Need opinions on video card setup and plugs, please.

[Khar00f]

Hey guys,

I just got me a new server setup and everything is up and running (thx to a lot of support from this forum).

Now I want to add a video card for Plex transcoding.
I have a 1660 Super (1x 6 or 8 pin (don't remember)) and a 1080 (2x8pin) sitting around.

I only have 1x free molex from the PSU.

I was wondering if I can use it for 8pin with a cable converter.

And I have a molex for an SSD I was thinking of drawing another 8pin from it.

You can see the pictures and models in the link below

Another option I was considering is disconnecting 1 or 2 molex from the backplane and converting those into 8pins.

There's 24 bays and 6 molexes, so I'm guessing every molex powers 4 drives. And since I only have 14 drives I should be able to get away with it.

Let me know what you think,

Thank you in advance for your help,

New server

14 new items · Album by Rodi Merhi

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Chriggel]

I was wondering if I can use it for 8pin with a cable converter.

Technically, yes, but it's a really bad idea. Molex connectors only have one +12V pin and that would need to carry all the current. 150W at 12V is 12.5A, that would exceed even the highest specification of the connector and it's not even clear if that was used here. Worst case scenario, this is 250% of the rated max current. Using several connectors is an absolute must if you want to go that route.

If this is your thing and you're able to do it and know what you're doing, you could also cut off other connectors and directly solder 8-pin connectors to a number of +12V wires from the PSU and/or splice them into existing and exposed +12V supplies.

But really, my suggestion would be getting a low power video card that runs on the PCIe slot power. You don't need a powerful GPU to do some transcoding. The GPUs that are supported for this application will do it in hardware and that requires minimum power. You could argue that the same is true for the 1660 or 1080 and that they'll never draw the full power over the connector anyway and while that might be true, I still consider making such a connection a bad practice. This will only work until the first person not familiar with the limitation runs a big load on the GPU.

 

[Khar00f]

Thx for the info.
I actually decided to go with an external PSU using this.

https://a.co/d/fYaBmFd

It's the safest option,

 

[CyklonDX]

you can also look at alternative power distribution boards for your psu's (and just get one that fits your gpu needs -- it doesn't have to really match your server model - it has to match your psu, and psu layout - and those don't change much)

 

[Khar00f]

Hmmm... I'll have to look into that, I did some testing yesterday and with 3 simultaneous streams it was drawing no more 98W. So power draw is very low,

I'll have to do some research on that power distribution board to see what the specs I need to look for are. I'll if I can find out which board is currently installed and go from there I guess.