Is molex to 6 pin safe?

xianate · 31 Aug 2014 at 03:50

I currently have an R9-270 in my build and i am planning on upgrading it to a R9-290.

I have an 850w PSU with a single 6+2 connector however the R9-290 requires a 6+2 pin and another 6 pin connector. Is it safe to use one of the molex to 6 pin converters?

I do plan on upgrading my PSU soon but right now I just cant afford an R9-290 and a proper PSU with the necessary connectors.

Akagi · 31 Aug 2014 at 04:10

I would use a dual molex to 6 pin adapter at the very least, not a single molex to 6 pin adapter. Using a single molex to 6 pin is likely to cause issues ranging from the card throttling due to not receiving enough power, to cable or PSU damage due to too much current being forced through the molex cable. When I have seen this happen before, it usually involves a wire which enters a connector catching fire.

What PSU do you currently have? I would personally just wait and save up until you can afford to buy both at once. You won't need a PSU as powerful as 850W though, a good 550W should be enough, depending on the rest of your system spec. Which is?

melvis · 31 Aug 2014 at 07:08

unless they are running from different rails a dual molex to 6 pin doesnt do anything differently than a single, just be sure the wire on the converter is decent (some from that auction site tend not to be)
i ran a 9800GTX on a molex to 6 pin for years

xianate · 31 Aug 2014 at 13:09

Thanks for the reply.

My currant build is a

990FX-UD3
FX 8320 @4ghz
R9-270
8GB 1600mhz
and a CIT branded 850w psu, black edition apparently.

Would something like a CX 600 or 750 from corsair do the job for me?

RJC · 31 Aug 2014 at 13:11

I would look at investing in a much superior PSU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
Total : £59.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Akagi · 31 Aug 2014 at 15:03

As above, thats the one I would pick

CIT power supplies are one notch above the worst you can possibly buy. They are hopeless ticking time-bombs. I expect its actual 12v output is closer to 500W than 850W, as 850W appears to be the sum of its peak power on all rails.