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EVGA Power Boost delivers extra juice to your graphics bus

by Pete Mason on 22 December 2010, 12:50

Tags: EVGA

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For the overclockers and tweakers out there, system stability is absolutely paramount, and one of the keys to ultimate stability is good, clean and consistent power. Now, EVGA claims to have a new way to guarantee this is with the Power Boost, which will deliver power directly to the PCIe bus.

The little add-on uses a Molex power-connector and converts it into a plug that attaches to a PCIe slot to pump a little extra juice directly into the bus. It's designed to fit into any size slot, meaning that it can make use of any spare x1 or x16 slots on your motherboard, and is even small enough to squeeze into the gap between two dual-slot graphics cards.

Obviously a number of high-end motherboards now come with Molex connectors designed to supply extra power to the PCIe bus, so this will be a nice alternative for anyone installing demanding add-in cards to a lower-end system.

Of course, how much of an impact the Power Boost will actually have is open to debate - at least until it's been put through some proper tests. We can imagine a scenario where two or three overclocked GPUs could start to draw more power than the PCIe bus could normally provide, potentially impacting system stability. This could also be a problem for other add-in boards that don't have the dedicated power supplies that GPUs do, and so rely on consistent power from the PCIe slot.

For now we'll reserve judgement until we've had a chance to test a Power Boost out for ourselves. However, if you feel like your system is in need of more juice, EVGA's latest accessory is available from the company's webstore  - although currently only in the US - for $19.95 (£15.56 inc VAT).



HEXUS Forums :: 8 Comments

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Erm, the power has to come from somewhere, and I don't know many PSUs that don't use the same rail for the motherboard line as for the molex lines…
kalniel
Erm, the power has to come from somewhere, and I don't know many PSUs that don't use the same rail for the motherboard line as for the molex lines…

Not only that, but doing it through this route is cutting out the entire 6/8/12/whatever phase circuitry that the motherboard has.

We can imagine a scenario where two or three overclocked GPUs could start to draw more power than the PCIe bus could normally provide, potentially impacting system stability

I can't - PCI express has very clear power requirements per slot. Intel and AMD also have very strict guidelines with their chipsets when it comes to power use.

If mobo makers are selling motherboards that are unable to do their job, then they need to be returned as not fit for purpose.

In fact, another thought - We have PCI Express power that's coming through a minimum of 4 phase circuitry (I've not seen a modern board with less) to ensure a clean power supply to the board, and then we have something from the PSU being directly linked into the motherboard, without any evidence of a filter (and given it's size, it's very unlikely).

Looks like snake oil to me.
Well, their one gpu partner keeps making cards that disregards PCI-E spec, so they had to come up with something. Remember, the 580 is only sub 300 watts due to the driver. Even gpuz turns it into a 350+ watt card. Snake oil may be needed to give a a false sense of security to Nvidia buyers, also these cards aren't selling in any kind of major volume so a new revenue must be generated. Even is it's just gimmicks.
Agent
I can't - PCI express has very clear power requirements per slot. Intel and AMD also have very strict guidelines with their chipsets when it comes to power use.

This product is geared to the high end overclockers, shoving several cards with massive overclocks while under LN2. That breaks any spec sheet - PCI slot by default delivers 150W, 6-pin 75W, 8-pin 150W. If each card is pulling >400W, an extra bit of juice is more than welcome. Not for $20 though.

Looks like snake oil to me.

It all depends on context.
B_G
Well, their one gpu partner keeps making cards that disregards PCI-E spec, so they had to come up with something. Remember, the 580 is only sub 300 watts due to the driver. Even gpuz turns it into a 350+ watt card. Snake oil may be needed to give a a false sense of security to Nvidia buyers, also these cards aren't selling in any kind of major volume so a new revenue must be generated. Even is it's just gimmicks.

borandi
This product is geared to the high end overclockers, shoving several cards with massive overclocks while under LN2. That breaks any spec sheet - PCI slot by default delivers 150W, 6-pin 75W, 8-pin 150W. If each card is pulling >400W, an extra bit of juice is more than welcome. Not for $20 though.

I've grouped these together as they are kind of aiming in the same direction.

@B_G: I know exactly what you mean with the ‘wattage unlocking’, but AFAIK the extra wattage is pulled from the power connectors and not the PCI Express slot. More than happy to be proved wrong on this though (and then I could see its application a little bit more).

@borandi: I've been there and done the whole LN2 / Vapo thing, although it's been many years. The part I'm struggling to get my head around is that simply applying more voltage / current to a lane like this, doesn't make it useful, doubly so when you have different phase passes between the two supplies and then claiming it's use is for extreme overclocking - it's the exact kinda thing you'd want to avoid. Any modern PWM on a motherboard could supply 150W over the PCI Express slot with ease (even multiple slots), so adding power in this way seams really, really crazy.

It also comes back to the power draw on the slot - does any card actually pull the additional power over the slot and not the connectors? In all honest, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a safety cut-off, it was certainly not uncommon on AGP systems.

Keep in mind that the data bus signal is entirely separate to the +12V supply over PCIe as shown here. The signalling bus is just as (if not more) important as the main supply, and the part I'd argue is going to suffer first when doing extreme overclocking of the likes of LN2 with a good power unit.

Thoughts?