SATA to 8 pin with an RX 5600 XT in silent mode
Posted by Leisure_suit_guy@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 13 comments
I know you shouldn't use these adapters but hear me out: I read that the SATA rail of the PSU should output 54 Watts, the 5600 XT in silent mode draws 135W at full load, and since the PCI-e slot should provide 75W, that leaves only 60W to go through the wires (only at full load), and the card could be further downvolted.
It should be fine, shouldn't it?
mooseycreatures@reddit
Does your SATA output on the PSU have a separate 12v rail from the 24pin/CPU/GPU outputs? If not, it's all the same juice and you can tap it from whatever pin output the PSU has. Now is it a good idea? Dunno, have you run out of other 12v outputs?
Leisure_suit_guy@reddit (OP)
It's an office/OEM PC. The PSU only has a SATA power connector available.
mooseycreatures@reddit
Right now, you only have 1/4 the proper conductors (2 wires instead of 7/8) and that'd make me a bit nervous. If this PSU was my only option, I would cut the SATA, crack open the PSU housing, and build a new 8 pin from scratch, but I know most people don't have the tools for that. You could go the inline solder route and daisy chain the plug end, but it's one of those things where if you don't have the right tools, you probably don't know what you're doing and you probably aren't going to do it right. Messing around inside a PSU exposes some dangerous voltages you shouldn't be casually messing with.
I would also worry about the OEM PSU having enough oomph to run the GPU though. They aren't usually built with a lot of overhead or high end filtering, so you could end up sending dirty power to the entire system and start killing hardware or flipping bits in unpredictable ways. Getting an SFX psu and repinning the plugs would be my go to solution unless the OEM PSU has some really weird hardware or unsourceable cimp pins.
Leisure_suit_guy@reddit (OP)
I agree, right I'm pivoting towards buying a new PSU, low wattage ones are cheap. Either that or a Pico PSU for the GPU alone. The PC has a Ryzen 7 5700G, no mechanical disks and the current PSU outputs 180W (12V only).
Regarding buying a new PSU, do you think that 300W would be enough, or is it too little/too much? (The 5600 XT needs 160W in performance mode).
mooseycreatures@reddit
I don't have any experience with that combo of hardware, but theoretically, you'd have a \~40% headroom with a 300w and as long as the PSU is decent quality, I can't see why it'd be an issue.
Leisure_suit_guy@reddit (OP)
OK, thanks
aragorn18@reddit
High risk. Not recommended
ToothChainzz@reddit
Miners did it when crypto mining on the rx580 was a thing.
You can't guarantee that the card will draw from the motherboard to 75w then take from the PCIe cable, there's likely an even load sharing or even preferential treatment of the PCIe cable...
Molex to SATA lose your data... SATA to PCI you could die.
Leisure_suit_guy@reddit (OP)
Never had any problems in years by using molex to SATA.
Me? You mean the PC, I hope.
ToothChainzz@reddit
I just made that last one up ahaha
Leisure_suit_guy@reddit (OP)
OK, good 😅.
USSHammond@reddit
SATA power connectors are NOT designed with the kind of power draw a gpu can pull. Such adapters are a fire hazard.
-UserRemoved-@reddit
No one is going to suggest doing this, it's your risk to assume.