8pin 12v EPS dual input - any advantage?

[Juddog]

Just wondering, for the power experts out there, I have heard conflicting opinions regarding plugging in one 8pin 12vEPS line versus two, on a motherboard that has dual 8pin EPS12V inputs.

For someone like me, who leaves the system OC'd at a comfortable 4.2 Ghz constant overclock, would I see any advantage as far as plugging in both connectors versus just one?

My PSU only had one EPS 12v, 8 pin connector, but I was debating whether it's worth buying a splitter and plugging in both.

This was the adapter I was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812198019

 

[Juddog]

Ok after weeks of researching I think I have it figured out.

Firstly, the dual inputs are made in order to accommodate separate rails as EPS12v inputs. Originally this standard was created for server class boards with multiple processors and also potentially for redundant power supplies (if one power supply fails, you still have the second slot with power from the second PSU).

On the higher end boards they do it to allow for a higher amount of draw from overclocking CPU's. For some power supplies (like my corsair 850HX), it's all one rail anyways so a wire split would be fine and probably won't make a difference, plus the 8 pin slots themselves are limited by a choke to limit the amount of input.

I found this out because someone created a mod to increase the amount of input current into the board I am using here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=4511048#post4511048

So basically 30A input is the max you can put into the two slots unless you mod it with the guide above.

Cliff notes: If you have a PSU with separate rails on the EPS12v, then use both, since max input is 30A total. If you have all shared across a single rail, e.g. the corsair HX series, then use a splitter if you want but it probably won't make a difference. If you mod it by soldering a chip in parallel then you'll definitely want to use both, but probably won't want to use a splitter as it may exceed the specs of the splitter (from what I understand the total on the splitter should be roughly 40A, but my math may be off).