When I purchased my new Sapphire 11265-05-20G Radeon Pulse RX 580 8GB GDDR5 Dual HDMI/ DVI-D/ Dual DP OC W/BP (UEFI) LITE (from Newegg) I only made a cursory investigation into the necessary Dual Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI-E Power Adapter required to power the GPU.
Now that the card is kaput after only 6 weeks of use (w no visible errors), I'm wondering if I erred when I chose the 18AWG over the (more popular? common?) 16AWG? Looking back I originally went with 18AWG bc of it's Rated Power: 300W [6.5A], which is also the macpro5,1 'combined max output (75X x4) for all PCI Express slots.' Only after looking for lower prices did I discover the 16AWG adapter, but ultimately went along with "Amazon Choice for sapphire radeon pulse rx 580 8gb gddr5..." based on price, delivery and user comments.
Is this even accurate? Searching through comments here, I now see the 16AWG is mentioned more frequently, especially with this mac pro + GPU.
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EDIT:
Radeon RX 580 Requirements:
Typical Board Power (Desktop) PSU Recommendation
185 W 500 W
The supporting documents and media provided with all new Sapphire Pulse GPUs is staggeringly sparse. I was able to cull the initial 500W PSU Recommendation from Sapphire's website, but only AMD (website) would yield the distinction, specifically addressing the problem included in this post; Albeit; Sapphire does list: 'Power Consumption < 225W'
EDIT II:
The gauge of the power adapter had little (to none) effect with the failed GPU [confirmed, resolved - thanks for that!]
Nevertheless, considering the approximate maximum current draw of the mobo PCI-E Slot(s) and Aux (375W), and the four (4) cards currently installed in my cmp5,1 configuration, it only follows to utilize the corresponding PCI Express power cable, even though the noticeable difference will be negligible.
When I asked COMeap about possibly exchanging the 18AWG for the 16AWG, they immediately replied with an offer of a new 16AWG adapter, free of charge! Considering the stalled-mire of Luddite customer service I'm currently experiencing with (processing RMA) Sapphire and their third-party "warranty-replacement" outfit Althon Micro Inc, replacing my new Sapphire Pulse GPU, it's good to know caliber merchandise and genuine customer care still exists beyond Apple.
=============================================================
These were the power adapters I originally considered:
COMeap Dual Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Adapter Cable for Mac Pro Tower 15-inch [Amazon, $13] (currently installed)
COMeap 16AWG Dual Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Adapter Cable for Mac Pro Tower 15-inch [Amazon, $16]
OEM Apple Dual Mini PCI-E 6-Pin to Standard PCI-E 8-Pin Video Card Cable [$15]
Additional info:
Part Number [pn]: 299-4E353-830FA. Unflashed (PC version) worked out of the box. [for six weeks].
FileVault inactive, Errday. macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 | 2 x 3.46 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon | 128 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 |
PCI-E 16x Lane #1: ATI Radeon HD 5770 (archive GPU) |
PCI-E 16x Lane #2: Apricorn Velocity Solo x2 Extreme w/ Crucial MX300 3D TLC SSD |
PCI-E 8x Lane Slot #3: MAXPower RAID Mini-SAS 6G-1e1i Controller w/ 4 x WD Black 2TB HDD |
PCI-E 8x Lane Slot #4: Sonnet Allegro USB 3.0 4-Port PCI Express
Now that the card is kaput after only 6 weeks of use (w no visible errors), I'm wondering if I erred when I chose the 18AWG over the (more popular? common?) 16AWG? Looking back I originally went with 18AWG bc of it's Rated Power: 300W [6.5A], which is also the macpro5,1 'combined max output (75X x4) for all PCI Express slots.' Only after looking for lower prices did I discover the 16AWG adapter, but ultimately went along with "Amazon Choice for sapphire radeon pulse rx 580 8gb gddr5..." based on price, delivery and user comments.
Is this even accurate? Searching through comments here, I now see the 16AWG is mentioned more frequently, especially with this mac pro + GPU.
Could anyone offer any insight here; Could the wrong wire gauge could in fact lead to GPU failure? Should I pitch the 18AWG adapter and only use 16AWG? I only assumed it was just a matter of insulation but know I see:
- Gauge: 18AWG, Rated power: 300W; [6.5A]
- Gauge: 16AWG, Rated power: 450W; [10A]
=============================================================
EDIT:
Radeon RX 580 Requirements:
Typical Board Power (Desktop) PSU Recommendation
185 W 500 W
The supporting documents and media provided with all new Sapphire Pulse GPUs is staggeringly sparse. I was able to cull the initial 500W PSU Recommendation from Sapphire's website, but only AMD (website) would yield the distinction, specifically addressing the problem included in this post; Albeit; Sapphire does list: 'Power Consumption < 225W'
EDIT II:
The gauge of the power adapter had little (to none) effect with the failed GPU [confirmed, resolved - thanks for that!]
Nevertheless, considering the approximate maximum current draw of the mobo PCI-E Slot(s) and Aux (375W), and the four (4) cards currently installed in my cmp5,1 configuration, it only follows to utilize the corresponding PCI Express power cable, even though the noticeable difference will be negligible.
When I asked COMeap about possibly exchanging the 18AWG for the 16AWG, they immediately replied with an offer of a new 16AWG adapter, free of charge! Considering the stalled-mire of Luddite customer service I'm currently experiencing with (processing RMA) Sapphire and their third-party "warranty-replacement" outfit Althon Micro Inc, replacing my new Sapphire Pulse GPU, it's good to know caliber merchandise and genuine customer care still exists beyond Apple.
=============================================================
These were the power adapters I originally considered:
COMeap Dual Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Adapter Cable for Mac Pro Tower 15-inch [Amazon, $13] (currently installed)
COMeap 16AWG Dual Mini 6 Pin to 8 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Adapter Cable for Mac Pro Tower 15-inch [Amazon, $16]
OEM Apple Dual Mini PCI-E 6-Pin to Standard PCI-E 8-Pin Video Card Cable [$15]
Additional info:
Part Number [pn]: 299-4E353-830FA. Unflashed (PC version) worked out of the box. [for six weeks].
FileVault inactive, Errday. macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 | 2 x 3.46 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon | 128 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 |
PCI-E 16x Lane #1: ATI Radeon HD 5770 (archive GPU) |
PCI-E 16x Lane #2: Apricorn Velocity Solo x2 Extreme w/ Crucial MX300 3D TLC SSD |
PCI-E 8x Lane Slot #3: MAXPower RAID Mini-SAS 6G-1e1i Controller w/ 4 x WD Black 2TB HDD |
PCI-E 8x Lane Slot #4: Sonnet Allegro USB 3.0 4-Port PCI Express
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