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6800XT connected to PSU via single cable
(lemmy.nz)
I saw this picture while looking at overclocking guides and I wondered if I may have my power setup incorrectly. My GPU is currently connected exactly like the don't do this diagram.
The manufacturer is concerned that they will be pulling a ton of power from both connectors. Sometimes the second connector is just for ancillary power silly or balancing, in this instance they are saying that they're planning on your card pulling as much power as possible.
You might find that in heavy situations, or on hot days, your power supply overcurrent will trip out and your system will crash. If you have the second connector, I'd connect it, and if you're worried about having a plug dangle around just tie it back with a tywrap or some electrical tape so it's nice and clean.
Not all PSUs even have a second cable. Mine sure doesn't.
Technically it's fine to use daisy chained connectors. People get into trouble though with badly built power supplies, extreme overclocking, or cards like the R9 295X2 that blatantly violate the specifications.
Older PSUs sometimes have trouble with new GPUs. It generally happens because new cards have large power transients that the older spec didn't take into account. Sometimes running a second line fixes this for one reason or another, but not always. 12VHPWR actually uses similar current per wire or per cross section area of wire as a daisy chained setup, if not a little more.