AGP Card needs more power

[booman]

hjason7812 donated a 7600gt superclocked AGP video card to my lan party machines.
Apparently it requires more Amps than a normal video card due to its overclocking.
I just can't seem to get it working. I even purchased a new 500 Watt Enermax Power Supply but it refuses to work.

Here is the problem... This AGP card has an old molex connector and most of the molex connectors do not supply 20-30 Amps, but the 6-pin PCI-Express connectors do! My Enermax Tomahawk has 2 PCI-E connectors for SLI but I have looked online for an adapter but couldn't find one...

So what can I do?
Modify the yellow & black wires to change a 6-pin PCI-E into a molex?

[booman]

I found a forum post on Nvidia.com about the power requirement:

minimum of a 350W supply with a minimum of 20A on the +12v rail

[booman]

Enermax Tomahawk:
ATX12V V2.2

output: +3.3V@24A, +5V@15A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@3.0A

[booman]

I just had an idea... what if I used a molex Y connector?
two molex connected to one... would that make a difference?

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by booman

I just had an idea... what if I used a molex Y connector?
two molex connected to one... would that make a difference?

Depends...
If the +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, is split between a single source that is 18A or would be a multi of two sources. (18A+18A=36A)
Only way to know for sure would either be try it, or find the schematic for that power supply which is doubtful you could do
as companies in general don't publish that info.

My guess would be yes as molex Y connectors are usually included in the packaging of high powered graphics cards.
But what came with mine was 2 molex to PCI-E connector, so you'd have to make it yourself.
Make sure to solder it together & use shrink rap instead of quick connectors as it will carry the current
more efficiently.

Are you sure the card is good?
Wouldn't hjason7812 have the connector that he used for that card?
Seems to me if he upgraded from it, it would be to PCI-E & he wouldn't have further use of it.

[booman]

Hmm, I can solder but have never made a power cable before. I think I already have a molex Y cable, just didn't think of using it.

When I originally plugged the card in, it would work for about a minute and then artifacts and last... nothing.

So I'm hoping it does work and just didn't get enough power.
Would a card work at all if the molex was NOT plugged in?

[robbie]

Sometimes yes, sometimes it will whine that its not connected.
BlackBerry8330m/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104

[MUff1N]

Hey Boo, I did a bit of research on this card & it looks like all you need is to make the Y connector to have it up & running if it's good.

This is the contents that comes with a new 7600GT AGP card.

* EVGA GeForce 7600 GT Superclocked 512MB AGP Video Card
* User Guide
* Drivers CD
* HDTV Cable
* S-Video Cable
* Y-Cable Power Connector
* DVI to VGA Adapter

[booman]

I saw that too. I actually have 2 Y connectors but they go the wrong way.
I need 2 Female to 1 Male connector.
Can I swap these around?
I bet I can... Just need to take the wires out of the molex and swap the males with females and the female with one male
Is there any danger doing this?

[Gizmo]

The electrons get persnickety if you make them go the wrong direction down the wires. They also get difficult about going around sharp bends in the wires, as well as being up tight about the wire coloring. My recommendation is to keep your wire as straight as possible, always running from left to right, and use red wire. (I actually had a mechanic tell me something not to different from that once)

Seriously though, the only issue you'll have with swapping the wires around is just making sure you don't cross them, and getting the pins out can sometimes be a little tricky.

[booman]

Should be easy, all I have to do is match one molex to the other with the wires in the same location.
I figure the worst that can happen is I fry the video card.

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by booman

Should be easy, all I have to do is match one molex to the other with the wires in the same location.
I figure the worst that can happen is I fry the video card.

Actually the worst would be frying the vidcard & your PSU at the same time!
It could happen if you put say the ground to Red...

[booman]

Ok, well, I'll use an older power supply just in case and I'll double check all the connections. If I keep the wires in the same order left to right: red, black, black, yellow
it should work

[booman]

I do have one question:
I noticed when you plug in a female & male molex connectors, the red & yellow are reversed, so when I switch the connectors on my Y-cable, I should reverse them?

I will be plugging a male molex connector into the video card and I need to get the red & yellow correct

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by booman

I do have one question:
I noticed when you plug in a female & male molex connectors, the red & yellow are reversed, so when I switch the connectors on my Y-cable, I should reverse them?

I will be plugging a male molex connector into the video card and I need to get the red & yellow correct

I thought I'd help you out by showing you the picture of the Y power connector.
This way you'll know exactly how it's supposed to look on the wire assignments after you get it put together OK.

BUT, from what I've read this power connector is used to Split a molex power connector, not combine 2 together
as you can see by looking at the picture below! (1 female to 2 male molex connectors)
This was used so that you can use it for both a perpetual & graphics card together off of 1 molex.
Every single picture I've looked at for the Y connector is this way too for the 7600GT.

So that card should work if you just plug a single molex connector directly to it providing it has the power needed which apparently it
doesn't...

Unfortunately I got a hunch that card is just toast though & why it did what it did when you tested it boo...

[booman]

Yup, that is the Y-cable I have. Actually I have two of them.
That is what I don't get, all of my video cards that have molex connectors work just fine with one.
But apparently this one requires more Amperage because its "Superclocked", but if the Y-cable that comes with the card looks just like that one, then its doesn't make sense.
I think it probably gave-up-the-ghost too....
Sadly because I really wanted to use this card for games.
So should I even both with the Y-cable mod?
Would it really even make a difference?

[WonderBread]

If the card is toast its toast, but if it works you're set to go. I'd say give it a whirl!

[booman]

It turns out the actual wires have male/female connections too. Not just the plastic molex parts. So I can't just "swap" them out, I have to re-solder them.
So its on hold for now, until I can get a molex repair set....
I know that I could probably cut wires and solder those, but it is really worth the risk for a card that may not work in the end anyways?

[booman]

The card is currently sitting on a shelf in an anti-static bag. I gave up and put the Radeon 9800 pro back in. Sucks because I really wanted to see what that card could do