GPUs and getting power to them.

[johnwhelan]

nVidia apparently has been having problems with getting the connectors to the RTX 4090 to work reliably. Some 4080 and 4090 now use a 12VHPWR standard connector. Some manufacturers are now recommending using a hair dryer to warm the cables before trying to bend them in place. Even systems with an RTX 3080 have reported problems relating to getting the GPU supplied with the correct amount of power.

Apparently the power supply comes into play as well. An ATX 3.0 power supply is better than an ATX 2.x power supply and these are very new.

So if you're thinking of going above an RTX 2070 TDP 175 watts it might be worthwhile to look into the new connectors and possible a new power supply.

Anyone any thoughts on what the Trainz optimal GPU requirements are?

Thanks John

 

[jeffmorris]

There were reports of connectors melting on new RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 cards.

 

[autodctr]

Have not had any issues with my 3080. As far as wgat is recommended.....the bigger the better. My last machine had the 2070 in it and I could usually run medium settings and get 30-60 FPS out of it. Not always though because I like lots of trees close to the track. Now I have a 3080, rock solid at 60 FPS with just about everything maxed out. If I let it run free, I can sometimes hit 180+ FPS. but the sound from the GPU fans gets kinda loud.

 

[johnwhelan]

Have not had any issues with my 3080. As far as wgat is recommended.....the bigger the better. My last machine had the 2070 in it and I could usually run medium settings and get 30-60 FPS out of it. Not always though because I like lots of trees close to the track. Now I have a 3080, rock solid at 60 FPS with just about everything maxed out. If I let it run free, I can sometimes hit 180+ FPS. but the sound from the GPU fans gets kinda loud.

Do you know what sort of connector you're using or the type of ATX power supply?

Thanks John

 

[pcas1986]

... Some manufacturers are now recommending using a hair dryer to warm the cables before trying to bend them in place. Even systems with an RTX 3080 have reported problems relating to getting the GPU supplied with the correct amount of power.
...

Is that because the stiffness of the cables is putting sideways pressure on the connectors?

An interesting post considering I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my RTX2080 to something more powerful.

 

[johnwhelan]

I suspect the lines are roughly 200 watt TDP don't worry anything will work, 300 watt tdp and above you'll want to use an ATX 3 power supply, between the two is a grey area where it might be preferable to use an ATX 3 power supply.

Note a 6 pin connector can handle 75 watts according to the spec and an 8 pin connector can handle 150 watts according to the spec add in the 75 watts from the motherboard and you hit the limits quite quickly.

Cheerio John

 

[wilts747]

Nvidea Support suggest a 40 Series GPU needs 450W and recommend using a 850W PSU. Now for a given voltage i.e 5v or 12v etc. many PSU manufacturers split the output between more than one bus, so although the power is there in total it may not all be available to a specific connector and perhaps those building/upgrading machines will need to take more notice of whats available on the connectors they intend using. PSU is not the sort of thing I buy that often thankfully, but I have seen them specifiying using a single bus.

Peter

 

[turntable]

I have lately installed a brand new RTX 4070 TI Super on a12 years old 850W PSU with 2x8 power cables through an adapter provided by Nvidia and it's working like a breeze. Nvidia suggest 750 W. 65 ° Celsius for the GPU. FPS above 200 with an empty Transdem 5 m map. Anyway, It could go down to almost nothing if the route is really heavy and badly constructed with old no lod splines for exemple. All settings at the maximum. New ATX 3.0 PSU are interesting because they communicate with the the GPU through the new 12VHPWR cable whenever the GPU needs more power.

 

[JCitron]

Is that because the stiffness of the cables is putting sideways pressure on the connectors?

An interesting post considering I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my RTX2080 to something more powerful.

This was one of the causes, Paul, and this is what I suspected the problem was right from the beginning. The other issue was users not pushing the cable completely into the connector on the video card. NVidia has since changed the connector to something else with a lock on it to ensure that the cables are connected and not half-connected and causing an arc-over between the pins.

Way back in the olden days, this was an issue with some power supplies I used to work on. Manufacturing would connect up the PSUs during assembly and we would get the units back with burned connectors to repair. QC and test engineering created an ECO to replace the connectors and everything was fine after that.

 

[johnwhelan]

Something to watch out for. If you have a Dell high end power supply ie 950 watts there are often two GPU power cables. One is 8 pin and the other is 6+2 pin. The second can be used as a 6 pin or an 8 pin connector. Typically one will be used to the GPU (often 6 pin) and the other 8 pin plugged into a plastic socket to keep it tidy.

Other manufacturers also use this 6+2 pin connector.

Cheerio John

 

[turntable]

Something to watch out for. If you have a Dell high end power supply ie 950 watts there are often two GPU power cables. One is 8 pin and the other is 6+2 pin. The second can be used as a 6 pin or an 8 pin connector. Typically one will be used to the GPU (often 6 pin) and the other 8 pin plugged into a plastic socket to keep it tidy.

Other manufacturers also use this 6+2 pin connector.

Cheerio John

RTX 4000 series, at least from the 4070's, needs the 3 cables, the 8 and the 6 + 2 attached together (there is a small plastic hook to firmly tie them).

Thierry