Asus P5WD2-E Premium: Will my PSU cut it?

[focusbob]

Hi everyone,

I am building a new system and would like to do so around the new Asus P5WD2-E Premium motherboard. I recently bought a new power supply for this system (Antec Truepower II 550w) and am not sure if the psu will work with this board, because I keep reading reviews that say they used an 8-pin (EPS12v) connection with the P5WD2-E. Importantly, the Truepower II 550w that I just bought does not include the EPS12v connection that (I thought) is usually used with server boards.

I found the user manual (at http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/soc...5WD2-E%20Premium/e2385_p5wd2-e_pr.pdf) for the P5WD2-E which states (I think) that any ATX 2.0 or higher version psu will work with the board (specifically, that a 24-pin and 2, 4-pin connectors are required), which presumably would include my psu. BTW, I will be using a 9xx intel processor with this setup.

My questions are:
1) Is my PSU compatible with the P5WD2-E?
2) Is it a good choice for my setup?
3) Are there advantages to using a psu with the EPS12v 8-pin connection (for example,
if I were to get the Antec Truepower II 550W with the EPS12v connector)?
4) How would I connect the psu to the motherboard? It is described in the manual, but I
can't say I fully understand. (For example, It asks for a "EZ-Plug" connection and I'm
not sure what this is; under power connectors it says "2x4-pin EATX12V" so I am
confused as to whether I need to plug in 1 4-pin connector here or 2, if that is even
possible.) See pages 64-65 in the manual linked above for more details.

As you can see, I am fairly confused regarding this issue, and any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[focusbob]

Sorry, the link got truncated. Where it says "..." please replace this with "ket775/P"

 

[Wentelteefje]

You can buy an aftermaret adapter for it... Performance-PCS.com has 'em...

1) Should pose no problems...
2) We don't really know much about your setup, but I'd say yes anyway...
3) Not really, the adapter will do fine...
4) Connect the 24-pin mainboard plug, and the EPS12V 8-pin connector... I'll look up about the "EZ-Plug" one...

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Wentelteefje]

OK, it's fairly easy, the EZ-Plug is there to provide extra power when you have two CrossFired cards installed... However, for optimal stability, I'd let it plugged in all the time...

However, as you can see on this image, the mobo has a little black "cap" over 4 of the 8 holes of the EPS12V plug... This could/would mean it will be enough to plug in a regular ATX12V 4-pin connector (given that the PSU has a strong 12V rail, which is the case)... If you'd rather have things set up for maximum stability, better is to buy the adapter maybe...

 

[focusbob]

Thank you Wentelteefje for your input!

Does anyone else have any opinions regarding whether it is better to:
1) plug in the ATX12V 4-pin connector from my psu
2) get an adapter to turn my 4-pin connector into a 8-pin connector and plug that in
3) exchange my psu for the Truepower II 550W that has the 8-pin connector built in

Or,
4) if these three options are all roughly equivalent?

Thanks again,
Jim

P.s.
To start off, my system will include:
Asus P5WD2-E Premium (when the price drops a bit)
Intel Pentium D 930
WD raptor 74GB
evga 6600gt video card
Antec p180 case
corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 (2GB ddr2 800)
Plextor 716A DVD/RW
plus an ide pci card, an 80GB ide maxtor HD, and a 7-n-1 card reader

I am optimizing the system for mathematical/statistical programs

Eventually the system will have
another raptor, another 2GB set of RAM, and maybe an upgraded processor

 

[Wentelteefje]

Looks like it'll do great for mathematical purposes... May I ask why you don't pick an AMD X2 or Opteron? The cost will be lower, and they generally perform better... BTW the Antec will largely suffice for your surrent setup!

 

[focusbob]

Some followup questions:

1) The Antec manual states that for dual core cpus the psu needs to provide "at
least DC16A (peak 22A) on the +12V_2 lead." The Truepower II 550w specs state
that the psu provides 19A on each 12v lead (e.g., from newegg: "+12V1@19A, +12V2@19A"). I'm not sure if the 19A listed refers to the peak rating or not. I also
can't find any other ratings for the 12v leads on this psu. Any ideas?

2) Does anyone know what the performance/stability/etc... difference is between two
power supplies that are basically the same except for that one has a 4-pin 12v connector
and the other has an 8-pin 12v connector (EPS). More specifically, what is the difference
(if any) between the Antec truepower 550w ATX2.0 and EPS12v power supplies? Is it
just the interface, or is there something else?

My reasons for choosing intel are somewhat spotty. First, I wanted to use ddr2 memory;
mostly because it is the most upgradeable purchase (i.e., I'll be able to use it in future
purchases), but also because using the ddr2 800 memory at its rated speed may provide some performance benefits for me (this latter point may or may not be actually true). Also, (and this is even more spotty), whenever I have seen comparative benchmarks between intel and amd, intel always wins in the "data analysis" benchmark (in sysoft I think?), and data analysis is what I am optimizing the computer for.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[ND40oz]

The specs between the two look exactly the same except for the number of fans. I'm guessing it's just that the EPS version has the 8 pin connector as well.

comparison