Power supply issues

[LeHaM]

hi,
my mobo is 24 pin, is it safe to use a 20 pin psu? This site (here) says that the xtra 4 pins on a 24 pin board are for pci-expresss graphics cards and its ok to use a 20 pin psu so long as the graphics card has it's own power connector which mine does. is this true??

The extra 4 pins are to power a PCI-E graphics card. If you are not using a PCI-E card then it's ok to use the 20 pin connector. If you are using a PCI-E card it's still ok as long as the card has an external power connection and connects directly to the power supply.

 

[TrainableMan]

OK what I read there is NOT it's OK, I read it might work. I've never tried it. At the price of power supplies vs MOBO/CPU/GPU why risk it? BTW that thread is from 2006 ... things change fast in the computer world.

 

[Nibiru2012]

If you read the first post on the link you provided you'll see the poster states to NOT use a 20 pin PSU on a 24 pin motherboard power connection.

I strongly recommend that you use a more up to date 24 pin power supply. Besides nearly all power connections for video cards are 6 pin connections these days not 4 pin.

Bite the bullet and get a decent PSU.

 

[Core]

I used a 20-pin on my mobo's 24-pin connector when I used a temporary, old PSU while my Corsair was being replaced through warranty. It worked fine, but I also did not use a graphics card, relying on onboard graphics instead.

I wouldn't recommend it though, seeing as any PSU that comes with a 20-pin connector instead of 24 probably isn't the latest technology.

 

[LeHaM]

my board is from 2006 and my gpu uses 4 pin

 

[Digerati]

Is it safe? Yes. You will not hurt anything if you plug a 20-pin plug into a 24-pin socket, assuming you align the 20-pins to the first 20 of the 24 correctly. But "safe" does not mean your computer components will get all the required power needed. Since high-speed digital electronics requires good, clean, stable power for best performance, I recommend getting a new PSU that meets your needs.