Will This Adapter Set Fire To Your PC?

Considering my recent video, SATA to PCI-E 8 pin adapters seem to be controversial, but how easy is it to get them to set your PC on fire?

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[martinturner]

Your OptiPlex is about 2 generations newer than the ones we are still using at work. You'd love them, about half of them have been upgraded with a GT710.

[igors_lv]

Remember that pcie slot is supposed to provide 75W to the card, so up to 150-200W cards should be more or less fine
Gtx 960 is 120 w card
I would be more worried about how much PSU can provide on 12 v rail

[theophilusthistler]

If you have any of those dual SATA to 8pin PCIe adapters lying around they can come in handy for 12V-4A solar panel / charge regulater / Lead-Acid deep cycle marine battery trickle charge.

[ChengTeoh]

Why does the FurMark benchmark make me feel like I'm looking into the Eye of Sauron?

[dapz]

the 8 pin gpu power draw as per pci-sig’s specs is 150W but each 12V pin on the 8 pin connector itself should be able to carry up to 9A before things get hot based off molex’s specifications for mini ft jr.

that means you could get up to 324W at 12V going through a single pcie 8 pin power connector. I wouldn’t recommend it but it’s possible lol

Maybe if you do a sequel video you can try using that crazy power mod on a Vega 56 that allows it to draw 600W and try to blow up some other adapters, that could be fun

[WizardTim]

Most of the problems I’ve seen with SATA power connectors are to do with very poor manufacturing quality that results in the connector shorting out internally even at modest loads.

[purplegill]

A couple points:
If you're using an infrared temperature monitor like that it's important to make sure it's calibrated correctly by pointing it at things you know the temperature of. While it mostly works better for contact thermometers, it's still useful to use ice water as a good baseline temperature reading just to make sure it's roughly in the area you want.

Another thing that's important to remember is how power supplies actually provide power. If you ever open up one (DO NOT OPEN UP A POWER SUPPLY UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE TO DO SO) then you'll usually see a bunch of individual wires going to each connector. Each of these wires has their own individual rating and in turn that can tell you how much you can safely push through any kind of connector. While other comments already talked about how the 75w coming from the pcie slot will affect it, it's also important to remember that the actual wires themselves are going to be the biggest factor in seeing if those cables burn up or not from the power supply. The reason you often see failures at the connectors rather than inside the wires themselves are almost always because of arcing between the actual connectors inside. Arcing creates a _lot_ of heat and often results in catastrophic failures like you saw in those pictures. It takes a lot of current to actually melt/destroy/burn a wire compared to the much more common scenario of arcing inside the connector itself. This is why you see so many success stories of people using those sata to 6/8 pin connectors without failure despite it being out of spec.

Just wanted to point that out, still loved the video Dawid!

[ZaPpaul]

Failing connectors are more likely to burn when there is some arcing happening. A good clean mechanical connection can handle quite some amps before failing. There are youtube videos on this subject.

[vgnlda]

My main system is an old HP 8300 elitedesk Medium Tower, with a proprietary 320W PSU.

Configuration is i7 3770, 32 GB DDR3 1600 dual channel, 1 HD, 1 SSD, , 1 external HD, DVD burner, Asus Soundcard and a RX 570 4 GB, that draws power from the exact same adapter you've tested. All the system is working perfectly fine for several years of intensive work use and gaming. Maximum draw of the system at the AC outlet is 265 W total (tested with Furmark).

This adapter solution could be considered a long-term one, if needed.

[DavidLee-crxv]

I have used these when adding GPUs to Optiplexes, but 1) have always limited the GPUs to lower-TDP models like the 120W GTX 1060 or the 100w 1650 Super, 2) never overclocked the GPUs off these, and 3) have always tested them running Furmark for a few hours and checking the temps periodically to make sure it's not heading up.

[Diplomat]

Just a bit of practicality here for anyone who is forced to use similar connectors.
1. 2xMOLEX to 6-pin is totally fine as long as connectors are not damaged.
2. 2xMOLEX to 8-pin is a sketchy setup, but it works. You still may want to check it for traces of melting plastic and oxidization on pins once in a while.
3. SATA power connectors to either 6 or 8-pin for any kind of prolonged usage - is a nogo, "not even once". While MOLEX are not user-friendly and are generally unpleasant to operate, they are robust and reliable (or serviceable/repairable by a decently sapient user, to be exact). SATA power connectors are more user-friendly but are a total mess when it comes to actually, you know, delivering power. You may use SATA to 6/8-pin for short periods in a controlled/observed environment, but don't let them stay in your machine for years without observation.

It is essential to understand that fire happens not momentarily when you connect unrated stuff and put it to use. It occurs when the electrical resistance (and therefore heat output) of contacts in the connector rises due to bad connection and/or oxidization of pins. Which progresses slowly during long-term exploitation and often remains unnoticed by users.

[judewhittaker]

"in a controlled environment" *pulls out fire extinguisher in a can*

[brarautorepairs]

If you increase the wire lenght, the amp draw will increase. Prehaps the connector is decent quality and the short run of wires helps prevent an issue.

[fetus]

Pro Tip : When you purchase one of those Hand Held Thermometers, read the box and check for the + / - ... That way you can get better idea of the Actual Temp. Mine is a 5 deg = / - so that means its most likely off by at Most 5 deg . Keep that in mind when you use those . Cheers .

[joelthenoob]

I miss dawid comparing prebuilts to mid tier STDs. Those were the good old days.

[wojciechgromek]

But 75 watts is pulled from the motherboard so the 150 watts is actually only 85w from the adapter

[randybobandy]

It gets to a point where "thermal Runaway" occures. If the connector gets hot enough I will actually require more amps to compensate for the resistance of the connector . So the card will pull more power to compensate and that will in turn increase the heat/ internal resistance which in turn will draw more power to compensate until you have a melted connector.

[philtkaswahl]

I misread PC Master Peasant as PC Master Pheasant and briefly amused myself with the mental image of a fowl gaming.

[czbrat]

The connectors were getting active airflow on them from the RX 580 GPU fans.

[vidz]

Dude you are impressive the ideas you have and how fun you are... love the channel much I watched at least 10 videos in a row the first time I found out about your channel. The soundtracks are perfect the quality everything about your channel is amazing I only wish there were more videos !