Power Supply Can this SF750 power an tripple 3080?

Dawelio

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Original poster
SFFn Staff
Dec 17, 2017
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Heya guys,

So I'm a little bit unsure on this one, but I'm rocking an Corsair SF750 V2, 80+ Platinum, PSU and I'm thinking of getting an ASUS ROG RTX 3080 STRIX down the line, which uses 3 x 8 pin PCI-E cables. Now can someone in here tell me if my PSU is capable of doing 3 x 8 pins or just 2? I'm getting more and more confused the longer I look at this picture below, hence asking here now:


Thanks everyone!,
Dawelio
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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2,700
You can use the 6+2 PCIe & 4+4 CPU for either the 8 pin EPS cable or for PCI power cables, doesn't matter which you use. So you will have 3 open slots for PCI power but the SF750 only comes with 2 cables. You have 2 choices. You can either get an additional PCI cable or use your existing cables and use the daisy chain for the 3rd connector. I have seen several people who are using that setup without problem.
 

Dawelio

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Original poster
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Dec 17, 2017
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You can use the 6+2 PCIe & 4+4 CPU for either the 8 pin EPS cable or for PCI power cables, doesn't matter which you use. So you will have 3 open slots for PCI power but the SF750 only comes with 2 cables. You have 2 choices. You can either get an additional PCI cable or use your existing cables and use the daisy chain for the 3rd connector. I have seen several people who are using that setup without problem.

Thanks dude! Are you always on the forums haha? Since you seem to reply within minutes on every new thread I make, not that it's much appreciated though! :)

I will be ordering custom cables from CableMod further down the line, I just want to make sure that my PSU can actually support 3 x 8 pins for the CPU before I do so. I'm just rather unsure which ports should I use for the 3 x 8 pins for the GPU, and then which port for the 8 pin EPS/CPU cable?. Since I only use about 6 cables in total: 2-3 GPU cables, CPU cable, 24 pin and then 2 individual SATA cables for the AIO and the for the fan controller.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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Always here.;) I would just use whichever cables are more convenient. I have 3 plugs on the SF600 and just use the one that is closest to the 8 pin for that and the other 2 for PCI.
 

thelaughingman

SFF Guru
Jul 14, 2018
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@Dawelio also note that down the line if you go back to ATX-land and your board has 2x EPS connectors for the CPU, the SF750 has 2 cables for that. Then you are left with 2 PCIE 6+2 connectors on the PSU but can still power up to 4 connectors on the card with the daisy chain.

And just thought of this too - since Nvidia's new 12pin is adapted from 2x 8-pin, you could still run dual 12-pin cable to the GPU in the future. Just more food for thought haha
 

Dawelio

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Dec 17, 2017
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I gotta say, even though I appreciate your inputs, I'm just so confused reading all of the different configs etc... It's not really my position or my place to ask anyone of this, but I feel like I'd honestly need someone in here, if they are willing and kind enough, to actually draw out on the image above or similar, which ports do I use for 3 x 8 pins for the GPU etc. Since otherwise I'll be even more confused I'm afraid 🤷‍♂️ 🙆‍♂️
 
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rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
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I gotta say, even though I appreciate your inputs, I'm just so confused reading all of the different configs etc... It's not really my position or my place to ask anyone of this, but I feel like I'd honestly need someone in here, if they are willing and kind enough, to actually draw out on the image above or similar, which ports do I use for 3 x 8 pins for the GPU etc. Since otherwise I'll be even more confused I'm afraid 🤷‍♂️ 🙆‍♂️
sf750.png

You have 4 plugs. You can use any of them for the 8 pin ESP and any of them for the PCI power connectors. You could put the 8 pin ESP on either end or in between the PCI power cables.
 

Dawelio

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Dec 17, 2017
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View attachment 879

You have 4 plugs. You can use any of them for the 8 pin ESP and any of them for the PCI power connectors. You could put the 8 pin ESP on either end or in between the PCI power cables.

So going from your labeled image, left to right: The first three slots for the three 8 pin cables for the GPU and then the last, 4th port, for the 8 pin EPS/CPU cable.

Is this correct or have I just confused it all togheter? 🙈...
 

thelaughingman

SFF Guru
Jul 14, 2018
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So going from your labeled image, left to right: The first three slots for the three 8 pin cables for the GPU and then the last, 4th port, for the 8 pin EPS/CPU cable.

Is this correct or have I just confused it all togheter? 🙈...
no no no, all 4 are interchangeable. the ordering on the label has no effect on which cable plugging into which slot
 
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tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
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no no no, all 4 are interchangeable. the ordering on the label has no effect on which cable plugging into which slot
No 'electrical' effect but, I suppose, has a psychological effect.
I mean, it might be better, psychologically, to group the three 8-pin cables next to each other. Eg counting from the left, the first three plugs for the GPU and then fourth for the ESP, rather than, say, GPU-ESP-GPU-GPU or GPU-GPU-ESP-GPU.
This is not confusing, is it?😅
PS The system just gives a more 'clean' and 'orderly' impression.
 
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Dawelio

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Dec 17, 2017
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no no no, all 4 are interchangeable. the ordering on the label has no effect on which cable plugging into which slot
No 'electrical' effect but, I suppose, has a psychological effect.
I mean, it might be better, psychologically, to group the three 8-pin cables next to each other. Eg counting from the left, the first three plugs for the GPU and then fourth for the ESP, rather than, say, GPU-ESP-GPU-GPU or GPU-GPU-ESP-GPU.
This is not confusing, is it?😅
PS The system just gives a more 'clean' and 'orderly' impression.

Oh come on now folks, don't mess with my head anymore than this already is 🤣 ...

Although what I meant is more in the lines of that is basically how I could arrange those ports, obviously I could to the opposite as well, with the CPU cable being on the far left and then the 3 GPU cables on the 3 on the far right on the image as well. Which is most likely the order I will use it in anyway.

And yes, as @tinyitx said above, it's more of a pshycological thing and more logical one to order them togheter. Rather than having the EPS in the middle of the 3 GPU cables. It will look cleaner and will be easier when it comes to cable management as well, due to the EPS will do a straight 90 degree turn and go straigt up to the top of the case. Meanwhile the 3 GPU cables will more or less just go straight out and into the case itself.

Massive thanks to you all for taking your time out of your days to help me with this matter. Especially to @rfarmer for drawing up the ports on the image, immensely appreciated! 🙏 😇
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
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386
You only actually need to plug 2, 6+2 cables into the card to run it. You can think of the 3rd as just a safety feature if you use a 500w bios etc (not recommended)
It will work just fine, boost as it should with 2 cables !!!
 
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Dawelio

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Dec 17, 2017
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You only actually need to plug 2, 6+2 cables into the card to run it. You can think of the 3rd as just a safety feature if you use a 500w bios etc (not recommended)
It will work just fine, boost as it should with 2 cables !!!

Really? Are you sure about that? Especially when talking about the ASUS ROG RTX 3080 STRIX OC in particular?...
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
I've seen an MSI Gaming X Trio running on 2x 8 pins, but that's known to use the 75w from the PCI-E slot as well.
After doing some reading some are saying the Strix does "not" use any power from the slot at all.
If that's genuine info, you will indeed need the 3 cables after all.

We're in some of the highest power draw numbers we've ever seen in GPU's so far with Ampere (Fermi and Dual GPU cards aside)
I've also seen power modded 2080ti's at 400w+
I hope that these trends do not continue, certainly not in the SFF world.........
 
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Dawelio

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Dec 17, 2017
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Fair enough and I do agree that seeing where the power requirements are going with newer GPUs are certainly overwhelming and a bit worrying to be honest.

For me personally, I'm not a power user in that sense, as I don't overclock really. I just use the GPUs out of the box, the way they are meant to be used from the factory and the warranty is valid for them. That's plenty enough for my needs, hence why anything more than the normal usage of the 3080 Strix, ie no overclocking or so, is not for me in this case.