auxiliary power connector on aiw2006?

[greenbag]

hope this is right forum...


I'm about to buy antec tp2 or tp3 psu (only 1 pci-e graphics slot, so really only need tp2).

Question I have though, is while reading the specs of the psu's, it seems they have 8-pin 'auxiliary power connector(s)' (eps12v connectors). I've noticed on my ati aiw2006, (x1300 radeon), has a 8-pin socket on the board (JT6), but can't find anything saying what it is.

Is this for the eps12v connection, or, will it fry the card?

I originally thought the eps12v connector was for sli/crossfire, but the tp2 is only for 'single' vid card systems, that's why it only has 1 of the connectors, while the tp3, meant for sli/crossfire, has 2 connectors.

Although ati doesn't specify the x1300 uses the eps12v connector, I'm guessing 'maybe' the 8-pin socket was added before it was needed, but able to use the connection in the future if needed/wanted.



Any ideas?

Thanx in advance


gb

[redwudz]

Some newer motherboards have a 8 pin connector for the CPU, as compared to most current motherboards that have the 4 pin connector. That may be what you are seeing. This one has half the connector blocked for 4 pin connector use. I'm not sure, but I thought SLI used a 6 pin connector. This is a Gigabyte AM2+ motherboard.



A couple of 4 pin Molex to 6 pin PCI-E video card power adapters:

[greenbag]

thanks for the reply redwudz...


All I know about sli/crossfire, is that sli is a dual nvidia setup, crossfire is a dual ati setup, and that dual setups uses both cards for better performance. Other than that, it's pretty new to me... I'm not a gamer (except for hockey).

But I do alot of video capturing, and was recently googling for a recommended psu for my asus P5LD2, as I think my current 500w 'Best Buy' isn't up to snuff. Cheap brand, no fan control, and through my googles, I've found my mobo is kinda finicky when it comes to psu's.

A couple of threads specifically recommended the Antec True Power 2.0 (TP2) 550w psu for the P5LD2. They're a little hard to find locally now, but lots of True Power 3.0 (TP3). They're for sli/crossfire, but still work for single card setups.

While reading the specs of each in one thread, the poster pointed out the auxiliary power connectors, and that TP2 had 1, while TP3 had 2. He then explained that the connectors are for 300w PCI-E cards, and that they are so the card gets 1/2 the needed vcc from the mobo, and 1/2 the needed vcc directly from the psu. This results in less of a load on the mobo to share it's resources with the rest of your installed components. .. Sounds cool

Another google came up with 'any' card that uses 150w or more, but think that was for the original 1.0 series psu's. 75w from mobo, 75w from psu.

So, I remember seeing an 8-pin socket on my aiw's board. It's near the top edge, and labeled JT6. Although nothing is mentioned in the manual about the connector, it 'must' be there for a reason. I originally thought it was a port for flashing the card's bios, but from what I've seen about cracking the bios, it's flashable right in the pci-e x16 socket itself. ... So what's the connector for(?).

I then did some more googling about using auxiliary power connector with the aiw2006, ati radeon x1300 (same, but no aiw), and even tried googling about the JT6/8 pin connector on an aiw2006/radeon x1300, but no luck. Closest I came to, was someone asking about the x800. They were told to connect the TP2's auxiliary power connector to the card.

Another thread I came across mentioned about those who were 'unfortunate' enough to have a 6-pin card, instead of the newer 8-pin cards. Guy mentioned that the plastic socket housing on the card was thin enough that you could cut the side edge off if you needed, then just use the 6 pins on the plug that you need. --> BUT... make sure which way the plug goes on, or you'll reverse the polarity. He said most systems 'should' have power protection features, but still a chance you're vid card could fry.

So, that sounds as if the auxiliary power connects directly to the video card.

Given that, is that what the 8-pin JT6 connection on my aiw is for? It must be for something.

[aedipuss]

nothing i have seen says the card needs an aux power cable connected. i wouldn't go plugging a live power cable into an unknown connector if i were you..... make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy if you do.

[greenbag]

thanks aedipuss...

I wasn't going to 'test' it unless that's what the port was actually for... that's why I was asking. I'm not that courageous

Guess I just thought the port might have been one of those 'unmentioned' things, but that someone in the community may have figured it out.

Will leave well enough alone


thanks for the replies

[Krispy Kritter]

If you don't currently have power supplied to the video card via the "power connector", then it likely isn't a power connector. Most of the video cards (dating back to the ATI 9800 Pro) that have a connector for external power either A) won't operate without power supplied or B) won't function properly.

Some cards use the standard 4 pin molex connector and the newer SLI connectors are 6 pin.

EDIT: based on the manual and pictures of that card, it does not use external power.

[iamspuzzum]

Was recently searching for the pinout for my Audigy Soundblaster, so I could still use my front panel jacks.. came across a post about another AIW model, and the port was to connect to an Audigy.

[Nelson37]

I have the AGP version, no aux power connector on that.

[DB83]

I had one in my previous build. When I took the card out of its box there was a big sticker on the anti-static bag telling me that I needed a power connector except there was no visible connector on the card itself. Turned out that the card did not need one.