RTX3060ti 2 x 8pin power connectors, can I use only 1?

[poby]

I'm thinking given I power limit my cards to around 60 or 70% and the TDP is 225 watts, I don't really need to use both power connectors?  The power connector on the riser supplies 75 watts and one 8 pin connector can supply up to 150 watts so having 2 power connectors might not be strictly necessary especially if I limit power to say 70%

Question is, Will it work?  I mean speaking of Gigabyte cards, are they fixed such they will refuse to run without power supplied to both connectors?  I need to know the answer before I buy this card.  I know there is a version that has just one connector but that's so out of stock and the only one in stock has 2 connectors. 

Has anyone tried running the card with just one power connector, leaving the other one empty?

[Mighty_crypt]

Anyways it's not dangerous to use one 8pin connector but I gotta tell you that it's not going to work, the gpu won't display any shit, 2x 8pin was planned for the gpu for a reason, it's like you saying the manufacturers don't know what they are doing

[Mighty_crypt]

If your powerpack only has one 8pin connector you can get a molex like the one in the picture below, also just make sure the power pack can deliver the exact watts needed for the GPU and motherboard to run perfectly

[poby]

If your powerpack only has one 8pin connector you can get a molex like the one in the picture below, also just make sure the power pack can deliver the exact watts needed for the GPU and motherboard to run perfectly

Yes I know I can do that but I don't think it's necessary.  I think the extra 8 pin was just in case kind of thing to cover themselves legally.  Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible.  The question remains, is the card hardwired not to work without power supplied to both connectors?

[percy_tc]

If your powerpack only has one 8pin connector you can get a molex like the one in the picture below, also just make sure the power pack can deliver the exact watts needed for the GPU and motherboard to run perfectly

Yes I know I can do that but I don't think it's necessary.  I think the extra 8 pin was just in case kind of thing to cover themselves legally.  Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible.  The question remains, is the card hardwired not to work without power supplied to both connectors?

Be aware that if you card would reset itself to default it will consume a lot more power than during mining. This could be problem, you could even burn 1x8 pin plug.

3060 has moderated consuption, but still... you can get very cheap converters, do not risk it.

[poby]

If your powerpack only has one 8pin connector you can get a molex like the one in the picture below, also just make sure the power pack can deliver the exact watts needed for the GPU and motherboard to run perfectly

Yes I know I can do that but I don't think it's necessary.  I think the extra 8 pin was just in case kind of thing to cover themselves legally.  Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible.  The question remains, is the card hardwired not to work without power supplied to both connectors?

Be aware that if you card would reset itself to default it will consume a lot more power than during mining. This could be problem, you could even burn 1x8 pin plug.

3060 has moderated consuption, but still... you can get very cheap converters, do not risk it.

No risk here.  The 8pin can handle 150 watts. The riser supplies 75 watts. TDP of the card is 225 watts.  In 3 years of continuous 24/7 mining I have never had any of my 24 cards "reset" such that they started using 100% of their rated power.  I use afterburner to set the power limit and I've never had any problem.  But even at worst case, a single 8 pin together with the riser is exactly enough to power the card.  But no safety buffer.

The only problem I have had is connectors burning out. They are the weak point so I prefer as much as possible to minimise them.  Especially "very cheap converters" are dangerous!

[batsonxl]

Not all cards works with single 8pin. even it works it is very risky i wouldnt do that, because rtx series has rt cores and usual cores and memory. it is all splits by controller to phases, when second 8pin misses it can use alot power on some phases and can burn it. for to be sure you need open card and see from 2nd 8pin where what goes,
get proper psu.

[JayDDee]

Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible. 

That's false if reducing the number of connectors increases the load on each one, which is exactly
what you are proposing.

[anaelbr]

If your powerpack only has one 8pin connector you can get a molex like the one in the picture below, also just make sure the power pack can deliver the exact watts needed for the GPU and motherboard to run perfectly

https://i.imgur.com/60okg81.jpg

NEVER use this at any GPU.
High risk of permanent failure.
AMD GPUs can use just one 6 or 8 pins connectors.
My 2080 only works (and still mining)if both are connected.

[whoismoses]

Anyways it's not dangerous to use one 8pin connector but I gotta tell you that it's not going to work, the gpu won't display any shit, 2x 8pin was planned for the gpu for a reason, it's like you saying the manufacturers don't know what they are doing

None of the more recent cards work with one less 8-pin plugged in, but I think almost all of of my RX580 cards that had 2x 8-pin or 8-pin + 6-pin worked fine with only one 8-pin plugged in. I can't remember all of them, it wasn't many. One was a Sapphire.

[poby]

Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible. 

That's false if reducing the number of connectors increases the load on each one, which is exactly
what you are proposing.

What you're saying is nonsense.  I never said it increased the load but every connection is a point where 2 metal surfaces meet. This is inevitably a weak point compared to a continuous cable.  An imperfect mating or a bit of corrosion can cause localised resistance leading to rapid overheating and a melted connector.  Over the past 3 years I have seen it happen 3 times, all within the first 2 years  I have learnt the hard way to reduced connections as much as possible and have seen a corresponding improvement in reliability.

Connectors, especially cheap connectors are by far the biggest danger.  So the fewer you can arrange to have the safer.

None of the more recent cards work with one less 8-pin plugged in, but I think almost all of of my RX580 cards that had 2x 8-pin or 8-pin + 6-pin worked fine with only one 8-pin plugged in. I can't remember all of them, it wasn't many. One was a Sapphire.

Finally some useful information!  I suspected some cards might be hardwired to insist on both connectors being used.  The only alternative would be a daisy-chain.  Not ideal but I will certainly consider it as I would like to try one of the new RTX3060ti's and it's almost impossible to get one ATM.

[JayDDee]

Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible. 

That's false if reducing the number of connectors increases the load on each one, which is exactly
what you are proposing.

What you're saying is nonsense.  I never said it increased the load but every connection is a point where 2 metal surfaces meet. This is inevitably a weak point compared to a continuous cable.  An imperfect mating or a bit of corrosion can cause localised resistance leading to rapid overheating and a melted connector.  Over the past 3 years I have seen it happen 3 times, all within the first 2 years  I have learnt the hard way to reduced connections as much as possible and have seen a corresponding improvement in reliability.

Nonsense is thinking that using one connection on a GPU designed for 2 is is better because it uses fewer connectors.
You need to learn the difference between serial and parallel. More connectors in parallel is a good thing, that's why they have
multiple redundant pins.

If you're worried about having problems, stop trying to cheat.

[hellscreamer]

the molex connector above will burn your house

try 1 x 8 pin + 1 x 6 pin to 8 pin

[miner29]

1 8 pin PCIe power connector 288W max

1 6 pin PCIe power connector 216W max

4-pin Molex power connector 156w max

SATA power connector 54W max

Wattage is total for the each connector max as well as the total each chain of connectors can have (if there are 3 4-pin molex on one wire set from PSU then the total power draw on that chain cannot be more than 156W max).

Splitters do not increase the wattage per chain.

Keep within the wattage limits and buy good quality psu's and wire sets and have no issues.
F around and burn something down.

[JayDDee]

1 8 pin PCIe power connector 288W max

1 6 pin PCIe power connector 216W max

4-pin Molex power connector 156w max

SATA power connector 54W max

Wattage is total for the each connector max as well as the total each chain of connectors can have (if there are 3 4-pin molex on one wire set from PSU then the total power draw on that chain cannot be more than 156W max).

Splitters do not increase the wattage per chain.

Keep within the wattage limits and buy good quality psu's and wire sets and have no issues.
F around and burn something down.

Even good quality PSUs can have cabling mismatches. Older PSU don't have 8+8 cables for the newer
GPUs while newer PSUs don't have 6 pin connectors for the risers. It's often necessary to get
creative.

The number of wires in the PCIe cables is a good clue to a cable's (chain) capacity.
An 8+6 cable with only 6 wires connected to the PSU is limited to 216W while one with 8 wires can do 288W.
If a PSU has both single 8 pin cables as well as 8+6 or 8+8, and they are interchangable, a single 8 pin
cable can be safely split to 8+6 or 8+8, respectively.

Molex & Sata usually have 6 pin connectors at the PSU but not all pins are used.
Molex to 6 pin PCIE is ok. Molex to 8 pin is at the limit of the connector and should use 2 molex connectors
(as in the image above) [edit: from seperate cables].
Sata to 6 pin is a last resort and should always use 2 Sata connectors, preferably from seperate PSU cables.
Sata to 8 pin is a no-go.

Cable quality is a seperate issue. If cable quality is in question don't push things.

A splitter is preferable than only one connection on a 2 connection GPU.

If you overclock don't push things.

[Michael20]

3060ti and 3070 uses under 20w from pcie Port

[percy_tc]

Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible. 

That's false if reducing the number of connectors increases the load on each one, which is exactly
what you are proposing.

Yes exactly! And as is written earlier, 3060Ti uses about 20W from riser, rest will come on 2x8pin in your case.

[miner29]

Every connector is a point of failure so I prefer to minimise them as much as possible. 

That's false if reducing the number of connectors increases the load on each one, which is exactly
what you are proposing.

Yes exactly! And as is written earlier, 3060Ti uses about 20W from riser, rest will come on 2x8pin in your case.

This is why i work in watts per connector and per chain from psu.  If you stay inside those limits you are fine.   👍

[JayDDee]

3060ti and 3070 uses under 20w from pcie Port

Do you have  a reference? I haven't found anything about how power is distributed on a card from
the different sources. I just use simple math, divide the total by the number of connectors, with
the 8 pin connectors counting as 2.

Edit: That 20W figure looks like BS. Someone on reddit calculated it for a 3080 assuming the 2x8 pin
connectiors would draw their full 300W of the total 320W for the card, leaving 20W for the slot to supply.

[percy_tc]

3060ti and 3070 uses under 20w from pcie Port

Do you have  a reference? I haven't found anything about how power is distributed on a card from
the different sources. I just use simple math, divide the total by the number of connectors, with
the 8 pin connectors counting as 2.

Edit: That 20W figure looks like BS. Someone on reddit calculated it for a 3080 assuming the 2x8 pin
connectiors would draw their full 300W of the total 320W for the card, leaving 20W for the slot to supply.

Here you go: