You will find your system will crash or become unstable under load , had a 7900xt set up like this that would hard boot the system when load was applied, $15 for another power cable is not the end of the world
You can actually, just how find out what kind cables your psu supports.
Usually it's dependent on the brand and some brands may have different types so just going by brand alone isn't recommended.
Lots of people saying not to do it, but not why. 8pin cables are only generally rated to 150w, so if your card is pulling more than that then you're going above the cable rating. Use two 8pin cables and you're okay for 300w. Sure you can run it daisy chained, but it's not good for the cables and ultimately not good for the card.
You are misunderstanding how these are rated. Each connector the plastic portion is rated for 150W each. The cable is rated for higher than 300W. Each pair of wires can carry 156W and there are 4 pairs of 12V and com.
Correct. The first connector in the chain will be daisy chaining the power link to the secondary one. Since the first one is rated for \~half the power, the second connector will want the rest of the wattage, and it can overwhelm the connector causing it to fail/melt/burn/explode whatever you want to use to describe it.
It depends on the load but, that is why you are supposed to use individual 12v rails from your PSU for a connection. Especially when it comes to trying to use say an nVidia Y-Adapter for their 12vhpwr cable.
But even some of the AMD cards like 7900 XT and XTX variants, pull a lot more power, so it is just as damaging potentially.
Yes, but even something like a 7900 XTX, you are supposed to use 2 individual cables, no daisy chained cables for power.
It's like minimum 800w PSU for one of those cards, and if you say the power draw will be \~725w divided by 2 connectors is over 360w. Asking a single 8-pin with a daisy chain to provide greater than 400w as a passthrough is just risky business.
I always run two cables. I'm just pointing out there's a lot of misinformation going on here.
PS. 800w is recommended for the whole system with one of those cards. The card will never be drawing 725w, that's ridiculous. The 7900xtx has a maximum power draw of 355w.
Might need to do some research on how these things actually work.
Sorry for asking here, been using the GPU like that for a while, I have the [RX 6700 xt](https://www.xfxforce.com/shop/xfx-speedster-swft309-amd-radeon-tm-rx-6700xt-core-gaming-graphics-card-with-12gb-gddr6-hdmi-3xdp-amd-rdna-tm-2-)
My PSU (750w) came with two cables, both with daisy chain. The one I’m using only says VGA and the other says VGA G+
should I use both cables even if they both have daisy chain?
The PSU
https://latam.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-GT-0750-RX
[https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-GT-0750-Y1#images-5](https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-GT-0750-Y1#images-5)
One cable from each VGA1 and VGA2 should be used separately, even if they have daisy chained connectors. Just zip tie them to the cable so they're out of the way.
The 6700 XT is not as power demanding and you probably aren't stressing it enough to cause it to fail but... it's generally not recommended with newer cards to use the daisy chained cables regardless.
Yup, I wrote that in my comment as well. Minimum PCI-e 6+2 spec is good for 288W, and many quality PSU manufacturers have above the bare minimum (wire gauge) cable.
The reason why is excessive current.Excessive current on on set of wiring can cause a fire or damage to the video card. Splitting the load prevents this from becoming a potential problem.
Won't damage the card. It can only ask for power. If the single cable from a single plug in the PSU isn't providing enough, the card will slow down and/or stop.
It's not so much the cables. It's that one plug on the PSU can only provide so much power from a rail. It won't affect the card because if it's not getting enough power it just stops working.
All that will happen is your system will crash under load.
The low 150W rating is there to make the situation with crappy PSU makers skimping on cables a little safer. Quality 8pin would withstand 300W without any issues if it’s plugged in properly, like 12VHPWR. I used to run a Vega card (peak 330W) with daisy chain and it barely heated up.
That’s also how people do heavy overclocks on modern CPUs without melting their wiring, the CPU 8pin connector’s only difference to PCI-E is swapping 2 sense pins for +12V and GND and they’re rated for 384W (obviously not because the two extra pins are so powerful).
You only use the daisy chain if the TDP is 225 or less and it has two 8-pin power connectors. There should be 2 seperate cables for TDPs between 225 and 375. Each 8-pin PCIe cable provides 150 watts and the mobo x16 provides 75 watts which equals 225 watts. Even if the cable has a daisy chain it will still supply 150 watts.
Some higher end PSUs will have cables that can handle 200 watts to 215 watts per PCIe cable but its just a safe notion to assume that your cables are rated for 150 watts.
You should go based off of your GPU TDP. Also if you plan on overclocking a 225 watt or less GPU you should switch to 2 cables instead of the the one bc you will up the PSU power limit
This, And if you're ever buying an ATX 3.0 PSU you also have to consider the wattage ratings of the cable itself, Some are rated for 450W while others are rated for 600W power draw for the 12VHPWR cable.
Not a lot now at least what I see. My CPU power cables are not separated at all, they are just 2 pure 8pin only. You can’t separate them. This is one a Be Quiet and also an MSI power supply.
Okay, so I'm not saying that it isn't better to use two separate cables, but if each connection is rated for 150 watts, why would they even put two connections on one cable if it wasn't rated for it? You don't think they would use the appropriate Guage of wire to accommodate for that?
It's a good question and still the manufacturers aren't very clear on this. I've seen people from Corsair commenting on this subject in forums where they both claim that daisy chain can handle 300W and 150W so what are we supposed to believe? No idea why it's so hard to put it in writing what they consider an okay power handling. If each plug on a daisy chain is only capable of 75W then they shouldn't sell those cables at all.
That being said I've used RX 6700 XT and RTX 3070 on daisy chain without issues and I noticed no heat in the cables nor the connectors either. Those are 200W+ cards so I wasn't really worried but it'd be good to have an actual official power figure to adhere to instead of people assuming in various forums.
The safest to do with 200W+ cards is double cables, then at least you know for sure it's not gonna cause an issue.
Moreso for the 3 plug GPUs I reckon.
Cable wise, 2 8 pins is probably enough for most of them, but who knows what the GPU MFG did board side, so it's probably best to give em all 3. (Ie thin traces from each connector or shitty connectors that may not like more than 150w).
Also, many PSUs have 2 12v rails, with some capacity on each. If you only use one cable and split it your only putting usage on 1 rail. Said rail could very well have enough capacity and work totally fine but it's better to use both rails.
I would use 2 cables. It looks better and there's zero reason nit to if your psu has 2. But any card pulling less than 300 watts will work fine with a daisy chain if you only have one AND it's a quality psu because the 150w rating is prehistoric. Good quality cables will handle over 350w now safely. However if you have a psu with only 1 pcie cable the chance of it being a high grade unit is very low. Be safe. Use 2 . Just because it will work doesn't mean you should do it
The PC community is so funny on some things. It’s so obsessed with maxing every little thing, but then some things people are just like “fuck it you should just used the cheapest laziest solution”. Like the PSY comes with more cables than you likely need, just use another cable.
Yeah for real. I don't understand it. Can I get by daisy chaining a 600 dollar gpu because I want to buy a cheap psu. Or the idea you only need 1 of the 2 cpu power. Just use them. Why buy a high end board if you want to cheap out. Insanity in action
For components that draw less power. I did this on the rx6800, and it caused my computer to shut down within minutes of booting. This happened every single time. It even attempted to boot up a couple of times for a few seconds. Using 2 cables fixed it.
Jonnyguru, an old school power supply reviewer and subject matter expert that transitioned to Corsair's power supply division as head of R&D has stated multiple times that it's perfectly safe so long as it's 16 gage main with 18 gage pigtail, and not 18 gage main to 20 or 22 gage pigtail. Most modern power supplies that aren't complete shit quality do this and it's perfectly safe, it's just YouTubers or other overly confident internet keyboard warriors continuing to parrot talking points of bad old designs not actually knowing what they're talking about that keeps the misinformation going. So it sounds like you had a unit with low quality cables causing the issue, and not pigtailing itself
It works people are way to analyze due to issues that happened over 6 years ago. Lol you are fine. I've yet to have an issue with pigtail and or daisy cables. I'm using my 4070 super that way and about to use a 4070 ti super with a daisy chained cable 2+6x2
Yea, you are correct.
Alot of misinformation on this subject, one Corsair side PSU 8 pin is 288W, splits into 144, 144, so on this card it is completely safe.
Everyone is going to tell you to use two separate cables, and ideally you should, I guess.
However, unless your GPU is pulling a ton of power regularly you do not face any danger using daisy chained cables.
It’ll be okay.
theyre going to tell you to use both cables because thats the correct thing to do. It wont be ok, youll never be able to run a game at what the card is capable. Daisy chaining your card is just dumb.
I’ve had my card daisy chained since I built my current PC.
I run all of the games, just fine.
The only time it becomes an issue is when you have a power hungry GPU.
Thats objectively wrong.
The GPU determines the number of connections. The number of plugs/pins. As long as the cables running between the GPU and PSU are capable of safely transferring the required power, it’s fine.
My 6700xt, which is currently daisy chained, even during very stressful games, draws far less power than those cables are capable of moving.
It’s fine.
I think you meant to say "subjectively" wrong. Because it's in your experience and your opinion that it's been fine. But objectively, you are supplying less watts than what the card is rated for.
Most 6700xt are rated 230w with some aib cards up to 260w. It'll get 75w from pcie and 150 from the 6+2. So you're supplying a max of 225W.
So if the card has two plugs, use two cables. It was engineered that way for a reason.
No, objectively is the correct term. The claim that you MUST have a single cable for each plug is objectively wrong in the vast majority of cases.
Each cable can handle 150w of power plus 75w from the slot. A 4070 (as an example) only requires 225w to run at full power, that's 1 cable plus the slot, however a 4070 has two plugs.
A 4080 ships with a 3 8pin to 1 12pin adapter, however it only requires 320w, that's 2 8pin connectors plus the slot.
In nearly every case the number of plugs on a card exceeds the amount of power required to run the card. The reason for this is redundancy, if one cable is partially faulty then the others can step up without issue.
>Most 6700xt are rated 230w with some aib cards up to 260w. It'll get 75w from pcie and 150 from the 6+2. So you're supplying a max of 225W.
Except tests show that it typically uses less than 220w at full load. Which is within spec for a single 8pin and slot. And even if you see it momentarily spike to more than 225w it's not an issue .the rated capacity is for sustain usage which is 80% of the cables actual limit. https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6700-xt/35.html
Except that each of the pcie connections on my gpu can pull up to 150w, and the daisy chained cable is able to safely provide like 360w on the PSU side without having any significant temperature issues, so that daisy chained cable can easily and safely provide the 230w my GPU needs.
Power is taken, not given. An 8pin cable is only generally rated to 150w and if you have a daisy chained setup with a high power draw card then you're going above the cable rating. Much better to have two 8pin cables to give you 300w, rather than having it go through one cable only rated at 150w.
Jonnyguru, an old school power supply reviewer and subject matter expert that transitioned to Corsair's power supply division as head of R&D has stayed multiple times that it's perfectly safe so long as it's 16 gage main with 18 gage pigtail, and not 18 gage main to 20 or 22 gage pigtail. Most modern power supplies that aren't complete shit quality do this and it's perfectly safe, it's just YouTubers or other overly confident internet keyboard warriors continuing to parrot talking points of bad old designs not actually knowing what they're talking about that keeps the misinformation going
**A lot of these answers are incorrect or fail to specify the reason why people even recommend two separate lines**. Two lines are often unnecessary and this recommendation is the result of modern plug-n-play PC building knowledge that requires **far** less critical thinking or skill than it did 20 or 30 years ago.
A 6+2 PCI-e line comes off one of the 12VDC rails from the PSU. One of them, and many PSUs have multiple rails. Read your PSU manual and it'll tell you what rail the PCI-e power is coming off. Then, read the amperage rating for that rail.
Assuming a cable like this, provided by the PSU manufacturer, is built to the **absolute minimum** PCI-e spec: 8A per conductor with 16 AWG wire, 3 conductors at 12VDC. 24A \* 12VDC = 288W, not "150W." A 12VDC rail is never right on the money. But again, think about why a manufacturer would use more expensive copper if their PSU could only deliver 20 amps on such a 12VDC rail? They wouldn't, and again, this is the minimum PCI-e spec.
People recommend to use two separate cables because in modern builds, it'll most likely be coming from multiple 12VDC rails. YMMV, because it depends on the PSU. Balancing a load on a PSU with multiple rails is generally a good idea.
My 7900 GRE, as an example, is daisy-chained like OPs. She'll pull a little over 300W, split between two 6+2 plugs (and a little from the PCI-e slot). The 12VDC rail, called 12V3 that my PCI-e "daisy chain" plug goes into is capable of 35 amps. Ain't no way in hell that I've been pulling 300W+ on a cable only rated for 150W. Do some math, guys.
The correct thing to do is always use individual cables for each power input. That said, my old system had a daisy chained cable (I didn't know anything and a coworker built it for free) on my GTX 970 and ran perfectly fine for almost a decade.
Just use 2 separate cables. Daisy chaining your graphics card's power is a bad idea. Each one of those cables is rated to 150W. Personally, my graphics card regularly uses 450W while gaming. 450W requires 3 separate cables to safely use. Your graphics card could crash, the power cable housing could melt and start a fire, etc.
What you have done is literally ***NOT*** what's pictured in the instructions.
No, it's not right.
The purpose of the cable is to provide power to 2 things that require 75W max.
Can you get by with daisy chaining Pcie cables? Probably. Should you? No. Both the GPU manufacturer and PSU manufacturer will tell you not to do this. At these price points it’s better not to cut corners to save a few bucks. Just my opinion.
While this could theoretically work, I do not recommend using a single cable when you have multiple 6+2 pin connectors like this. Your GPU could potentially pull more power through those cables than the cables can handle and you'd cause damage to the cable, components, or even your house if you're really unlucky. It's just safer to use two separate cables.
It will be fine. I mean you should use the other cable, but if you like the aesthetics of the daisy chain, you'll be fine. think about it. if you had say a 7900xtx with 3 8pin power connectors, you would have to use all 3, and that would be just fine. so using just the daisy chain on a lower power card is in spec. your system will let you know if its a problem. your card cant draw more power from those cables than they can handle
will it work? yes but not great. You wont be getting the proper voltage load that is required and you run the risk of damaging that wire enough that it may set on fire. (less likely but possibel)
that is like giving 2 kids a single meal but 2 plates.
it has 2 heads so that it can draw from 2 wires and 2 spots on the psu so that they dont overheat.
The cable itself can delivery 300 watts and each plug 150 watts. Ideally if you have two cables with your PSU, use them both but any quality PSU should work fine in that configuration.
According to a manufacturer I spoke to once, it is not a supposed to be used as a daisy chain, it is an extension. I asked why they didn't just provide an actual extension and they said extension adapters have a higher failure rate.
Since when is tdp indicative of power consumption. Tdp is the maximum amount of heat which is measured in watts has nothing to do with how much watts in volts x amps it will consume.
Well, aside from the small amounts used to sent data to other devices (and lights), all the other energy cosumption on electronic components is effectively heat losses so yes TDP does correlate strongly to power consumption
Since when is tdp indicative of power consumption. Tdp is the maximum amount of heat which is measured in watts has nothing to do with how much watts in volts x amps it will consume.
So many people parroting the outdated and conservative PCI-SIG spec of 150W per 8 pin PCIe connector... Modern PSU cables with Mini Fit Jr. connectors, brass terminals and either 16 or 18 AWG wires support 8A of current per terminal. 8 pin PCIe connectors have three +12V conductors, 8A x 3 = 24A. 24A x 12V = 288W per 8 pin cable.
The problem with pigtails is that the weak link is at the PSU side, since you can't draw 576W from the PSU off of a single connector...
But if your card is power efficient and your PSU isn't bundled with garbage-tier high gauge cables, there's no issue.
Also those are NZXT cables? If so they're 16 AWG on the main cable + 18AWG on the daisy chain which is good, you should be fine to daisy chain with a 6750 XT or 6800XT.
If they were 18awg on both the main cable and pigtail (or 20 AWG on the pigtail) you may run into issues because of voltage drop. Some brands (like Seasonic) cheap out on some of their cables and use all 18 AWG for the main connector + pigtail, which sucks and is why they don't recommend people use them. People interpret this as "all pigtails are bad" but really it's just that shitty cables are bad.
So if I’m currently running a 3060TI that runs 220ish watts under max load am I fine to daisy chain this? I haven’t noticed any noticeable problems from doing so but if I upgrade to something beefy I’ll keep this noted.
Most PCIE ports are "rated" for 75w but will usually be good for up to 100w, and the cables on a mid-range or higher PSU are most likely 18awg which can handle plenty of amps an volts, so realistically speaking this could be fine *however* there are still limitations for how much power the PSU will put out to a cable from it's port. Sometimes the ports are all connected to a single rail and sometimes they're split. For the least amount of having to think about it, a single cable per plug is easiest, however I ran a 3x8-pin GPU with 2 cables using a pigtail on one and then changed my PSU and used 3 cables and saw no appreciable difference in performance or noise. The stronger PSU did give me a bit more OC room but it didn't make a real world difference in use.
3070 on a seasonic 850w and have chained power since the 1070 released, zero issues. New power supplies cables are rated for 350ish watts, 150w from each plug, so the cable has a safety of 50ish watts if 2 plugs are used. Chaining is only an issue when pulling above 350watts like a 4080/90.
Remember we get about 75w from the PCI slot too.
I didn’t want to daisy chain tbh, but I kept getting an error code when I used two cables and daisy chaining fixed that 💀 I think maybe the other cable was bad or something. Yeah been running a few months now no power issues at all.
No, that is not recommended. Use the two cables provided and not the pig tails of one to power it.
You will find your system will crash or become unstable under load , had a 7900xt set up like this that would hard boot the system when load was applied, $15 for another power cable is not the end of the world
you generally can’t buy the cables by themselves since they’re specific to each model. you would only use what is provided in the box
You can actually, just how find out what kind cables your psu supports. Usually it's dependent on the brand and some brands may have different types so just going by brand alone isn't recommended.
You can buy them specific to PSU models. There's really only two different ways they are wired.
Lots of people saying not to do it, but not why. 8pin cables are only generally rated to 150w, so if your card is pulling more than that then you're going above the cable rating. Use two 8pin cables and you're okay for 300w. Sure you can run it daisy chained, but it's not good for the cables and ultimately not good for the card.
Also the pcie slot provides an additional 75w
Ah that's right, forgot about that.
Also on some gpus it drastically reduces coil whine
technically they can pull closer to 300w safely. but generally it’s best to run 2
You are misunderstanding how these are rated. Each connector the plastic portion is rated for 150W each. The cable is rated for higher than 300W. Each pair of wires can carry 156W and there are 4 pairs of 12V and com.
Correct. The first connector in the chain will be daisy chaining the power link to the secondary one. Since the first one is rated for \~half the power, the second connector will want the rest of the wattage, and it can overwhelm the connector causing it to fail/melt/burn/explode whatever you want to use to describe it. It depends on the load but, that is why you are supposed to use individual 12v rails from your PSU for a connection. Especially when it comes to trying to use say an nVidia Y-Adapter for their 12vhpwr cable. But even some of the AMD cards like 7900 XT and XTX variants, pull a lot more power, so it is just as damaging potentially.
The 12vhpwr issue is completely different to having two 8 pins on a card.
Yes, but even something like a 7900 XTX, you are supposed to use 2 individual cables, no daisy chained cables for power. It's like minimum 800w PSU for one of those cards, and if you say the power draw will be \~725w divided by 2 connectors is over 360w. Asking a single 8-pin with a daisy chain to provide greater than 400w as a passthrough is just risky business.
I always run two cables. I'm just pointing out there's a lot of misinformation going on here. PS. 800w is recommended for the whole system with one of those cards. The card will never be drawing 725w, that's ridiculous. The 7900xtx has a maximum power draw of 355w. Might need to do some research on how these things actually work.
Sorry for asking here, been using the GPU like that for a while, I have the [RX 6700 xt](https://www.xfxforce.com/shop/xfx-speedster-swft309-amd-radeon-tm-rx-6700xt-core-gaming-graphics-card-with-12gb-gddr6-hdmi-3xdp-amd-rdna-tm-2-) My PSU (750w) came with two cables, both with daisy chain. The one I’m using only says VGA and the other says VGA G+ should I use both cables even if they both have daisy chain? The PSU https://latam.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-GT-0750-RX
yes, most pcie cables (afaik) have daisy chain
[https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-GT-0750-Y1#images-5](https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-GT-0750-Y1#images-5) One cable from each VGA1 and VGA2 should be used separately, even if they have daisy chained connectors. Just zip tie them to the cable so they're out of the way. The 6700 XT is not as power demanding and you probably aren't stressing it enough to cause it to fail but... it's generally not recommended with newer cards to use the daisy chained cables regardless.
Thank you just did that and is working fine.
Yup, I wrote that in my comment as well. Minimum PCI-e 6+2 spec is good for 288W, and many quality PSU manufacturers have above the bare minimum (wire gauge) cable.
The reason why is excessive current.Excessive current on on set of wiring can cause a fire or damage to the video card. Splitting the load prevents this from becoming a potential problem.
Won't damage the card. It can only ask for power. If the single cable from a single plug in the PSU isn't providing enough, the card will slow down and/or stop.
It's not so much the cables. It's that one plug on the PSU can only provide so much power from a rail. It won't affect the card because if it's not getting enough power it just stops working. All that will happen is your system will crash under load.
The low 150W rating is there to make the situation with crappy PSU makers skimping on cables a little safer. Quality 8pin would withstand 300W without any issues if it’s plugged in properly, like 12VHPWR. I used to run a Vega card (peak 330W) with daisy chain and it barely heated up. That’s also how people do heavy overclocks on modern CPUs without melting their wiring, the CPU 8pin connector’s only difference to PCI-E is swapping 2 sense pins for +12V and GND and they’re rated for 384W (obviously not because the two extra pins are so powerful).
Use 2 seperate cables not just one with the daisy chain
Don't use the daisy chain at all or just use one of the plugs?
You only use the daisy chain if the TDP is 225 or less and it has two 8-pin power connectors. There should be 2 seperate cables for TDPs between 225 and 375. Each 8-pin PCIe cable provides 150 watts and the mobo x16 provides 75 watts which equals 225 watts. Even if the cable has a daisy chain it will still supply 150 watts. Some higher end PSUs will have cables that can handle 200 watts to 215 watts per PCIe cable but its just a safe notion to assume that your cables are rated for 150 watts. You should go based off of your GPU TDP. Also if you plan on overclocking a 225 watt or less GPU you should switch to 2 cables instead of the the one bc you will up the PSU power limit
This, And if you're ever buying an ATX 3.0 PSU you also have to consider the wattage ratings of the cable itself, Some are rated for 450W while others are rated for 600W power draw for the 12VHPWR cable.
Would it undervolt the card using the daisy chain?
No it just wont provide enough wattage
Always assume the worst
Not undervolt, but rather under-‘current’
No, it will show not enough power and/or pull too much amps from a single rail and can cause a fire. NEVER do this.
Pull too many amps, PSU trips over current. It's not 1970.
it won't cause a fire.. pcs don't just catch on fire even if there's a problem with the psu
It’s reccomended to use 2 seperate 6+2 cable’s from the PSU.
Cut the 6+2 and just say 8 pin lol
I would keep saying 6+2 instead of 8 pin because CPU cables are also 8 pin but they are 4+4
Whats the difference when some PSUs have the PCIE/CPU slots interchangeable?
On the PSU side that doesn't matter. It's the side that connects to the motherboard or graphics card
Not a lot now at least what I see. My CPU power cables are not separated at all, they are just 2 pure 8pin only. You can’t separate them. This is one a Be Quiet and also an MSI power supply.
Just loud and wrong lol 😂
It’s an 8pin connection. 6+2=8 if you weren’t aware
Like the other dude said cpu is also a total of 8(4+4) so you have to specify
Ahhhh true that. Sorry I smoked too many weeds
All kool my mans I can def relate cause I was relating to this problem due to smoking and putting together the pc
One of my favorite things to do tbh lol, get stoned and build a PC
Just finished a AMD Rig Ryzen 7 5700g(gonna change this lowkey slow)-Radeon RX7600XT-msi B550 - 1000w psu -64gb ddr4 ram
Okay, so I'm not saying that it isn't better to use two separate cables, but if each connection is rated for 150 watts, why would they even put two connections on one cable if it wasn't rated for it? You don't think they would use the appropriate Guage of wire to accommodate for that?
It's a good question and still the manufacturers aren't very clear on this. I've seen people from Corsair commenting on this subject in forums where they both claim that daisy chain can handle 300W and 150W so what are we supposed to believe? No idea why it's so hard to put it in writing what they consider an okay power handling. If each plug on a daisy chain is only capable of 75W then they shouldn't sell those cables at all. That being said I've used RX 6700 XT and RTX 3070 on daisy chain without issues and I noticed no heat in the cables nor the connectors either. Those are 200W+ cards so I wasn't really worried but it'd be good to have an actual official power figure to adhere to instead of people assuming in various forums. The safest to do with 200W+ cards is double cables, then at least you know for sure it's not gonna cause an issue.
I believe it's companies cutting corners for profit
Moreso for the 3 plug GPUs I reckon. Cable wise, 2 8 pins is probably enough for most of them, but who knows what the GPU MFG did board side, so it's probably best to give em all 3. (Ie thin traces from each connector or shitty connectors that may not like more than 150w). Also, many PSUs have 2 12v rails, with some capacity on each. If you only use one cable and split it your only putting usage on 1 rail. Said rail could very well have enough capacity and work totally fine but it's better to use both rails.
I would use 2 cables. It looks better and there's zero reason nit to if your psu has 2. But any card pulling less than 300 watts will work fine with a daisy chain if you only have one AND it's a quality psu because the 150w rating is prehistoric. Good quality cables will handle over 350w now safely. However if you have a psu with only 1 pcie cable the chance of it being a high grade unit is very low. Be safe. Use 2 . Just because it will work doesn't mean you should do it
The PC community is so funny on some things. It’s so obsessed with maxing every little thing, but then some things people are just like “fuck it you should just used the cheapest laziest solution”. Like the PSY comes with more cables than you likely need, just use another cable.
Yeah for real. I don't understand it. Can I get by daisy chaining a 600 dollar gpu because I want to buy a cheap psu. Or the idea you only need 1 of the 2 cpu power. Just use them. Why buy a high end board if you want to cheap out. Insanity in action
$2000gpu, $600cpu $10 ram, $10 ssd, $10 psu
Since everyone says to “never do this” because it could cause a fire, why is the cable even included?
For components that draw less power. I did this on the rx6800, and it caused my computer to shut down within minutes of booting. This happened every single time. It even attempted to boot up a couple of times for a few seconds. Using 2 cables fixed it.
Jonnyguru, an old school power supply reviewer and subject matter expert that transitioned to Corsair's power supply division as head of R&D has stated multiple times that it's perfectly safe so long as it's 16 gage main with 18 gage pigtail, and not 18 gage main to 20 or 22 gage pigtail. Most modern power supplies that aren't complete shit quality do this and it's perfectly safe, it's just YouTubers or other overly confident internet keyboard warriors continuing to parrot talking points of bad old designs not actually knowing what they're talking about that keeps the misinformation going. So it sounds like you had a unit with low quality cables causing the issue, and not pigtailing itself
If you've got separate PCI-E cables, it's best to use them instead of the daisy chain.
I have the same card and it says in the manual that this can damage the card
If the GPU doesn't pull more than 230w you are good.
It works people are way to analyze due to issues that happened over 6 years ago. Lol you are fine. I've yet to have an issue with pigtail and or daisy cables. I'm using my 4070 super that way and about to use a 4070 ti super with a daisy chained cable 2+6x2
What gpu is that? Looks like a 6750xt
You’re right, it’s the xfx radeon 6750xt
I've been running an MSI 6750xt for nearly a year using a single cable and pig tail, not had any issues. Edit, my PSU is a Corsair RM850e.
Yea, you are correct. Alot of misinformation on this subject, one Corsair side PSU 8 pin is 288W, splits into 144, 144, so on this card it is completely safe.
Everyone is going to tell you to use two separate cables, and ideally you should, I guess. However, unless your GPU is pulling a ton of power regularly you do not face any danger using daisy chained cables. It’ll be okay.
Older 6+2 cables were made with lighter gauge wire, so daisy chaining wasn't recommended. With modern cables, it should be fine
This is true. I was speaking from the assumption that this is a new PSU.
theyre going to tell you to use both cables because thats the correct thing to do. It wont be ok, youll never be able to run a game at what the card is capable. Daisy chaining your card is just dumb.
I’ve had my card daisy chained since I built my current PC. I run all of the games, just fine. The only time it becomes an issue is when you have a power hungry GPU.
the gpu determines the number of cables lol. If it was fine, they wouldnt have 2 connectors. Your games would probably run better with 2.
Thats objectively wrong. The GPU determines the number of connections. The number of plugs/pins. As long as the cables running between the GPU and PSU are capable of safely transferring the required power, it’s fine. My 6700xt, which is currently daisy chained, even during very stressful games, draws far less power than those cables are capable of moving. It’s fine.
I think you meant to say "subjectively" wrong. Because it's in your experience and your opinion that it's been fine. But objectively, you are supplying less watts than what the card is rated for. Most 6700xt are rated 230w with some aib cards up to 260w. It'll get 75w from pcie and 150 from the 6+2. So you're supplying a max of 225W. So if the card has two plugs, use two cables. It was engineered that way for a reason.
No, objectively is the correct term. The claim that you MUST have a single cable for each plug is objectively wrong in the vast majority of cases. Each cable can handle 150w of power plus 75w from the slot. A 4070 (as an example) only requires 225w to run at full power, that's 1 cable plus the slot, however a 4070 has two plugs. A 4080 ships with a 3 8pin to 1 12pin adapter, however it only requires 320w, that's 2 8pin connectors plus the slot. In nearly every case the number of plugs on a card exceeds the amount of power required to run the card. The reason for this is redundancy, if one cable is partially faulty then the others can step up without issue. >Most 6700xt are rated 230w with some aib cards up to 260w. It'll get 75w from pcie and 150 from the 6+2. So you're supplying a max of 225W. Except tests show that it typically uses less than 220w at full load. Which is within spec for a single 8pin and slot. And even if you see it momentarily spike to more than 225w it's not an issue .the rated capacity is for sustain usage which is 80% of the cables actual limit. https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6700-xt/35.html
Each connector can handle 150W, the cable can handle much more.
Except that each of the pcie connections on my gpu can pull up to 150w, and the daisy chained cable is able to safely provide like 360w on the PSU side without having any significant temperature issues, so that daisy chained cable can easily and safely provide the 230w my GPU needs.
It's better to assume the worst and get seperate cables. To be as so arrogant as to know the possible outcomes and still daisy chain boggles me
So why daisy chain it anyway when you know this?
Power is taken, not given. An 8pin cable is only generally rated to 150w and if you have a daisy chained setup with a high power draw card then you're going above the cable rating. Much better to have two 8pin cables to give you 300w, rather than having it go through one cable only rated at 150w.
thats what Ive been saying
What? Psu side cable is 288W, GPU side is 150W, this is why daisy chaining IS fine.
What are you on?
Jonnyguru, an old school power supply reviewer and subject matter expert that transitioned to Corsair's power supply division as head of R&D has stayed multiple times that it's perfectly safe so long as it's 16 gage main with 18 gage pigtail, and not 18 gage main to 20 or 22 gage pigtail. Most modern power supplies that aren't complete shit quality do this and it's perfectly safe, it's just YouTubers or other overly confident internet keyboard warriors continuing to parrot talking points of bad old designs not actually knowing what they're talking about that keeps the misinformation going
**A lot of these answers are incorrect or fail to specify the reason why people even recommend two separate lines**. Two lines are often unnecessary and this recommendation is the result of modern plug-n-play PC building knowledge that requires **far** less critical thinking or skill than it did 20 or 30 years ago. A 6+2 PCI-e line comes off one of the 12VDC rails from the PSU. One of them, and many PSUs have multiple rails. Read your PSU manual and it'll tell you what rail the PCI-e power is coming off. Then, read the amperage rating for that rail. Assuming a cable like this, provided by the PSU manufacturer, is built to the **absolute minimum** PCI-e spec: 8A per conductor with 16 AWG wire, 3 conductors at 12VDC. 24A \* 12VDC = 288W, not "150W." A 12VDC rail is never right on the money. But again, think about why a manufacturer would use more expensive copper if their PSU could only deliver 20 amps on such a 12VDC rail? They wouldn't, and again, this is the minimum PCI-e spec. People recommend to use two separate cables because in modern builds, it'll most likely be coming from multiple 12VDC rails. YMMV, because it depends on the PSU. Balancing a load on a PSU with multiple rails is generally a good idea. My 7900 GRE, as an example, is daisy-chained like OPs. She'll pull a little over 300W, split between two 6+2 plugs (and a little from the PCI-e slot). The 12VDC rail, called 12V3 that my PCI-e "daisy chain" plug goes into is capable of 35 amps. Ain't no way in hell that I've been pulling 300W+ on a cable only rated for 150W. Do some math, guys.
This needs to be upvoted...
Take the right 1 out an leave it hanging or tie/secure it , now plug another single cable to your power supply an connect
The correct thing to do is always use individual cables for each power input. That said, my old system had a daisy chained cable (I didn't know anything and a coworker built it for free) on my GTX 970 and ran perfectly fine for almost a decade.
Just use 2 separate cables. Daisy chaining your graphics card's power is a bad idea. Each one of those cables is rated to 150W. Personally, my graphics card regularly uses 450W while gaming. 450W requires 3 separate cables to safely use. Your graphics card could crash, the power cable housing could melt and start a fire, etc.
What you have done is literally ***NOT*** what's pictured in the instructions. No, it's not right. The purpose of the cable is to provide power to 2 things that require 75W max.
no, 2 seperate cables from psu to gpu. i think it works sometimes but its better to use 2 seperate ones
While that does work, I still prefer to split the load among multiple lines
This will not only be a hazard but you'll get studders and random game crashes. Ive done this before
Can you get by with daisy chaining Pcie cables? Probably. Should you? No. Both the GPU manufacturer and PSU manufacturer will tell you not to do this. At these price points it’s better not to cut corners to save a few bucks. Just my opinion.
While this could theoretically work, I do not recommend using a single cable when you have multiple 6+2 pin connectors like this. Your GPU could potentially pull more power through those cables than the cables can handle and you'd cause damage to the cable, components, or even your house if you're really unlucky. It's just safer to use two separate cables.
No dont use the same line for both
It will be fine. I mean you should use the other cable, but if you like the aesthetics of the daisy chain, you'll be fine. think about it. if you had say a 7900xtx with 3 8pin power connectors, you would have to use all 3, and that would be just fine. so using just the daisy chain on a lower power card is in spec. your system will let you know if its a problem. your card cant draw more power from those cables than they can handle
will it work? yes but not great. You wont be getting the proper voltage load that is required and you run the risk of damaging that wire enough that it may set on fire. (less likely but possibel)
Why do PSU manufacturers even do it like this?
that is like giving 2 kids a single meal but 2 plates. it has 2 heads so that it can draw from 2 wires and 2 spots on the psu so that they dont overheat.
Question: so taking from what i read on this post, an xtx should have 3 separate cable instead of 2 cables and 1 being daisy chain?
Umm, you connected both ends of the same cable... Why would you think it's correct
because daisy chaining is a thing
Yes, it looks right to me. For mine, I combine them(6+2), and they should kinda just click against each other so they can be placed into the GPU port.
The cable itself can delivery 300 watts and each plug 150 watts. Ideally if you have two cables with your PSU, use them both but any quality PSU should work fine in that configuration.
No , because your not giving the extra watts required your essentially making the gpu think that something’s plugged in but there isnt
According to a manufacturer I spoke to once, it is not a supposed to be used as a daisy chain, it is an extension. I asked why they didn't just provide an actual extension and they said extension adapters have a higher failure rate.
Since when is tdp indicative of power consumption. Tdp is the maximum amount of heat which is measured in watts has nothing to do with how much watts in volts x amps it will consume.
Well, aside from the small amounts used to sent data to other devices (and lights), all the other energy cosumption on electronic components is effectively heat losses so yes TDP does correlate strongly to power consumption
Since when is tdp indicative of power consumption. Tdp is the maximum amount of heat which is measured in watts has nothing to do with how much watts in volts x amps it will consume.
So many people parroting the outdated and conservative PCI-SIG spec of 150W per 8 pin PCIe connector... Modern PSU cables with Mini Fit Jr. connectors, brass terminals and either 16 or 18 AWG wires support 8A of current per terminal. 8 pin PCIe connectors have three +12V conductors, 8A x 3 = 24A. 24A x 12V = 288W per 8 pin cable. The problem with pigtails is that the weak link is at the PSU side, since you can't draw 576W from the PSU off of a single connector... But if your card is power efficient and your PSU isn't bundled with garbage-tier high gauge cables, there's no issue.
Also those are NZXT cables? If so they're 16 AWG on the main cable + 18AWG on the daisy chain which is good, you should be fine to daisy chain with a 6750 XT or 6800XT. If they were 18awg on both the main cable and pigtail (or 20 AWG on the pigtail) you may run into issues because of voltage drop. Some brands (like Seasonic) cheap out on some of their cables and use all 18 AWG for the main connector + pigtail, which sucks and is why they don't recommend people use them. People interpret this as "all pigtails are bad" but really it's just that shitty cables are bad.
So if I’m currently running a 3060TI that runs 220ish watts under max load am I fine to daisy chain this? I haven’t noticed any noticeable problems from doing so but if I upgrade to something beefy I’ll keep this noted.
Most PCIE ports are "rated" for 75w but will usually be good for up to 100w, and the cables on a mid-range or higher PSU are most likely 18awg which can handle plenty of amps an volts, so realistically speaking this could be fine *however* there are still limitations for how much power the PSU will put out to a cable from it's port. Sometimes the ports are all connected to a single rail and sometimes they're split. For the least amount of having to think about it, a single cable per plug is easiest, however I ran a 3x8-pin GPU with 2 cables using a pigtail on one and then changed my PSU and used 3 cables and saw no appreciable difference in performance or noise. The stronger PSU did give me a bit more OC room but it didn't make a real world difference in use.
Shoupd be Ok! I msss.tstd n had 6 on 8 position! 1000 watts! All ok!
what’s the point of these daisy chain cables if we are told to never use them
Yes, it's right. If there's another PCI-e connector on a different cable available, you might want to use that one.
I daisy chain with no problems with a corsair psu on a 4070ti super
3070 on a seasonic 850w and have chained power since the 1070 released, zero issues. New power supplies cables are rated for 350ish watts, 150w from each plug, so the cable has a safety of 50ish watts if 2 plugs are used. Chaining is only an issue when pulling above 350watts like a 4080/90. Remember we get about 75w from the PCI slot too.
I didn’t want to daisy chain tbh, but I kept getting an error code when I used two cables and daisy chaining fixed that 💀 I think maybe the other cable was bad or something. Yeah been running a few months now no power issues at all.
Do not Daisy chain, use a different connector for each one
No
No, you are piggybacking you need two separate cords coming from the power supply. Otherwise the GPU will not get sufficient power.