Question 1

So the power cord for this that eventually connects into a power outlet - do you just remove a PCI slot cover and snake it through there?

Anyone using this with a (single) GTX 960/970/980? My server (Lenovo TS 440) has a proprietary PSU, looking to get this so I can use a better graphics card in the PCI-E 3.0 slot.

Accepted Answer

So yes it passes out one of your free card slots. The slots are for any card type ISA, EISA, PCI, PCI-E, AGP, etc...  I tried to use mine and I never got it to work and just bought a real Power Supply with more than enough horse power.  I can tell you that the GTX 9XX series uses less power than my old GTX480 used. So you don't need the 1000 Watt PSU that I bought. The graphics card site will give you the minimum you should have.

Question 2

i am having some trouble hooking this up. i have one 8 pin pcie port left in my original power supply. how do i hook up the 4 pin to this?

Accepted Answer

Matt,

I'm certainly no expert but, there is no reason to hook up anything from your existing power supply to the juice box.  The whole point of the juice box is to extend your power supply capability for things like graphics cards without having to replace your original power supply--which in some cases is impossible, expensive, or difficult.  The juice box gets it's power from a cord that goes to the outside of your computer case through an expansion card slot that is supplied with a power cord that plugs into a 110V AC outlet (or 240V AC outlet in the case of European power).  Then the juice box has some additional cords to connect to other components in your PC that need power, such as graphics cards, etc.  I bought my oldest son a really nice HP commercial grade PC with an I7 processor in it only to find out that it had a very special power supply in it that did not have enough wattage to handle an advanced graphics card--and no connecter either.  I was unable to find a new power supply which would fit in the case with all the capabilities I needed and the weird connectors that the HP motherboard needed.  The juice box solved the problem nicely and he is running a really nice graphics card now on his I7 desktop.  I recommend them highly.

I hope this helps.

JRT

Question 3

So exactly does this work. Do you connect it to your laptop with a cord? LIke an external hard drive?

Accepted Answer

It is designed for a standard desktop case and slides right into one of your bays.   It connects to your existing supply a molex connector as well as to your wall for power, and gives you an additional 4 pci express 12v connections.   I actually use about 20 of then as standalone units, but you need some way of getting 5 volts to the molex for them to turn on.   I just bought y splitters and daisy chained them all together.   I would not expect to get 450 watts out of these, as they will burn up will a extended load over 400 watts without additional cooling measures.  They are excellent if you have a medium output power supply and want and upgraded video card without having to replace you original supply.  I don't see it being useful for a laptop, unless you have some sort of external device requiring 12v, most of which just use an ac/dc adapter and plug directly into the wall.

Question 4

How long (about) are the included 2x6-pin power supply cords? They don't look that long in the picture. If they're not long enough, it looks like there are some 8-pin to 6-pin cords as well. Can I use these to plug in a 6-pin GPU from the 8-pin connectors on the back of this unit?

Accepted Answer

My 6-to-6 connectors are about 21.5 inches end to end.  This supply also comes with a 4-to-8 pin connector (not sure how that one works, but I'm on a Mac Pro, so my power inputs are different from your typical PC) which is about 14 inches end to end, and a couple 6-to-6+2 pin connectors which are also about 21.5 inches.

The longer cables are nylon and metal braided, and then coated with rubber on top of that.

I am currently using the 6-to-6+2 connectors for my secondary GPU and it works fine.  I chose these instead of the 6-to-6 connectors in case I want to swap out my GPU for one requiring an 8-pin connector, which the 6+2 connectors are meant to handle.

Question 5

Does this power supply include the cables, specifically the PCI-E 6 pin cables?

Accepted Answer

Yes, based on the one that I had received, there were two PCIe 6-pin cables (with the 6+2 pin ends on one side).  The two cables were fairly short, and were not long enough for my case, so I ended up having to buy different cables, but I do recall there being two cables in the box along with the power supply.  There is also a metal bracket (for the PCIe slot) with a notch in it, and also a second power cable/cord that connects to the power supply, which goes to a wall outlet, which is used to power the 450W power supply.

It's made of a black metal construction, and has what looks/seems like a black annodized alluminum faceplate (used as a heat sink) and I used mine inside of a 2008 and 2012 Apple Mac Pro (to power two additional video cards in CrossFire/SLI).  For the price, it was a great buy, and it did what I needed it to do, although it did come with two PCIe 6+2 cables, I did have to buy new/additional/longer 6+2 PCIe power cords.  I hope this answers all of your questions.

Hope this helps!

Question 6

Obvious question but this will hook up directly to a graphics card and run correct?

Accepted Answer

It will run 2 cards.  ie  SLI  provided both cards dont require more than 450 watts of power

it is not obvious, but you will need a 4 pin moles to plug into it.  that is how it knows when you turn on your computer so it is not running 24/7

if your existing power supply does not have a 4 pin molex and only has SATA power, you will also need a SATA to molex converter cable

Question 7

How well would this PS stand up to 24/7 use with ~80-90% power draw?

Accepted Answer

I'm not quite sure, but that would be a great question to ask the manufacturer.

Please post the manufacturer's response here, so that others (in the future) would know that answer.

I'm quite curious myself as to how well it would hold up (longterm), but the only one that can answer that question would be the hardware manufacturer.  They generally test the equipment that they manufacture and often have MTBF numbers, and can tell you exactly how well their product can stand up to 24/7 use with a 80-90% (or maximum 100%) power draw before failure (and whether this is within their specs).

Question 8

Does the ePOWER EP-450CD 450W ATX12V require an external power signal to turn on?  I would like to use it as a stand-alone power supply for non-computer projects but I'm not sure if this unit requires an electrical signal applied to the 4 pin connector.  Thanks.

Grant

Accepted Answer

No, this power supply need a signal from the Mole/H?/peripheral connector to power on/off

Question 9

can I fit this in a macpro dvd drive bay?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I have just fit this in the Mac Pro DVD drive bay to power a 7970. But be warned: getting the AC power to the PSU, and the 6/8 pin cables to the GPU, is quite a bit of a project. Also the fans are really quite loud compared to the quiet Mac Pro, so it may be worth it to look into a better 5.25" PSU that's quieter.

Question 10

So from what i have been seeing about this product, it requires a 4 pin molex but it seems as though no molex cable is supplied, is this correct? also what kind of molex is needed, a male or female?

Accepted Answer

Matt - I bought one a month or so ago. If you have all SATA connectors on your box you will need this.

StarTech LP4SATAFM12 12" SATA to Molex LP4 Power Cable Adapter

-Chris.

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