The Sirtec VGA Booster installs into an available 5¼" drive bay very easily. Once the power booster is in place there are just three connections to make. The main power cable has a standard IEC style plug on it and leads to a PCI bracket. This bracket also has a ground wire with ring terminal, so a screw must be used to mount this. Many cases (like mine) have tool-less riser slots which are not going to work well with this bracket. I had to break out some screws and mount the rest of my cards this way.


The PCIe cable(s) are connected to your video card(s), using either the 6-pin or 8-pin as needed. If you have cards that require two PCIe connections each, Sirtec includes two 8-pin to 6-pin adapters to allow you to hook up all four cables to power dual 8800GTX or similar. The last connection to be made is a single green wire for the on/off signal switch. Sirtec includes a 24-pin ATX adapter that breaks out the green wire for connection to the VGA Booster. The adapter does have a 20+4 pin configuration but there is no clip to hold both pieces together. I also found the connectors to fit very tight on either end and getting both halves to go into the motherboard when working in tight quarters was somewhat difficult. Once it was clipped in it seemed to stay in place okay. The adapter is bulky and makes things a bit of a mess trying to route the cabling however.


Another problem I discovered, only after everything else was installed of course, is that Sirtec goofed and sent me a European style power cord instead of a US NEMA standard plug. Since this cord must plug into the PCI bracket, they elected to use a 2-prong laptop style plug rather than a standard IEC socket, which of course would not have fit. Luckily I had a 2-prong cord from an old laptop power supply lying around and was able to use it to provide power to the VGA Booster.


Next up, testing and conclusion.