The correct way of powering the risers for the 470/480

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  • BiodomBiodom Member Posts: 693 ✭✭✭
    edited September 2016
    @hasher
    yes, however, because H97 requires one molex connector to be attached to the mobo, it is difficult to organize cards without EITHER having a riser with a long connector ending with a molex (not SATA) OR having a molex extender.
    In any case, EVGA 1300 would have only 4 available (after using one on the mobo), so how exactly you connect five in a 6 GPU setup?
  • hasherhasher Member Posts: 642 ✭✭✭
    @biodom My H81 Pro BTC and Biostar boards have never had the on-board molex connectors used, and I don't plan on using them either. Been mining perfectly fine on 6 cards without using them. Obviously, I run all my cards with powered USB risers.

    If my H81 doesn't require the power to the mobo, then why should the H97?
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    @cscheat I won't upvote that, sorry. It's a serious failure source that way.
  • supguyssupguys Member Posts: 23
    I have 3 EVGA 700W PSU runing my 6 RX 480 rig. First one for the MOBO and first 2 GPUs (one SATA string per riser) and 2 GPUs per PSU in the same configuration, one SATA string cable per riser with the SATA> Molex converter and their respective 6 pin GPU power cable. Its been doing fine till now.
  • karl_den_12karl_den_12 Member Posts: 27
    Been mining for about a month now without connecting any of the powered risers. 5 cards on b85.
  • TruthchanterTruthchanter Member Posts: 549 ✭✭✭
    Reporting back about these with 480s:


    Unfortunately they are not working for me with 480s. Using these, the gpus show up in device manager but 10 or so seconds after I open my miner (claymore), the program crashes, the drivers crash, or they start mining but with some gpus at 0mhs.

    I've tried powering them with only 6pin, only molex, and both 6pin and molex (since they have both connectors). My other risers (old molex powered ribbon risers and new usb powered risers) do not have any of these problems
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭

    Been mining for about a month now without connecting any of the powered risers. 5 cards on b85.

    You like to live dangerously.
  • CoreolCoreol Member Posts: 30 ✭✭
    Lots of useful information in this thread!

    So to recap, for a 6x RX480 Ref rig on an EVGA 1300W G2 we would:

    1. separate all the yellow cable from the molex-to-sata riser power supply cables
    2. connect 3 of those to one 6pin (12v) psu cable and the remaining 3 to another 6pin cable (as shown in the diagram before) using proper crimping tools
    3. connect 3 of the sata's plugs coming from the risers to one string of sata PSU cable and the remaining 3 to another string

    Since the EVGA 1300W G2 has 6 PCIE cables with 4x1 strings and 2x2 strings I would connect 6 to the GPUs directly and use the leftover PCIE cables to connect the yellow cables to.
    Am I going in the right direction here? Comments appreciated.

    @Zorg33 Those clips look great - nice work!
    Why exactly did you see the need for those? I mean those 1x PCIE pieces are a bit loose but I didn't have any connectivity issues yet.
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    edited September 2016
    @Coreol I don't really have problems either, but one of my customers mentioned that he had some risers moved out a little while moving his rigs, so some kind of fastener would be good. Today I had some time and made these.
  • supguyssupguys Member Posts: 23
    @Zorg33 that clip is a nice touch!
  • cscheatcscheat Member Posts: 147 ✭✭
    Zorg33 said:

    @cscheat I won't upvote that, sorry. It's a serious failure source that way.

    Upgraded





  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    @cscheat getting nicer indeed :)
    But please use shrinking tube if you dont have female housing.
  • Aldora5070Aldora5070 Member Posts: 13
    Hi there, after reading this thread I'm still confused which one will work for my setup.
    I currently having 1 RX 480 nitro+ running on a USB riser, this one:
    and it runs ok for about 2 days now. This RX 480 using 8-pin connector for the power requirement.
    The problem is, I want to add a new RX 470 reference card which use 6-pin connector, is it ok if I use the same riser as the one I used on my RX 480 nitro+?

    Because my motherboard only have 1 PCIe cable and its 6-pin and 8-pin connector. Someone on bitcointalk said that using that kind of riser is ok only if you have the 8-pin connector card, because it can draw enough power from that 6-pin connector. Or should I buy the RX 470 Nitro+ (or even the RX 480 Nitro+), use the same riser and buying 2 4-pin molex to 8-pin connector?

    Which one is the best solution for me? Thanks
  • CoreolCoreol Member Posts: 30 ✭✭
    So I just found this
    Looks similar to what has been discussed here but I'm not quite sure.
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    @Aldora5070 That riser is a no go.
    Read the complaints about floppy connector type risers.
  • cscheatcscheat Member Posts: 147 ✭✭
    been working for a week solid

    No more hot sata

    Best mod ever
  • nhandonhando Member Posts: 82
    Use version 5C or 6 risers. No need to worry. You can power 2 GPUs per SATA connectors no issues. I have over 140 GPUs powered this way for 290, 390, 470. 480. No need to be cutting up wires or doing anything hard. The issue you will have is with cheaper risers that comes with really bad Molex to SATA power cables. If your cables feel super hot to the touch, throw them out and replace with quality cables, problem solved. Even if those cables burn or melt which I had on the cheaper version risers, your GPU will still be fine.
  • MajestikMajestik Member Posts: 34
    @nhando how long have you powered the rx series cards that way? i.e 2 gpus per one sata wire? Have you touched the wires for heat? Thanks!
  • nhandonhando Member Posts: 82
    edited October 2016
    I've been powering the 290 and 390 since June in the hot summer heat and my garage temp reach 95-105 at times. RX480 since July, RX470 since they became available. When you have bad risers, the molex to SATA cables can melt but it won't damage the GPU. It will just burn and shrivel. I have a few friends who have 2-5GH and together we've learned over times what works what doesn't work. So as of now, I buy nothing but Version 5C or Version 6 only. Am I saying that connecting up to 2 GPU per SATA connection is the safest and best practice? No. I'm just saying that from my experience it works for me and my friends. We have to remember that these risers are made in China and some vendors may decided to make the outside plastic just as thick for the molex power cables, it may not be the same GAGE. The best way to test if it can handle it, is to run dual mining and feel the cable after 15 mins of mining. The cable should feel at almost normal room temp not super warm and definitely should be burning hot. Get rid of all the cables or ask for a refund if they are too warm or hot. Those are the ones that are guarantee to cause you trouble down the line. Also double check that the cables connecting to the Molex plug are tight, when they become loose and cross, that's another cause for fire / melting.

    If you're running RX series - It's a MUST to use the latest drivers above 16.7.3 to reduce the power draw on the PCI-E.

    P.S Most of my GPUs SATA connections are powered by EVGA G2 1300. I can't vouch for other PSU SATA connectors qualities.


    Post edited by nhando on
  • MajestikMajestik Member Posts: 34
    edited October 2016
    I have two chieftec navitas gpm-1250W. I havent reveived my riser yet but on ebay pictures i see they are version 005 so these might be good enough. Gonna see tomorrow if they have arrived. BTW found some ver 006C which have pci-e 6pin connections on them! Ver 006c risers
    @nhando can you please link a 005c so i can compare with regular 005, cant find any myself somehow :neutral:

    Edit: i have an idea, but i dunno if this could work:
    take two of these, cut one molex off and plug these wires into one molex so it would be two sata male and one molex for riser?

    Damn editing too much already :lol:
    Another idea: take 006c risers with pcie 6pin + a 6pin to 2x molex + molex to sata should ease the sata plug power strains, right?
    Post edited by Majestik on
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    edited October 2016
    The diameter of the copper is what matters and not the insulation. Fake cable manufacturers try to imitate the thick look but when you strip it, you see the copper is frickin thin in the fake adapters.
    I got some of these fake cables and they have something like 18A written on them, instead of 18AWG.

    @nhando i just see you wrote the same.
    BTW its not good to mix 290/390 experiences with 4xx about powering from sata.
    Hawaii pulls less than half of what the 4xx cards from the riser.
    But yes I understand you also got the 4xx cards working well from sata.
    I'd say it's better to avoid that if possible. And it's possible with a little tinkering :)
    Post edited by Zorg33 on
  • hasherhasher Member Posts: 642 ✭✭✭
    Hmm.. regarding powering risers all from main PSU... I do seem to remember back in the Litecoin GPU mining days, I would connect 3 powered risers to one PSU, and another 3 powered risers to another PSU. Never had any issues, although perhaps that was because I was using an add2psu. Wonder if I can still do the same today with eth mining? Never really bothered to try since everyone screams that you're not allowed to do it, although it could be because they never connected their 2nd PSU properly?
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    edited October 2016
    Thats also been discussed.
    It depends on the riser whether its still connected to the 12v pins of the slot or not.
    If yes, then you must not power it from secondary psu or you have to disconnect (cut) that 3 12v wires on the risers ribbon cable.
  • hasherhasher Member Posts: 642 ✭✭✭
    @zorg33 my entire farm consists of USB risers. I'm safe to split the risers amongst 2 PSUs?
  • Zorg33Zorg33 Member Posts: 220 ✭✭
    @hasher yes, USB risers are completely separated from the MB.
  • vgmvgm Member Posts: 56
    So I have two EVGA G2 1300W PSU's each powering 6 RX 480's with USB risers using the SATA to Molex cables, and so far I haven't had any problems or hot cables after about 2 months of running 24/7. But after reading a few threads on the forum here, I decided to be safe and use strictly Molex cables to the USB risers and ditch the SATA cables entirely.

    For those of you with an EVGA power supply, all I did was register my power supplies and send a request for additional molex cables. They shipped out 4 extra molex cables to me within a day, hopefully they arrive shortly. Better safe than sorry.
  • kristofferjonkristofferjon Sagittarius AMember Posts: 77 ✭✭
    vgm said:

    So I have two EVGA G2 1300W PSU's each powering 6 RX 480's with USB risers using the SATA to Molex cables, and so far I haven't had any problems or hot cables after about 2 months of running 24/7. But after reading a few threads on the forum here, I decided to be safe and use strictly Molex cables to the USB risers and ditch the SATA cables entirely.

    For those of you with an EVGA power supply, all I did was register my power supplies and send a request for additional molex cables. They shipped out 4 extra molex cables to me within a day, hopefully they arrive shortly. Better safe than sorry.

    1 x EVGA G2 1300W PSU should be enough to power all 6 x RX 480's - why are you running 2 x PSU's?
  • vgmvgm Member Posts: 56
    "So I have two EVGA G2 1300W PSU's each powering 6 RX 480's..." Each as in 6 each. 12 RX 480s total.
  • restlessrestless Member Posts: 80
    I have USB risers which use only 12V from the molex. Checked with multimeter :/
    nhando said:

    Use version 5C or 6 risers. No need to worry. You can power 2 GPUs per SATA connectors no issues. I have over 140 GPUs powered this way for 290, 390, 470. 480. No need to be cutting up wires or doing anything hard. The issue you will have is with cheaper risers that comes with really bad Molex to SATA power cables. If your cables feel super hot to the touch, throw them out and replace with quality cables, problem solved. Even if those cables burn or melt which I had on the cheaper version risers, your GPU will still be fine.

    Can you share a link to these riser's versions? ie how to check what version the riser is?
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