According to Videocardz, a custom RX 480 from PowerColor has been caught on camera. The most interesting part about this variant is that it connects to the power supply with a single eight-pin PCIe connector. With AMD's latest driver, and hopefully even a modified vBIOS and PCB, this should be plenty enough power for the GPU, even with overclocking.
Image Credit: Videocardz
The card itself is a three-fan design with three DisplayPorts, one HDMI, and a single DVI. This retains the reference design's three DisplayPorts, but also adds the option to use DVI without an adapter. I'm not sure whether all five connectors can be used simultaneously, which isn't too bad — apparently the GTX 1080 also cannot use all five connectors at the same time, so I wouldn't plan on connecting five monitors to a single-GPU system, just in case.
No pricing and availability yet… this is just a picture. We don't even know clock rates.
It does look like an 8-pin
It does look like an 8-pin connector, but why is there two more pins hanging off the side?
Saw that, too. Looks like an
Saw that, too. Looks like an adapter, but can't tell. It looks like it's coming FROM the graphics card, though, so I didn't mention it in the post.
Those cards probably will be
Those cards probably will be able to work with either an 8pin or a 6pin connector. Probably in the time of taking the picture, they where testing the card with only six pins connected. Strange cable, probably for easy transition from a 6pin to an 8pin? I have no idea.
Yeah, it could be a
Yeah, it could be a diagnostics adapter of some sort.
My PSU (a Kingwin 750W model
My PSU (a Kingwin 750W model that they don’t make or even acknowledge as existing anymore) has two 8-pin PCI-E cables – one is a native 8-pin, and one is an 8/6-pin where the two extra pins on the end are physically separable, converting it into a 6-pin. That’s what this looks like to me.
Judging by this pinout diagram I swiped from OC.N, the extra two pins are a “Sense B” and “Ground” respectively. I am also looking at the “Note” that references the center +12V pin on the 6-pin connector as being “No Connection” for 6-pin, and “+12V” for 8-pin. I am also taking note of the fact that neither of the added pins (taking a 6-pin to an 8-pin) are adding any power at all – they’re a “sense” and a “ground” and that’s it.
This leads me to deduce (but I am not outright claiming) that in 6-pin “mode”, the PSU does not (or maybe just should not) output to the center +12V pin, and the two remaining +12V wires provide the up-to-75W available.
However, in 8-pin “mode”, the “Sense B” is used to determine whether the card being powered is using 8-pin, and if so, the center +12V pin is energized and up to 150W is available.
If this deduction is true, then it suggests that 6-pin (using only 2/3 of its +12V wires/pins) ought to be good for up to 100W at least, and the standard/spec is quite conservative.
It also makes me wonder – if this deduction is true, then if you were to take the 8-pin PCIE connector from the PSU, short the “Sense B” and the adjacent “Ground” pins together (i.e. the two pins that make a 6-pin into an 8-pin), and plug the rest into a 6-pin receptacle, would that 6-pin be capable of 150W?
(adding to the above comment,
(adding to the above comment, for “Danger Will Robinson” purposes)
It could, however, also be that the “Ground” pin being added is actually a necessary ground source for when the third +12V pin is being used. In this case, shorting the “Sense” to that ground pin might still offer 150W but in a much more dangerous way, absent that extra “Ground” pin.
It could ALSO also be that the “Sense” pin is there to receive a voltage from the card, rather than provide one TO the card, to determine whether it’s being a 6-pin or 8-pin connector. In this case, shorting the “Sense” to the “Ground” wouldn’t do anything at all, as the “Sense” wouldn’t be receiving the voltage it’s expecting.
Okay. I’ll shut up now, see what the experts think. Cuz I’m just brainstorming now.
After further research, I
After further research, I think I’ve got it right. Going back to the guys who got everybody interested in this to begin with:
“The sense signals are used so that the graphics card can detect what types of connector(s) are attached, and therefore how much total power is available. For example, if a graphics card needs a full 300 W and has both an eight-pin and six-pin connector on board, if you were to attach two six-pin power supply connectors, the card would “sense” that it had only 225 W available and, depending on the design, it could either shut down or operate in a reduced functionality mode.”
So that “Sense B” wire is what the card uses to determine whether it should draw power from the middle +12V pin, and the extra “Ground” wire provides for the added current.
I feel confident that it’s a
I feel confident that it’s a 6+2 pin PCI-E power connector that is, in that picture, currently installed as a 6-pin.
Why they would be running it in 6-pin mode, I have no idea. But I think that’s what they’re doing.
(Maybe they’re testing it to see if it has the same power draw division issue as the reference boards?)
Yeah, I’ve seen those before;
Yeah, I've seen those before; that's actually how my power supply works. I didn't identify it as that cable, though (looked like 8 + 2, not 6 + 2). Maybe seeing Videocardz say it's eight pin confused me?
It looks to me like either
It looks to me like either they heard from the source of the pictures that it’s an 8-pin card (which would suggest that it’s hooked up in 6-pin mode in that picture for some reason) or they also thought it looked like an 8-pin with an extra connector of some sort (which could mean either it’s an 8-pin card and an unusual Molex connector, or it’s a 6+2 pin but the picture is grainy enough that it looks like an 8+2 pin).
I dunno. My assumption is mostly based on the fact that I’ve never heard of a 10-pin PCIE power connector – doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, of course, but when I first looked at the pic, I saw a 6+2 with the +2 disconnected because that’s the connector I’m familiar with; it couldn’t be anything else.
I saw this a while ago, looks
I saw this a while ago, looks like a nice card.
For how pre-teen and edgy PowerColor’s performance branding is (Devil), I’m honestly pretty infatuated with the general aesthetic of their GPUs most of the time.
Looks like 6-pin to me.
Looks like 6-pin to me.
Single 1x or 2x DVI?
Single 1x or 2x DVI?
Hum, the card clearly has a
Hum, the card clearly has a 6-pin connector, not an 8-pin. The PSU connector is a 6+2 pins with only the 6 pins connected and the extra 2 hanging off by the side.
Oops, looking closer shows
Oops, looking closer shows the extra two pins are coming from the card connector, not the PSU connector. So the card does have an 8-pin connector, but somehow is being tested with only 6 pins connected. Never saw that before.
There where rumors a month
There where rumors a month ago about RX 480 cards with two BIOSes. So we can expect custom cards coming with an 8pin connector to offer two modes. One mode will be giving the card the ability to work even with a 6pin PCIe power connector, like the reference card, offering typical speeds. By connecting an 8pin PCIe connector the card could be switching to a second mode and jumping at higher frequencies, even over 1400MHz.
I disagree. It looks to me
I disagree. It looks to me like the extra two pins are coming from one or two of the ground wires on the 6+2-pin PSU connector. The three yellow wires are in front, the three black wires are behind them, and the two black wires from the extra pins are going behind the yellow wires (probably spliced to the two ground wires inside the Molex connector).
Because of the angle of the lighting, it’s really hard to see where the corner of the connector is (the one closest to the camera, I mean) but it looks to me like it’s right next to the leftmost yellow wire.
Definitely a 6+2 pin
Definitely a 6+2 pin connector from the PSU, connected to a 6-pin connector on the video card.
On the other hand, Sapphire’s Nitro RX 480 OC has been confirmed to have an 8-pin connector, “although, it doesn’t need it”. 😉
https://youtu.be/5GpwC1Cayc4?t=671