Will this connector work on my power supply?

[branskyj]

Hi all,
recently I managed to melt one of the two 12V 4pin connectors that power the CPU on my motherboard. I currently have one good and want to convert one of the molex connectors on my power supply into a 4pin connector for the CPU.
Is that possible and will the connector from the link below work?
Here is the connector- 4 Pin P4 Power Cable to 4 Pin Female ATX Connector 0.15m
And the link- http://www.maplin.co.uk/4-pin-p4-power-cable-to-4-pin-female-atx-connector-0.15m-98948

Thank you for the help.

 

[CM Phaedrus]

Not if you're running any CPU more powerful than a low-end i3. I would not want to power more than a 60W TDP processor through that adapter. And absolutely no overclocking.

You're basically taking +12V from one wire (usually skinnier than the ones used on the EPS12V cable), pushing it through a dodgy connector, and splitting it to 4 wires.

 

[branskyj]

Is there any other way of "acquiring" a second 4pin connector through my current power supply Corsair TX850. I really don't want to spend money for a new power supply if that's possible of course.
I am currently running an i7 3930k CPU (non clocked) on a single 4pin CPU connector and like I was already explained in another thread this is not safe for the CPU.

Thanks for the help.

 

[WilliamM2]

That adapter should work just fine. But do you really need it? All the boards I've had with 8 pin 12v power connectors have had the option to just use 4. Check your manual.

 

[branskyj]

Hi William,
So far I am getting two different answers and that's confusing.
I used to think the second 4pin connector doesn't HAVE to be plugged into the motherboard and was only optional (dual CPU motherboards maybe). But around a week ago the 4pin connector I was using melted inside the motherboard plug and it was suggested in another thread here on AnandTech that the power needs of the CPU at the time have been greater than what a single 4pin connector could deliver.
I remember doing CPU rendering at the time when the PC shut down so that must be the case.
I want to prevent that from happening in future hence my question.

Thanks.

 

[LurchFrinky]

What power supply? Is it modular? Are you overclocking?
Getting a replacement power supply cable would be the best answer.

Assuming you have a non-modular PS:
Did just the connector melt, or was there damage to the wires as well? This could range from shiny to melted insulation.
If just the connector melted, then it is possible that one (or more) of the pins was not making a good connection and distributing the current over more pins would help. If this is the case, just get a 4pin to 8pin converter.
If any of the wires were getting hot/damaged, then you will want more wires as well. As Phaedrus pointed out, that adapter is splitting one wire into 2, which will give you effectively 3 yellow wires from the source. That is better than the 2 you have now, but if you are drawing that much current, you really want 4 wires all the way back to the supply.
If you can't find a modular replacement or better adapter, you might want a new power supply for safety's sake.

 

[branskyj]

Hi LurchFrinky,
I appreciate the help man.
I have uploaded some images of the melted connector:

http://i39.tinypic.com/ta4fvb.jpg
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2yl4...5#.Ukh9aoa-1Bk
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=aua77m&s=5#.Ukh9qYa-1Bk

The power supply is Corsair TX850, non modular, CPU is i7 3930k, non clocked. To tell you the truth I am not 100% sure the connector melted although I recall strange smell comming from my PC couple of weeks ago. All I know is that the current status of the connector is what you can see from the images above.
I am currently running the CPU on the second 4pin connector plugged into the other 4pins on the motherboard (that is on the last image the 4pins with cap). I removed the plastic cap and plugged the connector there.
I still want to have a second 4pin connector plugged into the motherboard. I will take out the melted debris (I hope so at least) and use some sort of convertor for that purpose.

Cheers mate.

 

[WilliamM2]

It's hard to tell from the picture, but that looks broken, not melted. You should be fine using the adapter, especially if it's working fine right now with only one 4 pin attached.

You may damage the board tryng to get the remnants of the old connector out of there. So again, if it's working fine the way it is...why not just leave it alone?

BTW, if the pins on the end of the wires are not damaged (they look OK in the pic), you may be able to just remove the connector from the adapter, and use it to repair the power supply. Or find a connector at Digikey or other parts supplier.

 

[branskyj]

Well, that's just it- it is still not working fine. Before I switched to the second connector was much worst- the PC just shut down and then wouldn't even boot anymore.
Once I made the switch the situation improved- the PC boots but sometimes there is nothing being displayed onscreen not even the POST message.
Then I have to perform cold reset. Very frustrating. I tried swapping the RAM and graphics card- same difference.
I will buy the adapter, it's really cheap anyway. I was asking about it because I didn't want to shorten the motherboard if things turned to be incompatible.

Anyway- thanks for all the help.

 

[WilliamM2]

Well, that's just it- it is still not working fine. Before I switched to the second connector was much worst- the PC just shut down and then wouldn't even boot anymore.
Once I made the switch the situation improved- the PC boots but sometimes there is nothing being displayed onscreen not even the POST message.
Then I have to perform cold reset. Very frustrating. I tried swapping the RAM and graphics card- same difference.

You never mentioned that above. Sounds like you may have a motherboard issue.

 

[CM Phaedrus]

The real answer is to not use mickey mouse solutions, and to actually buy a power supply with the connectors you need.

 

[WilliamM2]

The real answer is to not use mickey mouse solutions, and to actually buy a power supply with the connectors you need.

So repairing the power supply he has is a Mickey Mouse solution?