20-pin to 24-pin PSU adapter

[mofrack]

Hey all,

Just wanted to say that Anandtech forums have some of the best threads going regarding the A8N SLI Deluxe from Asus. Anywho, I have an Enermax EG651P-VE FMA PSU, which is a 20-pin unit. It has great 12v ratings (36 amps), so I was wondering if I should even bother using a 20 to 24 pin adapter on it? It runs totally stable either way. I just want to know what some of you would think would be the preferred method.

Thanks!

 

[Silversierra]

I don't think the adapter is necessary, and I heard that someone got a bad adapter that fried their mobo.

 

[hundesau]

the missing 4 pins are redundant, if the board and the psu are build in ATX standards it has to be compatible anyways, and since ur not having instabilities it shows there is really no reason to get an adapter.

 

[Insomniak]

Why bother?

I have a 20-pin in an A8N-SLI Deluxe, an Enermax very similar to yours actually, and it's been a rock for the past two weeks.

I say just stay with the 20pin. The 24 pin adapater would just cause unneccesary electrical and thermal strain.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Ditto, what Insomniak said! I've been using a 20pin with no adapter for 1 1/2 months with zero problems.

 

[ahurtt]

Read this post by flexy. Very informative:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=27&threadid=1478987

And no, you don't need to have a 24 pin adapter if your 20 pin one works fine. But if you were buying a new PSU anyway, there wouldn't really be any reason not to go ahead and get one with 24 pins.

 

[mofrack]

Thanks you guys, I appreciate all your input!

This PSU may end up being part of a second computer I build (out of my old Athlon XP setup) at some point. Thats when I'll be shopping for a native 24 pin PSU. I've heard good things about Tagan/OCZ Powerstream units, and I dont have the cash to cough up for a PC Power and Cooling unit, so I was thinking about going with one of those.

Anyone running a Powerstream, tell me what you think of it! the 520 watt-er should be enough for 6600GT SLI and 3 hard drives+optical, yeah?

 

[SunSamurai]

Why do you use a 6600GT for an SLI motherboard? Im curious.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: aeternitas
Why do you use a 6600GT for an SLI motherboard? Im curious.

Why wouldn't you?

Buying a high end card, or worse, an SLI setup, right now is probably not a good idea.

Reason #1: R520 and NVs competitor are right around the corner. The industry buzz is that R520/NV50 are going to be as big as R420/NV40 were - in other words, another huge leap.

Reason #2: 6600GTs in SLI do not even match up with a sinlge 6800GT, which could be bought for the same amount of money.

Reason #3: SLI is young, and info is still coming to light (for example, the need for a driver profile, whether from NV or created by the user, to use multi-GPU rendering). I'm not doubling up on the graphics chips until all the kinks have been worked out.

This rig is meant to tide me over for about 1 year. Around Christmas 05 I plan to move to a dual core processor and paired NV50s....assuming they support SLI, and no major problems with the tech have been found by then. I still plan to use this mobo.

 

[mofrack]

Insomniak,

While you are right about the next-gen cards probably being a big leap forward, I dont really agree with your statement about a pair of 6600GTs being faster than a single 6800GT.

In any game that supports SLI, a pair of 6600GT's can perform between 5 to 40% faster than a 6800GT in terms of framerate. The thing that the 6800GT has going for it though, is 256MB onboard GDDR3. Also, its still not so easy to find PCI-E versions of 6800GT's, and I got 2 6600Gt's (BFG's, too) for almost 50 bucks cheaper.

Lastly, is this thread about video cards? NO! Stay on topic people, I wanna hear from anyone running an OCZ Powerstream/Tagan PSU still!

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: mofrack
In any game that supports SLI, a pair of 6600GT's can perform between 5 to 40% faster than a 6800GT in terms of framerate. The thing that the 6800GT has going for it though, is 256MB onboard GDDR3. Also, its still not so easy to find PCI-E versions of 6800GT's, and I got 2 6600Gt's (BFG's, too) for almost 50 bucks cheaper.

Anand'd review of 6600GT SLI had the 6800GT beating SLI 6600GT most of the time, and when the 6600GTs did manage to outpace the 6800GT, it was by 10FPS or less, which was usually 5 - 15%.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=8

You're better off going with the singular 6800GT for the same dollars, lowering your power consumption, increasing case ventilation, and getting the same result - actually, usually faster under AA/AF due to the aforementioned increased memory bandwidth.

Yes, 6800GT's in PCIe are hard to find, but that doesn't change my position.

 

[Slaimus]

It is actually not a good idea to get a 24-pin if you do not need it. The 24-to-20 adapter will actually lower the voltages because of the extra resistance. If you want to be future proof, get one that had a modular 4-pin addition to the 20pin instead of one that uses a 24-to-20 adapter.

 

[ahurtt]

Right, if a 20 pin is what the motherboard calls for, then get a 20 pin. But if your motherboard calls 4 a 24 pin and you are shopping for a new PSU anyway, go ahead and buy a 24 pin one, even though a 20 pin one would probably still work currently. You were asking about the OCZ ModStream. I have the 450 Watt Mod Stream running 2 BFG 6600GT OC's on the A8N SLI, with only 1 SATA Maxtor drive and 1 IDE/ATA Optica DVD/CR-RW combo drive. I have 1 Gig memory and a SB Audigy 2 and 5 case fans. This module supplies plenty of power for my system. So you can't go wrong with the 550 I think. I like this PSU because it is pretty quiet and the ModStreams have the modular cables so u only hook up what you need. (Plus it is pretty slick lookin) Although be warned, it DOES have a BLUE LED fan and blue light inside.

 

[mofrack]

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Anand'd review of 6600GT SLI had the 6800GT beating SLI 6600GT most of the time, and when the 6600GTs did manage to outpace the 6800GT, it was by 10FPS or less, which was usually 5 - 15%.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=8

You're better off going with the singular 6800GT for the same dollars, lowering your power consumption, increasing case ventilation, and getting the same result - actually, usually faster under AA/AF due to the aforementioned increased memory bandwidth.

Yes, 6800GT's in PCIe are hard to find, but that doesn't change my position.[/quote]

Hmm... according to HardOCP, 6600GT is equal or slightly better than a single 6800GT in most games.

HardOCP SLI review

However, this article isnt as recent as Anand's... *edit* DOH! Anand's article and HardOCP's came out on the same day! *shrug* differing views, it seems...

either way, both setups are nice, and that's what counts.

ahurtt, thanks for your input regarding the Modstream PSU, is that just a Powerstream with modular cabling, or does it have different amperage ratings?

I've pulled my 24-pin adapter off my PSU and am going straight into the board with the 20-pin connector, hasnt affected stability at all so far, but the rails are exactly the same as before... just did it per everyone's input, for peace of mind.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your opinions!

 

[EvilHomer]

I already posted this..but make sure you have the 20 pin in the fright 20 sockets...
..I guess im the only moron who did this ...but ...I have a 20 pin Antec true 430w and for some retarted reason left the wrong 4 sockets open on my Asus 1v8 sli ..and the strangest thing happened ...sizzle and puff...MB fried ...Im going to send it out monday ..Woooo hoo RMA.

 

[Plasmah7]

I have an A8N SLI and a 20 pin Antec 480 Trueblu ps.
My question is:

If I where looking at my motherboard installed in my case what would be the correct way to connect the ps to the board?

Leaving the botton 4 pins open or the top 4?

Thanks I really don't want to fry my Asus =)

It does seem to me that my PS only connects one way like its keyed leaving the bottom 4 unconnected. Is this the correct orientation?

 

[EvilHomer]

Yep thats the correct way ..for some reason ..Mine was an older PSU and fit very easily both ways ..leave the bottom 4 empty ..I should get my board back anyday now ..

 

[slurmsmackenzie]

have a 450 modstream that's has a pimp glossy titanium cover, good cable management and a 24 pin connector. 90 bucks at monarch.

 

[Plasmah7]

Thanks Evilhomer I appreciate the quick re... I hope your back up soon.

Later

Update:

I built my system and am using my Antec 480 without the adapter all seems to be perfect without it.

Thanks again for all the feedback