How Many Pins?

[kendallcschm]

i didn't wanna just plug in 8 pins cause i plugged 24 pin power into my one motherboard and it lit on fire.. sooo i didn't wanna kill new shit.. but thank you all very much for answering.. :-)

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by kendallcschm

i didn't wanna just plug in 8 pins cause i plugged 24 pin power into my one motherboard and it lit on fire.. sooo i didn't wanna kill new shit.. but thank you all very much for answering.. :-)

Using more pins means there's less chance of something catching on fire. That is in fact the very reason why the additional pins are there.

[Sushi Warrior]

Additional 4 wires = power drawn over twice as many wires/connections = much less resistance = less chance of wires melting, catching fire etc.

You should be fine as long as it is a decent PSU (crappy = low quality wires = more chance of wire failure), low power CPU, and try not to overclock.

It will still provide as much power as an 8-pin, just over 1/2 as many wires...

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by Sushi Warrior

= much less resistance

The resistance is the same. The current draw is what decreases.

[MpG]

Originally Posted by Zero82z

The resistance is the same. The current draw is what decreases.

The current draw isn't going to increase unless the system actually demands more current. So you just get a situation with the same current spread out over more conductor area, with a correspondingly smaller voltage drop and I2R losses.

I've never seen a straight answer on how much benefit the extra four wires are. Since a portion of the mobo power is already coming in via the 24-pin plug, it's actually a case of 24+4 pin plugs versus 24+8 pin plugs. Although I think the 4/8 pin's closer proximity to the power circuits and socket is supposed to matter too.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by MpG

The current draw isn't going to increase unless the system actually demands more current. So you just get a situation with the same current spread out over more conductor area, with a correspondingly smaller voltage drop and I2R losses.

So in other words, the current going through each conductor decreases. Which I'm pretty sure is what I said...

Originally Posted by MpG

I've never seen a straight answer on how much benefit the extra four wires are. Since a portion of the mobo power is already coming in via the 24-pin plug, it's actually a case of 24+4 pin plugs versus 24+8 pin plugs. Although I think the 4/8 pin's closer proximity to the power circuits and socket is supposed to matter too.

The 24-pin ATX connector only has two +12V wires. Those are mainly dedicated to powering PCI-E cards and other motherboard components. Most if not all of the CPU's power requirements are provided by the 4-pin P4 or 8-pin EPS12V connector.

[Bond007]

Sorry for a slight sidetrack, though still on topic. For a PSU such as 400cx that only has an 8pin (not detachable into 4pin) are you able to use just 4 of those pins in a 4 pin motherboard (assuming no interference by parts of the MOB beside where the connector goes) ?

[_dangtx_]

no, unles you do a hack job which is not reccomended. i like the units which give you the choice. some matx boards still come with 4 pin only

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by Bond007

Sorry for a slight sidetrack, though still on topic. For a PSU such as 400cx that only has an 8pin (not detachable into 4pin) are you able to use just 4 of those pins in a 4 pin motherboard (assuming no interference by parts of the MOB beside where the connector goes) ?

The CX400's 8-pin connector does split in two.

[Bond007]

Originally Posted by Zero82z

The CX400's 8-pin connector does split in two.

Thank you. For some reason I didn't think it did. That puts that question to rest quite quickly.