P5Q and 8-pin connector question.

I'm about to upgrade my aging P965 board and am pretty much keeping everything else. I'll be upgrading the memory to some 1066 modules, but that's about it. I'm wanting to go with the Plain Jane Asus P5Q. I don't really overclock much anymore, so I don't necessarily need anything more than this.

My question is whether the 8-pin connector is required for this board or if the 4-pin will suffice. I have a few quality PSUs in the 500W-600W range, but all only have the 4-pin connector. I know that half that port is plugged on the board, but I've read discrepancies in whether it's actually stable using only a 4-pin PSU.

I'll be using a G0 Q6600, 4 HDD and a HD-DVD/BD combo drive. Video card is an ancient x800 that is still plenty for me. I typically overclock the Q6600 to 3.2GHz and am happy there. I don't care if I have to run the memory stock.

So, will the 4-pin suffice for me, or should I go with another board that does not need an 8-pin PSU? Buying a new PSU is not an option...I'd rather go with an EP35-DS3R or something instead.

It will work just fine.

In the research I did before buying mine, I saw posts from lots of people only using the 4 pins. I would think you will be fine.

You have to have the 8pin or 2 4pin adapters like I have... I will quote the manual shortly...

Well... taking a look at the online manual it says you can use a 4 pin... Now mine is the P5Q-Pro and it says in the manual itself right in front of me

Make sure to remove the cap on the EATX12V connector before connecting an 8-ping EPS +12V power plug

Use ONLY an 8-pin EPS +12V power plug for the EATX12V connector.

Do not forget to connect the 8-pin EATX12V power plug; other wise the system will not boot.

Click to expand...

Now I have the P5Q-Pro, but for the regular P5Q you may only have to use a 4pin as shown below.

On my P5K Deluxe I'm using only a 4pin...my e7200 is at 4ghz and my 4850 is running just fine, no problems here.

Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to just grab one of those adapters for $5.

Thanks for the info everyone!

It will boot just fine with only the 4 pin plug, mine does.

I got a new PSU today anyway that has an 8-pin. Tax-free weekend in Georgia, so I grabbed a 650W.

Problem solved