My PSU doesn't have enough pins?

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I have purchased a new motherboard and as I fitted it to the case I noticed that the ATX power supply is not a direct fit. The motherboard requires a 24-pin connection, but my PSU has only 20 pins. This is the first time I've come across this. Can anyone tell me if this is a 'show stopper' and if I require another PSU?
 
You need another PSU.

I suggest the Enermx Liberty 500w, Tegan or seasonic.

Personally i would go modular and get the Enermax.
 
It's a budget system so I'm going to get a budget PSU. I'm having trouble finding what I want though. None of the el-cheapo PSUs I'm looking at state the number of pins. Is there a particular name or definition I should be searching for?
 
Cybergangster said:
It's a budget system so I'm going to get a budget PSU. I'm having trouble finding what I want though. None of the el-cheapo PSUs I'm looking at state the number of pins. Is there a particular name or definition I should be searching for?

Interested ?

MC_Bob
 
Thanks, but I'm building this for a colleague for the slimmist profit margin so I'll have to pass. By 'el-cheapo' I'm talking REAL cheap - kinda like "If you even thing of overclocking me, I'll smoke your @$$". ;)
 
Cybergangster said:
It's a budget system so I'm going to get a budget PSU. I'm having trouble finding what I want though. None of the el-cheapo PSUs I'm looking at state the number of pins. Is there a particular name or definition I should be searching for?
You DO NOT need a new PSU :mad: Just get a 20-Pin to 24-Pin ATX Power Supply Adapter Converter Cable.

I've lost count of how many times I've said this, DO NOT SKIMP on PSU, 'el-cheapo PSUs' = many many problems!!!*

24-pin is ATX 2.0 (20-pin ATX 1.3) :cool:

*EDIT: I don't mean you go buy an OTT PSU, just a reputable/reliable/etc one e.g:
  • Tagan TG380-U01 380W ATX2.0 Silent PSU (CA-001-TG) £46.94 incl. VAT
  • FSP Sparkle ATX-400PNF 400W ATX2.0 PSU (CA-006-SK) £30.49 incl. VAT
  • Enermax Noisetaker 370W EG375AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-005-EN) £42.30 incl. VAT
TBH find elsewhere to make a compromise/saving, e.g. something easily/cheaply upgradable - GFX, CPU??? or else see you here back soon or in the near future :D
 
Last edited:
You don't even need a convertor, the 20pin will plug straight in!

I looked at some convertors and they don't even have any extra pins, just the plastic to fit.
 
You can get " 20 - 24 pin ATX Power Supply Converters ".

Akasa ATX 20-Pin to ATX 24-Pin Adapter Cable (CB-019-AK)

Look in Components / Cables / Other Cables. 8th one down.

Cheers,

Mark
 
Just had the same problem - The 20 pin plug goes into the 24 pin socket leaving 4 pins at 1 end.

As long as the PSU has the additional 4 pin connector that your motherboard may also have, you should be fine. This goes on in a completely different place to the original ATX PSU.

Oh, and mine runs fine, BTW
 
What motherboard is it? I have an Asus A8N SLi Premium which has a 24 pin ATX connector and I have my 3 year old 550 watt Enermax 20 pin PSU plugged in. The other 4 pins on the mobo connector aren't connected to anything and this system has been running great for months now.

Try it without the adapter, you probably won't even need one.
 
lay-z-boy said:
you dont NEED 24 pin connectors, just leave the 4 not used, makes no diff.

yep, if you check in the mobo manual - most even specify that it is fine to use a 20pin PSU. As the extra 4 pins provide extra juice to the PCI-E slot, the only time you might need an adapter is with a high end gfx card. Interestingly my X800gto2 worked fine with just the 20pin, but with my 7600gt I had to use the adapter. Athough the 7600 uses much less power than the x800, it doesn't have a secondary power connector, so clearly more is drawn through the PCI-E slot.
 
Top graphics cards draw there juice direct anyway and not through the PCI-E bus, so I can't ever really see it being an issue.

A friend of mine has:

3.4Ghz P4
4 x RAM sticks
3 x HD's
2 x Optical drives
X1800XT

All running from an antec 480w 20pin plugged into a 24pin connector.

IMO it's a non issue, unless you have a reasonably high draw GPU which doesn't have an additional connector.
 
marc mercer said:
yep, if you check in the mobo manual - most even specify that it is fine to use a 20pin PSU. As the extra 4 pins provide extra juice to the PCI-E slot, the only time you might need an adapter is with a high end gfx card. Interestingly my X800gto2 worked fine with just the 20pin, but with my 7600gt I had to use the adapter. Athough the 7600 uses much less power than the x800, it doesn't have a secondary power connector, so clearly more is drawn through the PCI-E slot.
Good advice... I'm using a 7600GT in there so I'll need *** adapter.
 
you don't even need a converter. I use my 20 pin connector on my 24 pin mobo and have no problems, even with heavy overclocking.
 
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