Molex to 8 pin power adapter safety question

[greentea101]

I have an Antec 650W power supply with two 6 pin PCI-E connectors (been using it since 2008), and I just bought a GTX 770 video card that needs two 8 pin connectors. The card came with two 2x Molex to 8 pin adapters (they look like this). Would it be safe to use those adapters to power the card with my current power supply? I've Googled this, but couldn't find conclusive info.

[FMod]

It came with the adapters for a reason.

 

Yes.

[greentea101]

Well, I've heard (read while Googling) that using the Molex adapters can unbalance the power draw or something like that, and that you have to use the correct 12V rails or some s***. I don't really understand that stuff, so I'm a little paranoid about it. I just want to be sure that I'm not going to fry any components, and that the system is going to be stable.

[AceGoober]

Since I am unable to view the specific power supply you have, check the specs to see if it is multi-12 volt rail. Many multi-12 volt rail power supplies have specific rails to connect video card Molex adapters to. A majority of the time it doesn't matter which Molex adapters are used. In other cases, each rail has an amperage limit which you need be mindful of.

 

If it is a single 12 volt rail PSU then you won't have to worry about which connector you use unless the PSU has an amperage rating insufficient to power the video card.

[greentea101]

@AceGoober

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

It turns out that one of the 6 pin PCI-E connectors was actually 6+2 pins, so now I'm using that, plus a Molex adapter. The system that the PSU was originally part of, was not assembled by myself. The two extra pins were folded downward and tied to the cable with a cable tie, so I never noticed them before. The specs on the page I linked to clearly say "2 x 6-pin PCI-E", so I never had any reason to believe otherwise.

 

Anyway, everything's good now, and I'm loving the card (I upgraded from 560 Ti).