A8NE Power Connector

[name]

Hi, hope someone can help.

I just got an A8NE and it has a 24 pin power connector. I have a three
year old Antec True Power 480w, with a 20 pin connector that seems to
work just fine, I just want to confirm that there is no problem with
this kind of setup. And, of course, I connected the 4 pin 12v connector.

Also, I'm installing XP SP2, do I need to make a floppy off the Asus CD
for installation? I assume XP will see all the drive controllers. I'm
not running any raid, just 2 HDs on PATA, then when I get the SATA
drives I'm reinstalling on the SATA drives and using the PATA drives for
the DVD and CD.

Do I need a floppy with drivers for anything for the XP install?

TIA
john

 

[RBM]

You can get an adapter for the power if necessary, some boards claim to work
fine with the 20 pin. I'd check with Asus. All the drivers you need are on
the Asus CD. If you need to install any drivers for SATA or Raid
controllers, just do it from the CD after you install the operating system
on your PATA drive

 

[name]

You can get an adapter for the power if necessary, some boards claim to work
fine with the 20 pin. I'd check with Asus. All the drivers you need are on
the Asus CD. If you need to install any drivers for SATA or Raid
controllers, just do it from the CD after you install the operating system
on your PATA drive

Thanks, it'll probrably be ok, but I'll check with Asus about the 20 pin.

 

[Paul]

Thanks, it'll probrably be ok, but I'll check with Asus about the 20 pin.

The issue of whether the 20 pin is sufficient or the 24 pin
is needed, really depends on the video card you have chosen.

The 20 pin ATX connector has one 12V wire and pin on it.

The 24 pin ATX connector has two 12V wires and pins on it.

The ATX power connector on the motherboard, feeds the PCI Express
video card, the fans, and some other circuitry that draws
next to no power. A pin on the ATX power connector is rated for
6 amps continuous current at room temp. If the video card plus the
fan headers draw more than 6 amps, then the 24 pin power connector
should be used. If they draw less than 6 amps, the 20 pin connector
is OK.

If anything, this question should be asked of ATI or Nvidia, as
only they know the mean and standard deviation of the video
card supply currents.

These articles are a bit dated, but will give you some idea as
to how much current a video card draws. As customers, we have
no way of knowing which rail a new video card will use to supply
current, so while it is fun to extrapolate from these articles,
unless the exact video card model is measured, we don't really
know for sure what the limits are.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-powercons.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-vs-nv-power.html

HTH,
Paul

 

[name]

The issue of whether the 20 pin is sufficient or the 24 pin
is needed, really depends on the video card you have chosen.

The 20 pin ATX connector has one 12V wire and pin on it.

The 24 pin ATX connector has two 12V wires and pins on it.

The ATX power connector on the motherboard, feeds the PCI Express
video card, the fans, and some other circuitry that draws
next to no power. A pin on the ATX power connector is rated for
6 amps continuous current at room temp. If the video card plus the
fan headers draw more than 6 amps, then the 24 pin power connector
should be used. If they draw less than 6 amps, the 20 pin connector
is OK.

If anything, this question should be asked of ATI or Nvidia, as
only they know the mean and standard deviation of the video
card supply currents.

These articles are a bit dated, but will give you some idea as
to how much current a video card draws. As customers, we have
no way of knowing which rail a new video card will use to supply
current, so while it is fun to extrapolate from these articles,
unless the exact video card model is measured, we don't really
know for sure what the limits are.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-powercons.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-vs-nv-power.html

HTH,
Paul

Thanks for the reply. I running an ATI X300 256MB. I did some research and
it
doesn't seem to use much power, but, since I plan on dual monitors I bought
an Antec
NEOPOWER 480W. It was the PCI-e issue, but, also, support for SATA II.
All in all, it seemed wise to but a good PS that fully supports the board.

thanks again,
john

 

[Ben Pope]

Hi, hope someone can help.

I just got an A8NE and it has a 24 pin power connector. I have a three
year old Antec True Power 480w, with a 20 pin connector that seems to
work just fine, I just want to confirm that there is no problem with
this kind of setup. And, of course, I connected the 4 pin 12v connector.

Well, as far as I know, that amounts to the same thing. Just get them
the right way around!

Ben

 

[Paul]

Well, as far as I know, that amounts to the same thing. Just get them
the right way around!

Ben

The single +12V pin on the ATX 20 pin connector is not
normally joined to the 2x2 ATX12V connector. The 2x2
powers the Vcore converter for the processor only. The
single +12V pin on the AXT 20 pin, is used for AGP/PCI-E/PCI
powering plus any fan headers. That is why there is an issue
if you can manage somehow, to get more than 6 amps worth
of video card and fans onto that single pin. I doubt
you can get enough load with a single video card,
but cannot verify it, because I don't have a copy of the
PCI Express spec.

Paul

 

[name]

Thanks. I sent this post once, but I'm not sure if it went through. In any
case, make a long story short,
I bought an Antec NEOPOWER 480w with a 24 pin connector, I probrably didn't
need it the ATI X300 doesn't that much power, but I'd rather be safe.

thanks again,
john