The original article focused on the 970 (500) .... and the Vega 56 (500) and Vega 64 (550) ... the recommended minimum PSU wattage is listed in parenthesis. To my eyes, the 550 PSU most quoted as having the issue is a bit undersized for the serious gamer who has tweaked the card w/ Afterburner. The same sources list 500 watts for your current card.... but 650 for the Asus 3080 TUF
There's long been an argument about whether one can use 6 pin cables in lieu of 8 pin, with most arguing based upon the amperage rating of individual cables ... like most such postings, this is inaccurate.
"The 8-pin PCI-E connector has 3 12V and 3 ground wires. So, how can it deliver more power? The limit on the previous 6 pin connector was set to limit voltage sag, so that even at maximum voltage drop on a long PSU cable, the voltage at the card would remain satisfactory.
Under higher load, there is the risk that the voltage sag in the cables will be excessive and cause the voltage to drop out of spec under high load. The PSU regulates the voltage on its PCB, but under high load on long cables, this can be in spec, while the voltage at the end of cables is out of spec. The new connector provides a sense function, that allows the PSU to sense the voltage that is actually reaching the power circuits on the card, and a suitable designed PSU could regulate that voltage specifically. The 2 new pins are used for this sensing function.
The 8-pin connector adds 2 pins on the right of the 6 pin connector. The middle ground on the 6 pin (pin 5) is moved to 'top right' (pin 8). This allows the graphics card to sense if an 8 pin connector is used. If pin 8 is grounded, an 8 pin plug is used. If it's not-connected a 6-pin plug is used, and the card should operate in restricted power mode."
So what happens id you only use 2two of the three 8-pin connectors ? My thinking goes back to the 4+4 8-pin EPS connectors where you were supposed to plug in the 1st 4-pin for normal usage or moderate overclocking but both 4 pins if you were going extreme overclocking
The board power limit for the Asus TUF is 375 watts which matches the power configuration for this card w/ 2 x 150 for each 8 Pin + 75 for the card slot. The MSI card that TPU tests has three 8 pin connectors and yet it's board power limit is 350. Under Furmark, the MSI card hit 315 watts in average gaming, 385 in peak gaming and 425 in Furmark ,,,Asus TUFs numbers were 305, 372 and 405.
I have not see anyone who ran the MSI on just 2 connectors .... with MSI power limit at 350 (Asus 375), they should work fine with (2) 8 pin connectors. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble imagining that MSI (or Asus) would let the card run with only 2 cables connected.
The SSR-750 FX review is a but confusing in that, the pic below shows (2) 8 pin CPU PCI-E cables and (3) GPU PCI-E connectors
The description says with (2) PCI
Two PCI-e cables come with the unit, also with built in capacitors.
One of the two CPU cables. Yep, you guessed it, there are in cable capacitors.
Now, historically, the CPU cables were called EPS and it was a bad idea to mismatch the cables.
Now on the image ...
The CPU connections are labeled "CPU / PCI-E
The GPU connections are labeled "GPU / PCI-E
The images show that all connector pin sockets are 4-4-6-6 sided over 6-6-6-4 same as the arrangement on GFX cards. So your PSU is equipped with the necessary connectors ... they just didn't give you the extra cable.
Seasonic is always very careful to make it so that you can't plug in anything wrong so if they label them PCI-E it's worth looking at ... but if you going to try to use one of the "CPU / PCI-E" cables for the missing "GPU / PCI-E" I'd still make sure a) you are not forcing it in b) the cable end at the GPU actually says PCI-E the number and order of 4 sides sockets and 6 sides sockets match and also the cable insulation colors match the GPU labels cables.
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