Can my power supply handle this graphics card?

dariforest

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Hi, I have an i5 2500k, 8gb ram , and im planning to upgrade my graphics card to a radeon 7950 , but my power supply( OCZ500SXS2 )only has one PCI 6.0 connector (I think ,anyway , im really clueless about this stuff so sorry) but I read that the radeon 7950 requires two, so my question is if I get an adaptor , what adaptor will I need and is that a good idea or not? I don't really want to spend any more money on a new power supply too. Thank you.

Picture of my power supply:
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=ce516daa1938f4459cb06b1f5453f7d0&oe=58DD831C
 
You should be okay.

That card pulls a max of 200W
Your chip pulls 95W

You need to get your MoBo, Drive and RAM models (and any other devices) and search their "TDP." Add all those together and if you're under 500W you should be just fine. Within 25W of max, I would recommend upgrading the Power Supply.

There's also a chance that using the 6-pin adapter may cause issues with too much going over a single "rail" or line... but that's rare.
 
Last edited:
You should be okay.

That card pulls a max of 200W
Your chip pulls 95W

You need to get your MoBo, Drive and RAM models (and any other devices) and search their "TDP." Add all those together and if you're under 500W you should be just fine. Within 25W of max, I would recommend upgrading the Power Supply.

There's also a chance that using the 6-pin adapter may cause issues with too much going over a single "rail" or line... but that's rare.

I'm getting below 400W when I add everything, but I read a lot of negative things about using an adapter, are they really that unsafe? I wouldn't want to damage anything
 
Yea that's it... if you look at the pic you posted, bottom left. "12V1" and "12V2"

I would get rid of that PSU anyway as multiple rails hasn't had the most stable of times.
 
Your video card plugs into one slot but take up two slots because of its size.
 
Yea that's it... if you look at the pic you posted, bottom left. "12V1" and "12V2"

I would get rid of that PSU anyway as multiple rails hasn't had the most stable of times.
I've had it for years without any problems, so the 7950 is a no go with that PSU?

---------- Post added at 02:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:08 PM ----------

Your video card plugs into one slot but take up two slots because of its size.

Why is that relevant? I'm not being rude I'm just really not good with this stuff, pretty clueless
 
I've had it for years without any problems, so the 7950 is a no go with that PSU?

It's not a "No Go" by any means. PSU's with multiple rails have been known to cause issues back in the day. Basically, splitting the lines (main lines) can cause inequalities in electrical output. So it can "rob peter to pay paul" so to speak, which in terms of throughput can cause damage.

Those issues could have since been fixed and you may get along just fine. If you've never had problems then you may very well not have any issues at all... it's just not something I can recommend with certainty without doing a lot more research into the technology as of late.
 
It's not a "No Go" by any means. PSU's with multiple rails have been known to cause issues back in the day. Basically, splitting the lines (main lines) can cause inequalities in electrical output. So it can "rob peter to pay paul" so to speak, which in terms of throughput can cause damage.

Those issues could have since been fixed and you may get along just fine. If you've never had problems then you may very well not have any issues at all... it's just not something I can recommend with certainty without doing a lot more research into the technology as of late.

So if I was to go ahead with it and take the risks(which I'm really mind boggled about at the moment because of various opinions) , I need a 6 pin to 2x 6 pin splitter?
 
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