ATX Power

[tplat]

I`m replacing the motherboard in my old PC with a slightly newer one. The old motherboard had a 8 pin ATX power cable plug in and so does the PSU and cable in it and the slightly newer motherboard I just got has a 4 pin ATX power cable plug in. So I assume I need to pick up an adapter to take the old 8 pin ATX cable plug in down to a 4 pin ATX cable plug in. I have a ATX power cable plug in left over from a newer computer system I built but it has two 4 pin ATX plug ins on it and after trying one it didn't work. I take it both have to be plugged in to work? Just want to double check here before I make a trip out to Fry`s electronics tomorrow that I`m going about this the right way. Any opinions or advice is appreciated.

[- wardog -]

Re: ATX Power

Any chance you can add some details in there? MB? PSU?

[tplat]

Re: ATX Power

If I remember correctly its a q6600 quad core 2.48ghz, Gigabyte GA-EP43-UDL3 rev. 1.1 motherboard with 4gb of Corsair 1066mhz memory and a modular Corsair 850 watt psu, its about 6 years old. The memory cards and processor are listed as compatible on Gigabytes website for that motherboard.

[- wardog -]

Re: ATX Power

Does one of the two 4pin that make up the 8pin have ATX(xxx) stamped on the black connector?

[tplat]

Re: ATX Power

It has CPU 1 written on it and from what I found in another article after searching for a while it said one of the two should have worked. The extra cable I had leftover from a new build is 8 pin plug in to the psu and two 4 atx pin plug ins to the motherboard.

[profJim]

Re: ATX Power

Is the leftover 2x4-pin psu cable originally from your current modular 850 watt Corsair power supply?

Their is no guarantee that you can safely swap or use psu cables from different psu models, even when both models are from the same brand!!

You could possibly cause a high current short circuit where the power supply's OCP (Over Current Protection) or SCP (Short Circuit Protection) might not save your psu and/or motherboard.

[tplat]

Re: ATX Power

I was thinking of just picking up a new cheap psu for it. If it still doesn't work after that move on to the next thing that might be wrong with it. I know the memory cards and video card are good I put those in my brothers pc and they worked fine, memory was recognized and the amount and video card works fine. Gonna look up and see if the processor will work on his board later today to test that.

[profJim]

Re: ATX Power

Check out All about the various PC power supply cables and connectors -- PlayTool.com to learn about standardized motherboard and psu cable connectors. Keep in mind that the standardized connectors relate to the interface on the motherboard's connectors and cables and doesn't deal at all with the psu cable ends that are plugged in to the power supply's modular connectors. When you look at the section that deals with 8-pin EPS12V connectors you will see that the two 4-pin ATX_12V connectors have a slightly different physical layout but when they are used together as an 8-pin connector, they are identical to a single EPS12V 8-pin connector.

I hate el' cheapo power supplies with a passion!!

Newegg frequently has some very good quality power supplies at excellent prices and you might find some good buys at Amazon or other etailers too. I would definitely avoid buying a psu from your local Worst Buy store, especially their store brands.

If you want to do well by your system you will find a quality rated psu that gets favorable reviews from JonnyGuru, HardOCP, HardwareSecrets, PCPER, or TechPowerUp. The vast majority of psu review sites do incomplete and/or half-fast reviews and should be avoided.

Note: Some of the newest lower end Corsair power supply models are NOT up to their normal standards and some of these newer units use components that have lower quality compared with similar models from other manufacturers. Do your homework before you buy and your system will well protected.

The ATX_12V and EPS12V information is in the last 1/3 of the PlayTool article.

Here are several of photos from the PlayTool article: