Recently helped a friend put together a new rig.
Specs:
Intel 2600k (TRUE cooler)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
8 GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
ATI HD 5850
Crucial M4 128GB (OS)
Crucial M4 64GB (cache)
2 x 1 TB Western Digital Black
1 x 512 MB Western Digital Blue
2 x DVD R/RW
510W (650W peak) PC Power and Cooling power supply
We didn't buy a new power supply when making our parts list because, wattage wise, that PC Power and Cooling unit is entirely adequate for his needs. "SLI Certified", so we figured there wouldn't be issues. When we started putting it together though, we discovered that it doesn't have quite as many power leads as one might think given the wattage and SLI certification.
http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/turbo-cool-510-sli.html
Notably:
2x 6-pin (both go to the single 5850, how is this SLi/Crossfire capable?)
1x 4-pin for "CPU Power"
The motherboard has an 8-pin "CPU Power" connector. We compared pinouts and found the 4-pin would plug in and the pins would match. We did it all up and everything works, everything is stable. It's fine, at least for now.
In a short while (after break in) we'll be changing his system around a bit. If we decide to overclock the system at that point (and we likely will), will using a 4-pin instead of an 8-pin power connector limit things significantly? We're not planning an aggressive, shoot the moon overclock. Whatever this 2600k will take at stock or slightly higher than stock voltages will be fine.
Do we need to worry about that connector at this point? Reading around, it seems using a 4-pin power source in an 8-pin hole falls under the "bad idea" category. "Even if the motherboard works with a 4 pin 12 volt cable, you are still only providing half of the current carrying capacity which would be provided by an 8 pin EPS cable. That can overheat both the motherboard connector and 4 pin cable. Scorched or melted connectors can be a result. A motherboard which has the 8 pin EPS connector expects a lot of current and you are taking a serious risk by plugging in a 4 pin cable."
Are adapters ok? I've seen two kinds, one takes two molex inputs and turns it into a single 8-pin output. The other takes a 4-pin input and turns it into an 8-pin output. The first seems to a better idea electrically, particularly if overheated/melted connectors are a real concern, but I'm not entirely sure on that count. The PS has one big (34A) 12V rail, so the power all comes from the same spot on that front no matter which way we go.
Anybody have experience with this sort of thing?
Specs:
Intel 2600k (TRUE cooler)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
8 GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
ATI HD 5850
Crucial M4 128GB (OS)
Crucial M4 64GB (cache)
2 x 1 TB Western Digital Black
1 x 512 MB Western Digital Blue
2 x DVD R/RW
510W (650W peak) PC Power and Cooling power supply
We didn't buy a new power supply when making our parts list because, wattage wise, that PC Power and Cooling unit is entirely adequate for his needs. "SLI Certified", so we figured there wouldn't be issues. When we started putting it together though, we discovered that it doesn't have quite as many power leads as one might think given the wattage and SLI certification.
http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/turbo-cool-510-sli.html
Notably:
2x 6-pin (both go to the single 5850, how is this SLi/Crossfire capable?)
1x 4-pin for "CPU Power"
The motherboard has an 8-pin "CPU Power" connector. We compared pinouts and found the 4-pin would plug in and the pins would match. We did it all up and everything works, everything is stable. It's fine, at least for now.
In a short while (after break in) we'll be changing his system around a bit. If we decide to overclock the system at that point (and we likely will), will using a 4-pin instead of an 8-pin power connector limit things significantly? We're not planning an aggressive, shoot the moon overclock. Whatever this 2600k will take at stock or slightly higher than stock voltages will be fine.
Do we need to worry about that connector at this point? Reading around, it seems using a 4-pin power source in an 8-pin hole falls under the "bad idea" category. "Even if the motherboard works with a 4 pin 12 volt cable, you are still only providing half of the current carrying capacity which would be provided by an 8 pin EPS cable. That can overheat both the motherboard connector and 4 pin cable. Scorched or melted connectors can be a result. A motherboard which has the 8 pin EPS connector expects a lot of current and you are taking a serious risk by plugging in a 4 pin cable."
Are adapters ok? I've seen two kinds, one takes two molex inputs and turns it into a single 8-pin output. The other takes a 4-pin input and turns it into an 8-pin output. The first seems to a better idea electrically, particularly if overheated/melted connectors are a real concern, but I'm not entirely sure on that count. The PS has one big (34A) 12V rail, so the power all comes from the same spot on that front no matter which way we go.
Anybody have experience with this sort of thing?
