20 to 24 pin adaptor

[chess9]

My Zalman power supply has a 20 pin connector, but my mobo needs a 24 pin connector. I've ordered a converter, but have had second thoughts. Would I be better off with another power supply? Does it make any difference?

-Robert

 

[jonnyGURU]

Does your motherboard really NEED 24-pins? Did you try putting the 20-pin connector in the motherboard? That works 99% of the time.

If the motherboard worked with 20-pins, I'd rather use no adapter at all.

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Does your motherboard really NEED 24-pins? Did you try putting the 20-pin connector in the motherboard? That works 99% of the time.

If the motherboard worked with 20-pins, I'd rather use no adapter at all.

Asus P5e3 is the mobo. It won't be here til Monday, but I was reading the manual as it's been a few years since I've put a puter together. It seems they call for the 24 pin connector, like most of the new high end boards.

So, try the 20 pin connector and see if it powers on? Seems like a possibility...
Thanks, jonny. You are da' bomb!

-Robert

 

[jonnyGURU]

It has a 24-pin connector on the motherboard, sure. But you can put just 20-pins in. Most system builds from Gateway, Dell, HP, etc. that use on-board graphics will only use 20-pins.

The problem with the adapter is you're only splitting up power across more pins on the board, but the load on each lead before the adapter is still exactly the same. So you're not splitting up and reducing load, but you are actually increasing resistance.

But now I have to ask you this..... what's the rest of the build?

If your current PSU is so old that it doesn't even have a 24-pin for the motherboard, it probably doesn't have enough for your other components. Unless you tell me you're using a GeForce 9400 GT for a graphics card, or a Radeon HD 4550 I would say you should be buying a new power supply... not just an adapter.

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
It has a 24-pin connector on the motherboard, sure. But you can put just 20-pins in. Most system builds from Gateway, Dell, HP, etc. that use on-board graphics will only use 20-pins.

The problem with the adapter is you're only splitting up power across more pins on the board, but the load on each lead before the adapter is still exactly the same. So you're not splitting up and reducing load, but you are actually increasing resistance.

But now I have to ask you this..... what's the rest of the build?

If your current PSU is so old that it doesn't even have a 24-pin for the motherboard, it probably doesn't have enough for your other components. Unless you tell me you're using a GeForce 9400 GT for a graphics card, or a Radeon HD 4550 I would say you should be buying a new power supply... not just an adapter.

The power supply is a brand new Zalman 600. The rest of the build is one new WD Velociraptor, one ide dvd/cdrom drive (old), one Radeon HD 4870 x2, and 4 gigs of OCZ ddr3 memory. Oh, 5 case fans in a Xaser case.

I can buy another power supply with 24 pin connector and save the Zalman as a backup for one of our other computers if you think that is a better idea.

Thanks, mate.

-Robert

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: chess9

The power supply is a brand new Zalman 600.

Then you have a 24-pin for the motherboard... or more accurately, a "20+4". There's an additional four pin connector with one red, one yellow, one orange and one black wire that butts up against the 20-pin that will essentially make a 24-pin connector for you.

The extra 4-wres should actually be wrapped up in the same sleeve as the 20-pin. It's just not permanently affixed to the it.

 

[chess9]

Oh, and so it is. LOL. They were all wrapped up with a rubber band. Ok. Brilliant! Sheezh, I wasted $2.99 on a converter.... Ah, the price of an education.

Thanks, jonny!

-Robert