Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 PSU question and other help

tgbyhn10111 · 25 May 2007 at 17:27

Hi

I'm looking to build a new system and have a power supply ready and waiting but i don't think it's up to snuff so I am thinking of selling it on ebay and getting another - do i need to?

I'm interested in the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherboard so need a PSU that can drive this board. I noticed the board has an 8 pin ATX 12V power connector is this just 2 4 pin 12V connectors together or is it a new standard? If so, what ATX version and ATX 12V version should I be looking for?

Also I just noticed a 4 pin PCIe 12V power connector on the motherboard diagram, is this a standard molex PSU connector?

My system will be something like

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
1 x ATI crossfire ready graphics card (the equivilent to a 7600GT 256mb DDR3 DVI HDTV TV in price and performance) which is what I would have got if I had gone the Nvidia way. Would someone suggest a similar spec ATI card for £60-70?
Seagate 7200.10 320GB SATAII/300 8.5ms 7200RPM 16MB Cache
USB Floppy drive
CASE ASONIC XCLIO Server case 5X5.25 6X3.5 2xfloppy with 1x12" and 1x8" case fans, temp lcd and leds
2 x 1GB Corsair (CM2X1024-5400C4) DDR2-5300/5400 (667/675MHz)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86ghz overclocked to near 3ghz (I hope)
1 x Lite-on IDE 16X DVD-ROM SHD-16P1S
1 x Lite-on IDE DVD-Writer SHM-165P6S

I was going to use this PSU which I have with a 20 to 24pin PSU adapter
UL31788 PSU ULTRA X-CONNECT 400W ATX APFC TITANIUM w/UV
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=42&pPath=296&productID=303

Please note that the DC Output voltages on the ultraproducts web site differ slightly from those on my box which states:

DC OUTPUT +3.3V 18A, +5V 30A, +12V 19A, -12V 0.6A, -5V 0.6A, +5VSB 2A
400W Max

I may well add another ATI graphics card and another 320GB hard drive for raid at a later date.

Money is really tight. The trend seems to be to recommend a 15trillion megawatt PSU at the moment but will my existing PSU be OK with adapters or should I upgrade? Don't need anything fancy or a kick ass brand name / fancy lights - just somewthing that will do the job and be compliant with the components I have selected and last a few years. My current sytem (a medion unit with a standard 230W psu is driving a 2.6Ghz P4, 16Xdvd rom, 16X DVD writer, ATI 9600 graphics card, 120GB seagate drive, floppy, TV card, modem card etc and has never skipped a beat.

Any advice appreciated as I'm new to this game.

Many thanks

pete

Subliminal Aura · 25 May 2007 at 19:11

tgbyhn10111 said:
The trend seems to be to recommend a 15trillion megwatt PSU at the moment

Yeh the ATI fanboys need 1.21 Jiggawatts so that they can go back to the time when ATI was on top

Cob · 25 May 2007 at 21:22

You shouldn't need anything too fancy with that spec. If you go for a 7600GT type card you should be fine with a decent 400w PSU.

tgbyhn10111 · 25 May 2007 at 21:55

Thanks. I'm just a little worried about 19A on the +12VDC, seems low compared to other 400watt supplies I'm looking at (most seem about 30A) but then again I don't even know what the +12VDC is used for anyway.
Would someone let me know what each output is typically used for?

The GA-P35-DS4 motherboard has a ATX_12V_2 8 pin power connector to supply the CPU instead of the 4 pin 12V one. Can this cable be purchased and connected to existing molex connectors / the 12V p4 connector?

Anyone care to hazzard a guess at the typical values each component in my system might draw?

Also I will have to use a 20pin to 24pin convertor, are these OK?

Thanks

Pete

Snapshot · 26 May 2007 at 09:56

If you look closely at the 8-pin connector in OcUK's piccie you'll see it has a cover over half the socket. It's perfectly acceptable to use a 4-pin plug and just remove the cover if you have the 8-pin. I think the 20-pin to 24-pin connectors are okay but IMO you're getting to the point where a new PSU would be worth the investment.

tgbyhn10111 · 26 May 2007 at 12:54

Snapshot said:
If you look closely at the 8-pin connector in OcUK's piccie you'll see it has a cover over half the socket. It's perfectly acceptable to use a 4-pin plug and just remove the cover if you have the 8-pin. I think the 20-pin to 24-pin connectors are okay but IMO you're getting to the point where a new PSU would be worth the investment.

Do you have a link to the picture? Thanks.

i assume you would either need to use a 8 pin cable or a 4 pin 12v cable and you could not use 2 4 pin cables - is that correct?

if I can use this PSU for 6 months I'll be happy as it will give me a chance to save for a better one.

IAmATeaf · 26 May 2007 at 15:09

I have an old Enermax PSU which only has a 20 pin and 4 pin square block connector, this powers up my mobo no probs without any convertors. If you look at the manual it'll say that you need the 8 pin if you intend to use an extreme CPU (whatever that means these days), extreme these days I'd suspect means a quad core.

tgbyhn10111 · 26 May 2007 at 15:25

IAmATeaf said:
I have an old Enermax PSU which only has a 20 pin and 4 pin square block connector, this powers up my mobo no probs without any convertors. If you look at the manual it'll say that you need the 8 pin if you intend to use an extreme CPU (whatever that means these days), extreme these days I'd suspect means a quad core.

But don't your 20pin + 4 pin make a 24pin atx motherboard power connector? I only have a 20pin main power block plus a p4 4pin 12V plus 2 x sata power, molex & floppy power cables

If you are overclocking say from stock 4300 to 3ghz wouldn't that push up the juice it uses too? If anyone's got any idea how many extra watts would be needed I'd appreciate it - don't think Intel publish that information LOL.

Snapshot · 26 May 2007 at 18:30

tgbyhn10111 said:
Do you have a link to the picture? Thanks.

i assume you would either need to use a 8 pin cable or a 4 pin 12v cable and you could not use 2 4 pin cables - is that correct?

if I can use this PSU for 6 months I'll be happy as it will give me a chance to save for a better one.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-084-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913 and 'Click image to enlarge'.
A modern PSU comes with a 24-pin plugr that's usually split into 20-pin and 4-pin which both go into the 24-pin socket. It will also have either a 4-pin ATX connector or an 8-pin connector which will probably be split into two 4-pins. So your second question is really asking if A=A....

IAmATeaf · 26 May 2007 at 18:38

tgbyhn10111 said:
But don't your 20pin + 4 pin make a 24pin atx motherboard power connector? I only have a 20pin main power block plus a p4 4pin 12V plus 2 x sata power, molex & floppy power cables

If you are overclocking say from stock 4300 to 3ghz wouldn't that push up the juice it uses too? If anyone's got any idea how many extra watts would be needed I'd appreciate it - don't think Intel publish that information LOL.

No my PSU is a few years old so only 20 pin and a 4 pin square connector. In fact I don't even have any sata power connectors, have to use a molex to sata.

Checkmate · 28 May 2007 at 16:51

The 2x4 pin connector does come as standard with 4-pins covered. It perhaps doesn't help if I told you I was using an 8-pin (well, two four pin) connector and a 24-pin connector but the manual says, in paraphrased form:

Use of a 2x4 12V connector is recommended when using an Extreme Edition (130W) CPU.

400W PSU recommended.

Connectors are compatible with 2x2 12V and 2x10 power. Do not insert the connectors into pins under the protective covers when using a PSU providing a 2x2 12V and a 2x10 power connector.

The connector up by the RAM is a standard 4-pin Molex/drive connector - the manual says to connect it when using dual graphics card as failure to do so can result in an unstable system.