Help with plugging the power cables into the motherboard

sola159 · 28 May 2011 at 18:24

Hi guys

I was busy putting all the parts together, I already fixed the motherboard and the psu into the case. Now I'm at the part where I have to plug in the PSU cables into the motherboard.

First problem I encountered here is the 20 pin cable. The motherboard has a 24 pin socket but my PSU only has a 20 pin one. Will it be fine if I just fit the 20 into the main power socket and on what side should I place it, facing upwards or downwards

As a sidenote the 20 pin cable has one pin that is just plastic so its 19 pins.
Also while looking inside the PSU i noticed some white goe keeping some cables together. It just didnt look new to me for some reason. I can upload a pic for more clarification if need be.

Phenomenologica · 28 May 2011 at 18:38

The reason the motherboard has 24 pins is because it takes a 24 pin power connector. Did you not check the connector types were compatible before ordering? :confused:

Also, as far as I know the vast majority of new PSUs have 24 pin or 20+4 pin connectors. What is your PSU?

Edit: It seems it is sometimes *possible* to use a 20 pin in a 24 pin socket but I wouldn't recommend it.

Surveyor · 28 May 2011 at 18:39

Just plug the 20 pin cable in and it should work OK but is not ideal in the long term.

The connector will only fit one way.

You can get an adapter:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-019-AK&groupid=1929&catid=153&subcat=

The white stuff in the PSU is just glue that's used to stop the wires from moving.

May I ask what make and model the PSU is and what are the specifications of the system it's powering?

cammy5477 · 28 May 2011 at 18:41

Phenomenologica said:
The reason the motherboard has 24 pins is because it takes a 24 pin power connector. Did you not check the connector types were compatible before ordering? Also, as far as I know the vast majority of new PSUs have 24 pin or 20+4 pin connectors. What is your PSU?

this ^
all psu's are 24 pin now...this must be an old one?

sola159 · 28 May 2011 at 18:41

well I ordered the parts seperately and to be honest no I did not check the pins : /

I have this PSU : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-042-BQ

and this MB : http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-169-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906

The system specs are :

I5-2500K
4 gigs of ram
ati 5850 Sapphire Extreme

Surveyor · 28 May 2011 at 18:44

That PSU has a 24 pin connector.

It's made up of a 20 pin plus an additional 4 pin which connects to it.

Something like this:

honosuseri · 28 May 2011 at 18:45

That bequiet psu should have the extra 4pins seperate to the main block if im not mistaken. I remember stulid posting a pic of all it's connectors last week sometime.

Phenomenologica · 28 May 2011 at 18:46

The internet says that PSU has a 24 pin connector.

sola159 · 28 May 2011 at 18:48

That is correct honosuseri !!! thanks

, I thought that the 4 pins that are seperate from the 20 pins should go to the top right of the motherboard in the image I posted.

Surveyor · 28 May 2011 at 18:51

Similarly the 8 pin connector for the CPU (which you also need to connect) is made up of 4+4 pins:

Remove the little plastic cover on the motherboard connector and fit all 8 pins.

Surveyor · 28 May 2011 at 18:52

sola159 said:
That is correct honosuseri !!! thanks , I thought that the 4 pins that are seperate from the 20 pins should go to the top right of the motherboard in the image I posted.

That's a separate 8 pin connector (4+4) shown above.

sola159 · 28 May 2011 at 18:53

Cool thanks a lot il just get to work then