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Motherboards Question about motherboard power connector

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by moussekateer, 1 Apr 2010.

  1. moussekateer

    moussekateer What's a Dremel?

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    I have a Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 motherboard and my problem is with a 8 pin connection. I have plugged in one of the 4 pin connectors but the other 4 pin connector attached to it doesn't fit in the port shown below. Is this a problem or is it meant to be like this? The PC is running fine, I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong

    [​IMG]
     
  2. mansueto

    mansueto Too broke to mod

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    if the 8 port are beside each other and not seperated you need a 8 pin, not a 4 pin. If it required 2x 4 pin, they would be seperated.
     
  3. JaredC01

    JaredC01 Hardware Nut

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    What he's saying is that his power supply (much like the one in my other rig) has the ability to separate the 8-pin 12v cable into two 4-pin 12v cables, so you can still use the PSU with older hardware that only required 1x 4-pin 12v cable. Do you have a picture of the PSU connectors? Usually they're made to interlock with each other so you can plug them both into an 8-pin header.
     
  4. moussekateer

    moussekateer What's a Dremel?

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    Sorry if my wording was a bit ambiguous. It's impossible to get a good look at the wires without removing the motherboard (as it runs behind), but I found a picture online.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Here's the page I found it on.

    http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#eps4plus4

    My connector is the 4+4 pin +12 volt power cable. The motherboard manual doesn't say whether its ok or not to just leave one 4 pin connector in. Since the other connector is carrying the correct voltage I could plug it in safely (right?), but I'm confused as to why the PSU manufacturer would make the connector like this?
     
    Last edited: 1 Apr 2010
  5. notatoad

    notatoad pretty fing wonderful

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    it physically doesn't fit? as in, there is a square pin where there is a 5-sided hole? or do you just mean that there's a stray chunk of plastic blocking a hole? if there's a square pin for a round hole, you're probably plugging in the wrong connector. if all the pins match the shape of their corresponding sockets, then just take a knife and trim until it fits.

    plugging in just the 4-pin may or may not work depending on your mobo, but it won't fry anything. give it a try.
     
    Last edited: 1 Apr 2010
  6. outlawaol

    outlawaol Geeked since 1982

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    My evga board had this similar setup, and it was 'recommended' to have a 8pin connection, but it didnt really 'need' it. I have been using my PC in that state (OC'd too) for the past 2+ years without an issue. Finding a 8pin PSU that would actually work with it was a pain and expensive ( didnt do it naturally). I dont know why they even had it setup for it like that, cause it works fine without it.

    Hope that helps :)
     
  7. outlawaol

    outlawaol Geeked since 1982

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    I would NOT trim any power cable to make it fit, thats just asking for problems. If it dont fit, dont make it fit. IMHO
     
  8. moussekateer

    moussekateer What's a Dremel?

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    I mean one of my 4 pin connectors has 4 curved holes instead of 2 curved/2 square. But apparently it will still easily fit if I try, according to other people's experiences.

    After much googling the consensus seems to be I could just use one 4 pin connector. My system is running fine (it's also overclocked), but some people are saying if the processor is drawing a lot of power it can overheat the 4 pin connector and possibly melt it, which is why it's recommended to use all 8 pins. I'm hesitant to try forcing the other in because as I said my computer is running fine, but at the same time I'm worried long term I might be doing damage.

    Anyway thanks for your responses, I think I'll try connecting all 8 pins and hopefully everything goes okay.
     
  9. MikeMania

    MikeMania What's a Dremel?

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    I had the same situation. I guess you need to have a PSU with 8pin specifically for the motherboard. I ended up just plugging the 4pin in and everything has been fine since.
     
  10. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    as i've alway read it the addational '4 pin' is for heavy cpu power, ie. heavy overclocking, is this the case with your rig? I ran my mobo without it for about 6 mounths woth no ill effect :)
     
  11. JaredC01

    JaredC01 Hardware Nut

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    If you're running it fine right now, I don't think you will have any issues...

    Pete, my Classified must be made for 'extreme' cpu power... It's got 2x 8-pin 12v connectors!
     
  12. DragunovHUN

    DragunovHUN Modder

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    I was able to run my EX58-UD5 with only the 4-pin connector so i'd say you're good to go untill you get around to upgrading your PSU. I think the manual also says that it's okay to do this.
     
  13. Ph4ZeD

    Ph4ZeD What's a Dremel?

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    My Asus P6TD Deluxe had a cover on the 2nd 4-pin section of the 8 pin socket on the motherboard. Its probably there for if your running overclocked CPUs and multiple GPUs and thus sucking more power from the motherboard.
     
  14. moussekateer

    moussekateer What's a Dremel?

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    Just to follow up, it was very easy to push the connector in and the computer did not explode. In fact I've been able to further overclock my core i5-750 from 3.67GHz (175*21) to 3.89GHz (185*21) without increasing voltage. This wasn't stable a week ago so either this has helped or I've done something else in the past week to the computer.
     

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