Z620 with Dual GTX 970 Power Connections

[Jourdain94]

Hi,

I have bought a pair of MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G graphics cards with the idea of installing them in my workstation for GPU Rendering. 

I was looking at the power connectors and noticed only two 5 pin connectors.

Each GTX 970 requires one 6 pin and one 8 pin connector.

I was wondering, do I need an adaptor to make the 5 pin to a 6 pin? 

And also, am I able to install two graphics cards into the system? Do I just need to add extra power cables? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Brian1965]

HI Jourdain94,

I have a Tesla M2090, (in addition to my Quadro K4200), in my Z620 which has both 6-pin and 8-pin power connectors. You should be able to find a table similar to the one below on the nVidia site detailing your GTX 970 cards power requirements;

To provide power to the M2090 I am using an adapter cable as shown below. 6-pin to 8-pin adapter cable.

Make sure the cable has the link wires shown;

I bought my cable from Maplin but the main thing to point out is the link wires shown and don't buy cheap ebay cables.

However, my Z620 has 2-off 6-pin PCIe power connectors and not the 5-pin you mention although I have seen other posts on the forum with similar 5-pin only connectors. Probably worth a search for on the forum in case there are any special considerations.

My Quadro K4200 is powered from one of the Z620 6-pin power cables and the Tesla M2090 is powered from the other 6-pin connector using the adapter cable above. i.e. the M2090 is powered via its 8-pin connector only.

Hope this helps.

[Jourdain94 · Accepted solution]

Hi Brian1965,

Thank you for your reply and information, it has been very helpful.

I have had a look around the forums, if you have a look at this link...... http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/HP-Z620-Workstation...    

The thread talks about each individual cable providing up to 216W of power. My two graphics cards are rated at 145W each. So would I be able to use an adaptor to convert the 1 of the 6 pin cables into 6 + 8 to provide power to a single card, so I would be able to install both?

I found this adaptor, but I was hoping you might be able to advise if it would work or not?

https://www.reichelt.com/?LANGUAGE=EN&CTYPE=0&MWSTFREE=0&CCOUNTRY=447&ARTICLE=160848&PROVID=2788&wt_...

This would be my first time changing a graphics card etc so I am not fully clued up on what I would need power wise.

I asked a local IT guy but he wouldn't help due to not enough information (guessing he didn't want to be held responsible if he broke the pc)

Thank you,

Dan

[Brian1965]

Hi Dan,

The amperage rating of the adapter cable in your link (18awg) is easily more than enough to power a GTX 970. Buy 2 of them and use one on each of the cards.

[Jourdain94]

Hi Brian,

Thank you, I'll give it a go.

One other thing. The adaptor cables are 30cm long, is there a certain way to do cable management? Or shall I just cable tie them to the side of the chassis or something?

Dan

[Brian1965]

It's always good practice to try and keep the cables tidy and especially away from any moving fans or heat sources. Cables ties should be fine but not absolutely necessary. Try and put any excess cables in a position where they do not impede air flow inside the chassis.

Let me know how it goes.

[Jourdain94]

Thank you for your help..

I'll order the adaptors now and will let you now/update the thread with the results.

Dan

[Jourdain94]

The power adapters eventually arrived! I installed the two graphics cards yesterday and after installing drivers and doing a benchmark in indigo bench (benchmarking for the rendering software I use) the cards seem to be working well.

Thank you for your help with this Brian