My old graphics card failed, so I replaced it with an RTX 5060. The old card used two 6+2-pin PCIe connectors, but the new card appears to need only one. My power supply has a daisy-chained cable with two 6+2-pin connectors. Is it safe to plug one 6+2-pin connector into the GPU and leave the other one unplugged, or do I need a new power supply?
3 Answers
You only need to use the connector required by the graphics card. An unused plug on the same cable isn’t a problem, as long as it’s a proper PCIe power cable and not a CPU/EPS cable.
The white CPU or DRAM diagnostic light is probably a separate issue from the graphics card if it remains after installing the new GPU. Reseat the RAM, test one memory stick at a time, and check that the CPU power cable is firmly connected. The motherboard manual should explain exactly what that light indicates.
Yes, that’s fine. If both 6+2-pin plugs are on the same daisy-chain PCIe cable, connect the one that fits the GPU and leave the second connector unused. Power supplies commonly include extra connectors to support different hardware configurations.
That makes sense. I wasn’t sure whether the warning light was pointing to the GPU, but I’ll troubleshoot the RAM and CPU power connections separately.