24 pin power supplys

C

Cold Dog

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 12, 2000
Messages
3,081
I've been out of it for a while - just wondering what's up with these new-fangled 24-pin power supplys.... I'm still using a 1U 350W I-Star w/20 pin connector on a 3.0 Prescott Socket 478 board with a 6800GT - a couple of SATA drives and a USB CD/DVD RW. Just basic stuff with a little OC on both mobo and vid card and have no problems. The power supply has the separate 4-pin yellow/yellow/black/black plug for the CPU which is utilized. I did a search and got a few answers but have a few more questions:

Do they make an adapter (not extender) to convert a 20-pin PS plug to a 24-pin PS plug?

All things being equal, has anyone ever experienced negative results from using a 20-pin PS plug on a 24-pin mobo ?(i.e. "I had bad things happen when I used 20-pin 400W PS on a 24-pin mobo. The mobo wouldn't work right until I got a 24-pin 400W PS" - stuff like that....)

TIA
 
Yes 20 pin to 24pin adapters are made. However, the 20 pin PS plug will plug straight into a 24pin board. This is of course not ideal but is better than using an adapter.
 
OK, thanks for the reply....

Judging by the thunderous amount of replies :p , I'm kinda thinking most people just get a 24-pin PS when they have a 24-pin mobo. Still, I cobble together systems with leftover parts sometimes so, unless I hear different, I'm going to assume it's OK to use 20-pin PS connector on a 24-pin mobo as long as the PS has suitable overkill.....

thanks!
 
Actually, I just got a couple eMachines for my in-laws and found that the FIC boards used inside are 24-pin... but the Astec power supplies are only 20-pin. Even they choose to just plug 20 out of 24 pins into the motherboard.... and the machines work perfectly.
 
jonnyGURU said:
Actually, I just got a couple eMachines for my in-laws and found that the FIC boards used inside are 24-pin... but the Astec power supplies are only 20-pin. Even they choose to just plug 20 out of 24 pins into the motherboard.... and the machines work perfectly.
Click to expand...

That's interesting! :) Thanks for that tidbit.....

Also, I've seen pictures of some motherboards at Newegg that have a little plastic cover on the new 4 pin part of the 24-pin plug.

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting it, but it seems as though they are saying, "I can take a 20 or a 24-pin plug".....
 
I don't think all 24-pin boards will work properly on just 20-pin connectors.
That said, the Asus A8N-32 SLI worked fine on my FSP 530w with 20-pin
 
J Macker said:
I don't think all 24-pin boards will work properly on just 20-pin connectors.
That said, the Asus A8N-32 SLI worked fine on my FSP 530w with 20-pin
Click to expand...

True.

And I concur, all Asus boards do. I've ended up building a few like that.

It's just something that doesn't hurt anything to just try. ;)
 
My current board has a 24 pin connector, but came with a sticker on it saying 4 pin connector on it. The manual says that you can use a 20 pin psu but its likely that it will be unstable blah blah blah. I personally have ended up with a 24pin psu and the need to get an adapter to go backwards. -_- asrock motherboard didn't fit with the extra 4 pins hanging over, almost knocked off a cap.
 
I could be wrong but I'm thinking the extra 4 pins are a seperate 12V rail so they would only help when you're pulling a lot of power. If you've got a nicely powered PSU that's potentially only a single rail anyways the extra 4 would make little difference.

I've used 20pin connectors on 24 pin boards with no problems before. Just make sure you get that 4 pin connector hooked up or the board typically won't boot.

Most of the time you see an adapter it's just a waste because it's taking the rail that's already in use and making more pins off of that same rail. Which kind of defeats the purpose of the extra pins to begin with. The 24 -> 20 adapters are useful since you don't always have clearance to plug them in on some boards. I'm assuming they would likely work just fine though.
 
Anarchist4000 said:
I could be wrong but I'm thinking the extra 4 pins are a seperate 12V rail so they would only help when you're pulling a lot of power.
Click to expand...

You could be wrong.... and you ARE wrong. :D

20 or 24-pins, two, three or four rails.... the 12V wires on the ATX main power connector always come from the same rail. Period.

The extra wires simply provide less resistance for greater amperage to travel through without the risk of heat or voltage droop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top