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I recently purchased an XFX Radeon HD 6870 graphics card for my Dell Server Workstation, but when I brought it home and unpackaged it to put it into my computer, I noticed it required 2 6-pin dedicated connections to the power source.

The problem here is my computer only has one 6-pin connection (no 8-pin either, just a single 6-pin), which when plugged into the card will run the fan and everything but just won't pump out an image.

Normally I would go out and purchase a new power source and replace my existing one, but the way Dell designs their computers it's not possible to remove the power source from the enclosure.

Also, the installation instructions for the card say specifically NOT to use a splitter to change one 6-pin connection to 2 6-pin connections. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be possible to get a separate power source and use it to power just the graphics card; is this possible?

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  • I think I read somewhere you can fry the power connectors going from your mobo to your gfx card if it draws too much. Running it without adequate supplementary power might risk doing that?
    – Highly Irregular
    May 3, 2012 at 6:13
  • yes, i suppose, but i don't think that's much of a big deal for me. i believe my power source is a 1200 watt
    – Shadow Frunchak
    May 3, 2012 at 14:24
  • What I'm trying to say is that you put your mobo at risk if you don't use both the connectors going from the PSU to the gfx card, because then too much power may be drawn through the mobo. (Besides, it didn't work, but it's worth mentioning so others don't try it!)
    – Highly Irregular
    May 3, 2012 at 19:01

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You could always get a 4 pin to 6 pin converter like One of these. and take one of the extra 4 pin molex that are always left over, and make it into the 6 pin you need. You aren't splitting the existing 6 pin that way.

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  • that sounds like a good idea, i DO have a 4-pin connector after all!
    – Shadow Frunchak
    May 3, 2012 at 14:23
  • This exact problem was the reason once I switched to modular power supply units I never looked back.
    – Bon Gart
    May 3, 2012 at 18:17
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Yes, it's possible. Dedicated power supplies for graphics cards exist, though they aren't cheap.

That said, graphics card manufacturers love to warn against adapting 2x 4-pin connectors to a 6-pin GPU power connector, but I've never encountered a problem with it. I'd consider giving that a try. Undervoltage isn't too terribly dangerous.

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    I'd also suggest to use a splitter anyway: never had a problem with that while building several multi-gpu boxes.
    – aland
    May 2, 2012 at 14:37
  • no, im not taking the risk of using a splitter
    – Shadow Frunchak
    May 4, 2012 at 17:03
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    What's the danger? Overvoltage something and you can damage components, but undervoltage/wattage and the worst that can happen is a system hang. If that occurs, unplug, try again. Like @aland, I've never had a problem, even running a Radeon 6950 off of a 400W PSU with two molex-to-video-power dongles.
    – Zac B
    May 4, 2012 at 18:02
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A 4pin molex to 6pin pcie should do the job, although I would recommend a Dual molex to 6pin pcie as I've seen some XFX cards coming with them.

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