HelmutCheese lol. He did try and tell you all. (Not you Clone

)

simonnance · 13 Dec 2007 at 15:49

helmutcheese said:
You still need plug in the PCI-E Plug, the PCI-E 1.0/1.1 GPU card is not made to run soley from the slot.

What part of that cant you 2 grasp ?

The part where its a PCI-E 2.0 card, as both RV670Pro/XT and G92 GT/GTS 's are.

From clone and sumyungi's comments it seems the 8800GT isnt able to run soley from the slot anway, despite compatibility & sufficient wattage, anyone got any reports on the RV670 cards? I have a cheap 3870 ordered, but the place are out of stock atm.....

Maybe the 35xx or whatever series will be able to run without external power.....

MHayes · 13 Dec 2007 at 15:57

I have an X38 and a 8800GT and it needs to be plugged in, I doubt the GTS is any better.

Sucks how they claim it is PCI 2 when in reality it is not.

sosrandom · 13 Dec 2007 at 16:01

the only difference pci-e 2.0 makes atm is that you don't need 2 extra power cables, apart from that its just for some future proofing.

ps3ud0 · 13 Dec 2007 at 19:16

It also provides cleaner power supposedly...

ps3ud0 :cool:

helmutcheese · 13 Dec 2007 at 19:26

simonnance said:
The part where its a PCI-E 2.0 card, as both RV670Pro/XT and G92 GT/GTS 's are.

From clone and sumyungi's comments it seems the 8800GT isnt able to run soley from the slot anway, despite compatibility & sufficient wattage, anyone got any reports on the RV670 cards? I have a cheap 3870 ordered, but the place are out of stock atm.....

Maybe the 35xx or whatever series will be able to run without external power.....

He is taking about a GTS 512, that could be the old G80 PCI-E 1.0 version, what I said stands and its common sence if you have any basic knowledge of circuits.

Someone above has just backed this up by actually trying it.

There is every possibility a Real PCI-E 2.0 Card (the lower models in the range) will not need extra power from a PCI-E Plug when used in a PCI-E 2.0 Mobo, same as not all the 7000's series needed extra power.

Amidar · 13 Dec 2007 at 19:32

They never did a GTS 512mb in G80 did they? i thought they where 320mb & 640mb.

So if it's 512mb it must be a G90.

gt_junkie · 13 Dec 2007 at 19:34

Amidar said:
Thay never did a GTS 512mb in G80 did they? i thought they where 320mb & 640mb.

Me too!

gt

jaykay · 13 Dec 2007 at 19:43

Amidar said:
Thay never did a GTS 512mb in G80 did they? i thought they where 320mb & 640mb.

Same. The g80 was in 320mb, 640mb and 768mb forms for the GTX.

helmutcheese · 13 Dec 2007 at 19:43

Sorry confused myself but it still stands anyhow about extra power, the card is a refresh of the old GTS nothing major.

It may work on the 9000 series but the top cards will always have AUX power, incase you dont know many simply power the FAN.