Main ATX motherboard Power socket question

[Haymish Pupkin]

Hi

Can someone tell me if it's OK to plug in a 20pin Power cable into a 24pin
socket on this mainboard?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products...view.aspx?ProductID=2531&ModelName=GA-P35-DS4

I have been told i can but just want to confirm it's OK.

This is my PSU which is ATX version 2.03 and ATX 12V V1.2 compatible.
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=42&pPath=296&productID=303

Also, would there be any benefit in getting using a 20pin to 24pin
converter?

Thanks

 

[Pen]

Hi

Can someone tell me if it's OK to plug in a 20pin Power cable into a 24pin
socket on this mainboard?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products...view.aspx?ProductID=2531&ModelName=GA-P35-DS4

I have been told i can but just want to confirm it's OK.

This is my PSU which is ATX version 2.03 and ATX 12V V1.2 compatible.
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=42&pPath=296&productID=303

Also, would there be any benefit in getting using a 20pin to 24pin
converter?

Thanks

Maybe, if the extra pins are all in parallel with their respective
mates. Also you will be supply power over fewer(effectively smaller)
cables than the board requires. This is not a great idea. Use a 24
conductor cable power supply.

 

[kony]

Hi

Can someone tell me if it's OK to plug in a 20pin Power cable into a 24pin
socket on this mainboard?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products...view.aspx?ProductID=2531&ModelName=GA-P35-DS4

I have been told i can but just want to confirm it's OK.

Yes it's ok. The *extra* 4 pins are to allow for higher
current on the already existing rails provided by the first
20 pins. If you were building something particularly
power-hungry that was powered entirely from the motherboard
(used no addt'l connectors like video cards often do) it
would make the most difference but in general today's
average system can run acceptibly with only 20 pin
connector.

This is my PSU which is ATX version 2.03 and ATX 12V V1.2 compatible.
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=42&pPath=296&productID=303

That power supply is questionable, Ultra overrates their
products for a peak, not sustained output. Rated for 16A on
12V rail it is equivalent to most branded 300W PSU though
with lower quality in some respects. If your system is
modestly endowed the PSU may work acceptibly for awhile but
I would not use it if you install one of yesteryear's or
today's more power hungry video cards - let alone two video
cards or a lot of hard drives.

Also, would there be any benefit in getting using a 20pin to 24pin
converter?

No

 

[Haymish Pupkin]

Yes it's ok. The *extra* 4 pins are to allow for higher
current on the already existing rails provided by the first
20 pins. If you were building something particularly
power-hungry that was powered entirely from the motherboard
(used no addt'l connectors like video cards often do) it
would make the most difference but in general today's
average system can run acceptibly with only 20 pin
connector.


That power supply is questionable, Ultra overrates their
products for a peak, not sustained output. Rated for 16A on
12V rail it is equivalent to most branded 300W PSU though
with lower quality in some respects. If your system is
modestly endowed the PSU may work acceptibly for awhile but
I would not use it if you install one of yesteryear's or
today's more power hungry video cards - let alone two video
cards or a lot of hard drives.

Sorry the specs on mine differ from the specs on the site for some reason.
These are the figures displayed on my box. The +12VDC is a little stronger.

+3.3VDC 18A
+5VDC 30A
+12VDC 19A
-12VDC 0.6A
-5VDC 0.6A
+5VSB 2.0A

I was going to use it with this spec:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86ghz & stock cooler
Seagate 7200.10 320GB SATAII/300 8.5ms 7200RPM 16MB Cache
2 x 1GB Corsair (CM2X1024-5400C4) DDR2-5300/5400 (667/675MHz)
CASE ASONIC XCLIO Server case 5X5.25 6X3.5 2xfloppy 2, 8" fans, temp lcd and
leds, possible 12" fan
1 x Lite-on 16 X DVD-ROM SHD-16P1S
1 x Lite-on DVD-Writer SHM-165P6S

and one of these

Point Of View 7600GT 256mb DDR3 DVI HDTV TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
X1650Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E Graphics Card
X1950Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E Graphics Card

I was hoping to overclock the cpu to near 3ghz if possible.

Motherboard says it's OK with 20pins and I have a 4pin 12V from PSU to MB
and could convert 2 molex to the PCIe 12V socket on the motherboard if
required.

What chance do I have?

 

[Noozer]

Can someone tell me if it's OK to plug in a 20pin Power cable into a

I was going to use it with this spec:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86ghz & stock cooler
Seagate 7200.10 320GB SATAII/300 8.5ms 7200RPM 16MB Cache
2 x 1GB Corsair (CM2X1024-5400C4) DDR2-5300/5400 (667/675MHz)
CASE ASONIC XCLIO Server case 5X5.25 6X3.5 2xfloppy 2, 8" fans, temp lcd
and leds, possible 12" fan
1 x Lite-on 16 X DVD-ROM SHD-16P1S
1 x Lite-on DVD-Writer SHM-165P6S

and one of these

Point Of View 7600GT 256mb DDR3 DVI HDTV TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
X1650Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E Graphics Card
X1950Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E Graphics Card

I was hoping to overclock the cpu to near 3ghz if possible.

Uhm... your going to do all the above and then cheap out on a power supply?
SPEND THE MONEY!

 

[Haymish Pupkin]

Uhm... your going to do all the above and then cheap out on a power
supply? SPEND THE MONEY!

Thing is I already have this PSU and it's never been used. Only needs to
work for a few months while I save up for a better one.

The other option is to ebay the PSU and get another but not sure how much
I'd get for it in the UK.

Anyone suggest a cheap PSU that would cope and be OK for a few years (UK
supplier needed). I might want to add a second hard in a few months time.
More memory and a quad cpu in a few years time and there's a slight
possibility of a second graphics card in a few years too.

Thanks

 

[kony]

Sorry the specs on mine differ from the specs on the site for some reason.
These are the figures displayed on my box. The +12VDC is a little stronger.

+3.3VDC 18A
+5VDC 30A
+12VDC 19A
-12VDC 0.6A
-5VDC 0.6A
+5VSB 2.0A

If this were the rating on, say a PC Power & Cooling or
Fortron PSU, it would be more appropriate for the system.
As it is, you may find it works for long enough to get some
value out of it, but ideally it would be reserved for a less
(presumably) important system, like to replace an old
Pentium 3 era system's PSU.

I was going to use it with this spec:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86ghz & stock cooler
Seagate 7200.10 320GB SATAII/300 8.5ms 7200RPM 16MB Cache
2 x 1GB Corsair (CM2X1024-5400C4) DDR2-5300/5400 (667/675MHz)
CASE ASONIC XCLIO Server case 5X5.25 6X3.5 2xfloppy 2, 8" fans, temp lcd and
leds, possible 12" fan
1 x Lite-on 16 X DVD-ROM SHD-16P1S
1 x Lite-on DVD-Writer SHM-165P6S

and one of these

Point Of View 7600GT 256mb DDR3 DVI HDTV TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
X1650Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E Graphics Card
X1950Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E Graphics Card

I was hoping to overclock the cpu to near 3ghz if possible.

The easy answer is get a better PSU, though you might be
able to use that one for awhile, even long term if the
system doesn't continously run at high load and you're lucky
enough that the fan doesn't fail (or it's periodically
relubed) and whole system cooling is enough that (the PSU)
runs cool.

Motherboard says it's OK with 20pins and I have a 4pin 12V from PSU to MB
and could convert 2 molex to the PCIe 12V socket on the motherboard if
required.

What chance do I have?

Use the PCIe socket. The main limitions will then be the
PSU itself. In another post you wrote "cheap" but you are
wanting something that is an improvement if you replace the
current PSU. Unfortunately if cheap PSU were good, nobody
would pay more for more expensive PSU. Along with the cost
of other components the system budget needs to cover the
less exciting parts like a quality PSU. You might go ahead
and try using that Ultra but it is a gamble and may need
replaced anyway.

If it is really new/unused you might see if you can sell it,
perhaps on ebay then take the proceeds and apply towards
something else.

 

[Noozer]

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherboard

Thing is I already have this PSU and it's never been used. Only needs to
work for a few months while I save up for a better one.

Uhm... DUH! Why do you need TWO optical drives? There's a few buck there.
Also, if you can afford the X1950, then why can't you afford the PSU?

Put it this way... You build the PC, it works great. Two weeks later the PSU
pops and takes your mainboard, memory and video card with it. Feel better
that you saved $100?

 

[Haymish Pupkin]

Uhm... DUH! Why do you need TWO optical drives? There's a few buck there.
Also, if you can afford the X1950, then why can't you afford the PSU?

I already have the case, optical drives, PSU and memory. The X1950 is a bit
of a dream really. Would the PSU really kill the motherboard etc?

 

[Haymish Pupkin]

If this were the rating on, say a PC Power & Cooling or
Fortron PSU, it would be more appropriate for the system.
As it is, you may find it works for long enough to get some
value out of it, but ideally it would be reserved for a less
(presumably) important system, like to replace an old
Pentium 3 era system's PSU.


The easy answer is get a better PSU, though you might be
able to use that one for awhile, even long term if the
system doesn't continously run at high load and you're lucky
enough that the fan doesn't fail (or it's periodically
relubed) and whole system cooling is enough that (the PSU)
runs cool.



Use the PCIe socket. The main limitions will then be the
PSU itself. In another post you wrote "cheap" but you are
wanting something that is an improvement if you replace the
current PSU. Unfortunately if cheap PSU were good, nobody
would pay more for more expensive PSU. Along with the cost
of other components the system budget needs to cover the
less exciting parts like a quality PSU. You might go ahead
and try using that Ultra but it is a gamble and may need
replaced anyway.

When I say cheap I mean the cheapest PSU that people would be happy to use
for a system like this that will last a few years and be well within
tolerances. I don't want a 1500W monster or flashy lights 50 rails or to pay
40% extra for a brand name when there are good alternatives.

If it is really new/unused you might see if you can sell it,
perhaps on ebay then take the proceeds and apply towards
something else.

I think I might sell it but what to get instead...

 

[kony]

I already have the case, optical drives, PSU and memory. The X1950 is a bit
of a dream really. Would the PSU really kill the motherboard etc?

A properly designed PSU is not "supposed" to be able to kill
parts when it fails. The problem is that a properly
designed PSU requires a bit more design skill than some have
but mainly at a higher cost, so not all will achieve this
goal. Poor PSU output can wear out parts over the long
term or immediately kill them upon failure. Since I don't
have that PSU nor have any experience powering the
combination of parts you propose to power from it, a failure
and resultant stress on other parts is impossible to
predict.

 

[kony]

When I say cheap I mean the cheapest PSU that people would be happy to use
for a system like this that will last a few years and be well within
tolerances. I don't want a 1500W monster or flashy lights 50 rails or to pay
40% extra for a brand name when there are good alternatives.

FSP BlueStormII 500W currently has a $10 rebate,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104034

or if it doesn't need to look as flashy and you can do
without APFC,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104037

You do need "to pay 40% extra" though. If you buy a generic
name claiming same wattage that costs 40% less, odds are
quite high you aren't actually getting a unit comparable to
the branded model regardless of it claiming same specs.