Is it bad to not have a 24-pin connector to my motherboard?

[Josh7289]

Is there anything wrong with using a 20-pin connector to my motherboard from my PSU when the motherboard supports PCIe and I am using a 6600 GT in my sole PCIe slot? The rest of my PSU and rails check out, but I am still wondering about this 20-pin/24-pin thing.

Thanks.

 

[Navid]

Why not get and use this?
http://www.svc.com/glatx2024-11.html

 

[Josh7289]

Why? Does that actually do anything? My motherboard *supports* both 20-pin and 24-pin. I just want to know what exactly might or will happen if I just use 20-pin.

 

[Mindflux]

The extra 4 pins supply power to the PCIe slots for higher end cards.

Not entirely necessary if you dont have a super high end card.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Josh7289
Why? Does that actually do anything? My motherboard *supports* both 20-pin and 24-pin. I just want to know what exactly might or will happen if I just use 20-pin.

Wow! I did not know that existed!
Please tell me your motherboard brand and model for my benefit. Thanks.

 

[Macattak1]

Greetings,

I built 4 machines with just a XFX 6600 GT. They were not stable with out the adaptor. With it they was never an issue.

Peace and Blessings

 

[chairbornrangerx]

does your PSU have a 4 pin plug?? My PSU, the PC Power and Cooling 510W sli has 4 pin power connectors that plug directly into the video card, some video cards even take the same power connecter that would go to your floppy drive, if you can plug one of those into your video card I don't think there is a problem running a 20 pin connection to your mobo

 

[Josh7289]

My video card does not require a separate connector supplied directly to the card.

I didn't think using a 6600 GT would be a problem even with just 20 pins on the motherboard connector. You know, the reason I asked this question was because playing games has been unstable for a long time starting a few months ago, and I've gone through three RMAs for my video card, but still have the same problem. Perhaps it is the 20-pin motherboard connector.

That said, how does that adapter work? How could I suddenly get four extra pins? Would there be a difference between using this adapter and using a "native" 24-pin PSU?

Also, instead of getting the adapter, do you think I could just call Antec and maybe get the PSU replaced under warranty with a 24-pin version? It could be considered defective because it can't support my system even though I bought all the parts last year. Maybe? ^^

EDIT: Navid, MSI RS480M2-IL.

With that said, how would this cable be?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812189060

I think Newegg would ship faster than the store linked to above, but I'd still rather get it at a store. I don't know of any computer shops around me, so does anyone know if I could find this adapter at Circuit City of Staples? Thanks.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Josh7289
That said, how does that adapter work? How could I suddenly get four extra pins?

Four wires from the 20-pin connector will go to 8 pins on the 24-pin connector. So, each one of those wires drives 2 pins that require the same voltage.

Would there be a difference between using this adapter and using a "native" 24-pin PSU?

Yes, this adapter does not solve the main problem. A quality 24-pin PSU has more current capacity provided by the additional 4 wires. The adapter still gets the current from the same 20-pin PSU.

Also, instead of getting the adapter, do you think I could just call Antec and maybe get the PSU replaced under warranty with a 24-pin version? It could be considered defective because it can't support my system even though I bought all the parts last year. Maybe? ^^

If that works, it would be your best bet.

With that said, how would this cable be?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812189060

Fine!

 

[Josh7289]

Alright, I think I'll try the adapter first before anything. I don't think it would be too bad to be out $10 on this, but I still really hope it works. ^^

 

[Navid]

Why don't you contact Antec first? You have got nothing to lose by doing that.

 

[savvy]

No.

 

[Josh7289]

EDIT: Nevermind. I was an idiot. ><

 

[Zepper]

If your mobo is rated to use either a 20-pin or 24-pin connector from PSU, then don't worry about it. All wires of the same color in the ATX connector are connected together in the mobo anyway - skeptics can check it with a DMM if they choose. The extra 4 wires don't support anything separately - if they did, then whatever they supported would not work if they were not present. Does anything not work on your mobo with the 20-pin connected? The extra four wires are to spread the load across more wires - not much help if the wires don't go all the way to the PSU. IOW, no adapters, please.

If it bothers you, get a real 24-pin PSU (or a 20+4). I just bought an excellent PSU off eBay for less than 1/3 of the new price.

..bh.

 

[Josh7289]

Actually, using my 256 MB 6600 GT, whenever I play games, the game will lock up and eventually give me a BSOD for nv4disp.dll then crash and restart my PC.

This never happens when using my Radeon Xpress 200 integrated graphics.

4 extra pins for the PCIe slot? Yeah, probably what I need.

 

[Navid]

You may get a good 24-pin PSU and the crashes stop. Or, they may not stop if the problem is the graphics card or CPU cooling or graphics card damage. But, it is highly doubtful that the adapter would solve the stability problem.

 

[Josh7289]

Originally posted by: Navid
You may get a good 24-pin PSU and the crashes stop. Or, they may not stop if the problem is the graphics card or CPU cooling or graphics card damage. But, it is highly doubtful that the adapter would solve the stability problem.

Why is that?

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Josh7289

Originally posted by: Navid
You may get a good 24-pin PSU and the crashes stop. Or, they may not stop if the problem is the graphics card or CPU cooling or graphics card damage. But, it is highly doubtful that the adapter would solve the stability problem.

Why is that?

I am not sure what you mean! Assuming you mean why it is that the adapter will not solve the stability problem, as Zepper explained, the adapter is not going to connect any two points that are not already connected.

This is true for most motherboards. If you have a multimeter, you can use it (Ohm meter) to confirm. The four extra pins on the motherboard are shorted to the other four pins on the motherboard itself.

Do you have a digital multimeter?

 

[Josh7289]

Yes, I have a digital multimeter, but I need a nice explanation to know what to do. Sorry. ><

EDIT: I mean what to measure in my PC. ><

 

[Navid]

No problem.

Zepper, correct me if this is not going to work please.

Run Prime95 http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm torture test (under "Options") for at least 4 hours. Does it run with no errors? If it errors out, you have a CPU or memory stability issue.
If it runs with no errors, what is the CPU temperature while running Prime95.

Install ATITool or Rivatuner if you do not have either installed. Set them up to log the temperature of the GPU.

Attach the red meter cable to the positive port. Attach the black cable to the negative port of the meter. Set the meter to V DC 20. Open the case. Connect the black meter cable to one of the two center holes of one of unused 4-pin Molex connectors from your PSU (black wires). Connect the red cable to the hole on the yellow wire of the same Molex connector.

Turn on the PC. What voltage is the meter showing?
Download, and run this application http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/. This will stress your graphics card.

What is the meter showing now?

Monitor the GPU temperature.

Since the PC may crash, write down the GPU temperature as it goes up. What is the maximum GPU temperature? How about the CPU temperature?
What is the meter showing when the temperature reaches its maximum?

You can also measure the voltage while running Prime95.

 

[Zepper]

Check for bus connection:

1- Unplug AC to system from wall.
2- Unplug ATX connector from mobo.
3- set DMM to Ohms scale (lowest Ohm range)
4- touch black lead to pin in the ATX shell that would go to the extra red wire
5- touch red lead to a pin in the ATX shell that would go to any other red wire
6- ... Do the same with any other pair of same colored wires (yel, orange, blk).

All should read Zero Ohms or very close to it.

.bh.

 

[Josh7289]

Quickly, how do I check my CPU temperature?

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Josh7289
Quickly, how do I check my CPU temperature?

You must have a CD that came with your motherboard that should have an application on it that would measure CPU temperature.

If not, download this application and use it.
http://www.oldversion.com/download.php?idlong=b0e1140fe6e5a7bda6688b67229e3da2

Run it and expand "Computer" and click on "Sensor". You can actually see the GPU temperature there too.

 

[Zepper]

The program is called MSI PCAlert. May be a newer version on MSI web site under mobo utilities - not drivers.

You can also see it in the BIOS, but it's hard to stress the CPU when reading it that way.

.bh.

 

[Josh7289]

I'll try the Everest thing, because I don't really like MSI's software. I'll run Prime95 overnight. Should I log or check the GPU temps while running Prime95? Or can that just be done at the same time as the CPU temps in Everest?

EDIT: Okay, I see no reason to log my GPU temps while running Prime95, but can you tell me exactly what I should do in Prime95 to leave it running overnight? Thanks.