Why does my PS have an 8 pin, 4 pin, and a 6 pin?

[Kroze]

I have a 500 watts Dynex PS & I'm confuse as heck as to what is the 8pin for. Is it for a PCI express graphic card? or is it for the motherboard CPU? The power supply already have a 4pin CPU connector and a 6pin PCI express connector...

this is the powersupply that I have

 

[MongGrel]

Higher end GPU yeah.

Some use an 8 and a 6.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

It could be an 8 pin PCI-e or it could be an 8 pin CPU connector, many power supplies have both a 4 pin and an 8 pin CPU connector. If the wires are colored, PCI-e has grounds on the same side as the clip, CPU connectors have the live 12v wires on the same side as the clip.

 

[Meghan54]

How is that 8-pin plug arranged? Is it a 6+2 pin connector or a 4+4 connector?

If it's a 6+2, it's a PCI-e connector, if it's a 4+4 connector, it's a motherboard/ATX/EPS connector.

Hope that helps.


Actually, the best help would be to get rid of it and get something modern.

 

[MongGrel]

Yeah should have corrected myself there, the 6+2 for GPUs

The 8 PIN for MOBO.

That and what he stated about the PSU to begin with.

*shrug*

 

[Kroze]

How is that 8-pin plug arranged? Is it a 6+2 pin connector or a 4+4 connector?

If it's a 6+2, it's a PCI-e connector, if it's a 4+4 connector, it's a motherboard/ATX/EPS connector.

Hope that helps.


Actually, the best help would be to get rid of it and get something modern.

The 8 Pin is one straight 8pin, it's not 6+2 or 4+4, that's what confusing about it. I mean if it's a CPU pin, why does the PS already have a 4pin CPU connector? if it's a graphic card power connector, why does the PS already have a 6 pin connector?

On top of that, the power supply is only rated at 500 watts. An 8 pin + a 6pin PCI-E doesn't add up.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

The 8 Pin is one straight 8pin, it's not 6+2 or 4+4, that's what confusing about it. I mean if it's a CPU pin, why does the PS already have a 4pin CPU connector? if it's a graphic card power connector, why does the PS already have a 6 pin connector?

On top of that, the power supply is only rated at 500 watts. An 8 pin + a 6pin PCI-E doesn't add up.

Motherboards like this are exactly why a lot of power supplies have both. I have an old Seasonic SS-600M that has both a 4 and 8 pin CPU connector that are not modular.

 

[lehtv]

On top of that, the power supply is only rated at 500 watts. An 8 pin + a 6pin PCI-E doesn't add up.

Having dual PCIe connectors is perfectly normal at that wattage. Even some 450W units have dual 8-pin connectors - Rosewill Capstone and Seasonic G-450 for example. And why wouldn't they, they are rated for 450 watts continuous power, and a graphics card utilizing dual 8-pin PCIe connectors typically consumes about 250 watts without overclocking. A graphics card with 8-pin+6-pin typically uses about 200 watts, dual 6-pin about 150 watts

 

[Anteaus]

The 6-pin connectors are for GPUs. The 8-pin connector is for the new Haswell boards.

 

[Kroze]

Having dual PCIe connectors is perfectly normal at that wattage. Even some 450W units have dual 8-pin connectors - Rosewill Capstone and Seasonic G-450 for example. And why wouldn't they, they are rated for 450 watts continuous power, and a graphics card utilizing dual 8-pin PCIe connectors typically consumes about 250 watts without overclocking. A graphics card with 8-pin+6-pin typically uses about 200 watts, dual 6-pin about 150 watts

Anything bad could come from plugging the 8Pin that's meant for a GPU into my motherboard? I've been using the PC for a while now with the 8 pin plugged into the motherboard.

 

[lehtv]

The 6-pin connectors are for GPUs. The 8-pin connector is for the new Haswell boards.

There's nothing specific to Haswell about 8-pin CPU power, it has been around long before Haswell

Anything bad could come from plugging the 8Pin that's meant for a GPU into my motherboard? I've been using the PC for a while now with the 8 pin plugged into the motherboard.

The 8-pin PCIe connector and the motherboard's 8-pin CPU power header are not physically compatible. The PCIe connector requires a square hole in diagonally opposite corners. Your 8-pin connector is an ATX12V connector for CPU power.

 

[Kroze]

Thanks all.