Should I use the little 4 pin connector on my powersupply for 1.6a?

[jarablue]

I just found out that I have not had the 4 pin connector 12v into my motherboard. Does this have to be plugged into my P4B266-C motherboard? Would that increase my chances of overclocking? Everything has been working fine though. I have my voltage running at 1.6.Maybe this could be the cause that I can't get past 2.2? If any of you guys know if I should have this little connector plugged in (looks like a square with 4 connectors let me know. For some reason I am guessing I should plug this in right away.

 

[Yodums]

Yes the P4 connector is meant for the P4 rigs. It is meant so the P4 runs off the 12v rail not the 5v being more stable.

Yodums

 

[deez]

I'm surprised the system even booted w/o that connector attached

 

[jarablue]

It booted and ran prime95 at 2208 for a long time. Maybe this will help me oc even higher!

 

[TC]

Yes there's no reason not to use it, although some boards seem to need it and others don't. I had it disconnected on my 2.2A system for about a week before I noticed I hadn't put it back on after fooling around in the case - and it ran just fine at 2750.

 

[hnic2k]

the asus has the ez-plug connector on the board... u could use ezplug which requires a regular 4pin connector or the new p4 connector

 

[s7e9h3n]

I found that my Sparkle 350 couldn't give enough clean power through that EZPlug. If your +12V line seems weak, I'd suggest checking your PSU for pots which allow you to up the voltage to your rails.

 

[Peter007]

I'm confused?

So Pentium 4 don't really need that AUX-Powersupply????

Is this because the newer Northwood is so much less power hungry??

Does anyone know who much volt (not power) is supply by the ATX Connector to the motherboard, versus the new p4-AUX connector?

I know that the HD runs off the 12v molex connector, and some motheboard - like ASUS - allow you to use this instead of the newer P4-aux connector.

Also can anyone tell me which works better?

(1) a 300Watts (P3-normal) powersupply to P4 motherboard without any AUX-power connector, or

(2) a 250watts powersupply with 12 voltsCDROM connector as AUX-power on a ASUS P4 motherboard?

My goal is to limit the cost of a Pentium 4 upgrade as much as possible.