4870 power lines

Seeing as I'm about to take ownership of one of these fine cards, I thought I'd try and find out a bit more about the power requirements.

We know that it needs 2x6pin PCI-E connectors, but also that this seems to be a bit precautionary as each connector is rated to 75W, with 75W? from the slot itself, and the card is expected to draw about 135W. Question is, does it draw equally from each connector, or is there a preference?

I'll be providing one connector from a dedicated 12v rail, but the other will have to be supplied from a rail shared with other components, so if there were a way to bias the load towards the dedicated rail that'd be very useful to know.

and I am aiming to be in a similar position fairly soon, and wonder the exact same thing.

Maybe the guys at beyond3d might know Zak? I can't seem to post there unfortunately.

My guess would be there is no in-built preference, and they just suck the power as required - if it's easier (less resistance) on one rail then most would come from there, and only when resistance increases or it hits a limiter would it suck from the other. Therefore the dedicated rail should be used by preference and it'll only take from the other if you hit the limit. But that's just my guess.