newfangled power connectors

[Chubbbs]

With my pants hiked-up nearly to my neck, I say to you that my last build was an Athlon T-bird, and it was the sweet hotness at the time. There was one power plug on the motherboard for the ATX 20-pin, and life was simple, minus the uphills both ways in the snow part...

Fast forward to today, and there are power headers all over the place. For the CPU, for the graphics card, for who knows what, everything needs its own power. Hopefully in this thread we can clarify which hardware needs which power connectors.

Here's how it works: I list the relevant hardware I'm considering for my new build, and you helpful folks fill in which power connector it accepts, and whether it's required or optional. If you want to help other people, list other kinds of hardware and what power connectors they take. Here we go...

* CPU: 4-pin, 8-pin, optional, or neither?

Intel Core 2 Duo E4xxx
Intel Core 2 Duo E6xxx
Intel Core 2 Quad Q[X]6xxx

* GPU: PCI-e 6-pin, optional, or none?

nVIDIA GeForce 7900GS
nVIDIA GeForce 7600GT

Notes: I don't game. My 3D requirements are minimal, just for desktop acceleration and the like (Beryl of course, no Vista for me). I will have lots of pixels, though, with two 1920x1200 displays. Does any of this impact power connection requirements?

While I'm at it, I'm looking for a good, solid PSU that will last. 600W minimum, 6x SATA, 120mm+ fan, $100-160USD range. If I had to pick today it would be OCZ GameXStream over Thermaltake Toughpower because the former has more positive reviews on newegg (but I like the 140mm fan on the latter). Recommendations?

Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[TeamZero]

I can tell you about the GeForce 7900GS as I Just bought one.


I'm new to PCI-e so this may be standard practice, I don't know.

It came with it's own power connector(I think this is the 6 pin you're refering too). One end plugs into the card itself, and the other ends requires two molex power plugs (4 pin)

 

[tcsenter]

* CPU: 4-pin, 8-pin, optional, or neither?

Intel Core 2 Duo E4xxx
Intel Core 2 Duo E6xxx
Intel Core 2 Quad Q[X]6xxx

First, it depends on the motherboard. Some motherboards with 8-pin (EPS12V) connectors might REQUIRE all pins be utilized, others will allow a 4-pin ATX12V lead to be connected to half the 8-pin connector. Check the user manual.

Power wise, the 4-pin ATX12V connector is more than adequate to handle the loading placed through it from any of the processors with 75W or lower TDP. The standard double-crimp terminals used in ATX and ATX12V connectors are rated for 600V and 9A each (max). The high current parts are rated for 600V and 12A (max).

Supposing any given PSU is using the standard terminal and the recommended 16 AWG appliance wiring (AVLV2), which is rated for 300V and 10A per wire, the ATX12V 4-pin connector should be able to handle up to around 14A or 168W. However, factoring in VRM efficiency, this gets very close to the 130W TDP for QX6700 Extreme, if not surpassed by it.

If using any of the 130W TDP processors, it is recommended to use the 8-pin EPS12V power connector. If using any of the 75W or lower TDP processors, the 4-pin ATX12V should be more than sufficient, for those motherboards that permit either to be plugged.

* GPU: PCI-e 6-pin, optional, or none?

If it is there, use it.