Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade to an RX 9070 XT, which requires three 8-pin power connectors. Currently, I'm using two PCI-E slots for my CPU (the 7800X3D), which only needs 120W. I noticed that my Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 850W PSU only has two PCI-E slots left. Is there a way to make this work without getting a new PSU? Could I possibly disconnect one of the CPU power cables to add it to the GPU? Also, I've heard about the new 12+4 pin connector—can I use that alongside two standard PCI-E cables for my GPU? Thanks for the help!
2 Answers
You’re in luck! Most of the time, it’s just the overclocked versions of the 9070 XT that need three 8-pin connectors. There are some models out there that only use two. If you really want a three-pin model, you can safely remove one of the 8-pin cables from your CPU, provided you're not planning to push it to the max with overclocking. That should work just fine!
Just a heads up, the CPU and GPU draw from separate power supplies, so you should have cables to spare. The 12+4 pin connector is exclusive to Nvidia cards—like the 3090 Ti—so it won't help with your 9070 XT. But as long as you have enough cables, you might be set!
I get that, but my concern is that I might need five PCI-E slots for everything and that's where I'm running into an issue.
Thanks a lot for clarifying!