Simviation Forums

What is the difference between the power connectors for pci and apg graphics cards? Can I connect a APG card to a power supply that only has PCI connectors? I am looking into a new card that requires a 350 w PSU, I have a 250 watt. Is there any adapters I can buy to make this possible? Thanks!

I don't know about the connectors (my AGP card doesn't even need a power connection) but I think that 250w are not enough to power any decent system nowadays... but I don't know much about PSUs so lets wait for the opinion of someone with a little more knowledge about the subject.

Sounds like a good move!  ;)

I don't know about the connectors (my AGP card doesn't even need a power connection) but I think that 250w are not enough to power any decent system nowadays... but I don't know much about PSUs so lets wait for the opinion of someone with a little more knowledge about the subject.

As to "general power supply" discussiion, rather than start the same old discussion over again, might I suggest a little time spent in reading the existing threads this forum?

The connectors are something you have to look for yourself. Many older video cards like ATI use the same power connector a floppy drive uses, others come with a pigtail in the box to go from their power port to a standard hard drive molex plug, other use a PCIe 6 pin plug and the new ATI and future Nvidia will use 8pin PCIe plugs. It is your responsibility to match the PSU and plugs to your needs.

Some motherboard run 4 pin CPU power, others 8, some motherboards run 20 pin main plugs, others 24. Some motherboards come with a 4 pin AGP PRO power plug on top of the 4 pin CPU power, some have no CPU power plug.

You have to look at your parts and figure that all out yourself. There is no single standard for every system of components although there is a standard for the plugs themselves. In example, a CPU power plug will always be 2 yellow and 2 black wires, or 4 yellow and 4 black wires. The color code, pin-out, molex key and lock tab are standardized but you have to match the PSU to your needs. Some do not have an 8pin CPU power plug, some do not have the newer 8pin PCIe plugs, etc.

Yea, I know I participated on that one and I know a lot more about PSUs than I used to but I have no idea about the AGP vs PCI connections since I've never connected any card in my life. I only had 2 cards and they were both AGP and neither of them required a power connection.

Thanks. It all makes sense now!

I am buying a power supply for my brother, as that is what he wants for his birthday! He is going to buy a new gpu, and since I'm still on a 64mb Geforce 4 (which can't run most games, just creats errors) which is rather outdated, I stand to gain (we share a pc).