[ELmo1989]

Would it still be ok to run a 4 pin 12v in a 8 pin 12v.
??

 

[grunion]

Quote:

You can plug a 4 pin 12 volt cable into an 8 pin EPS connector but there's no guarantee that it will work. If the motherboard expects only one 12 volt rail then a 4 pin 12 volt cable may work. If the motherboard expects two 12 volt rails (most dual CPU motherboards require one 12 volt rail per CPU) then it won't work. 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 risk by plugging in a 4 pin cable. The 4 pin cable only fits at one end of the 8 pin EPS motherboard connector so you can't plug it in improperly. If you don't have an 8 pin EPS cable then you can use the adapter shown on the right. It converts a couple of 4 pin peripheral cables into an 8 pin EPS cable. If you use one of those then be sure to plug the 4 pin peripheral connectors into separate cables coming from the power supply. If you plug them both into the same power supply cable then you are drawing all the power of the EPS connector through a single 18 guage wire. You can often get away with that but there's no reason to do it.

Source

 

[GeekMan]

Normally an 8 pin is for higher juice processors like C2Q and C2D ex.

 

[MrBungle]

my understanding is that it's fine as long as you aren't running dual CPUs or possibly quad cores.

 

[GeekMan]

You can run lower powered C2D..just nothing really higher than a E6600...E6600 stock that is...

 

[ELmo1989]

c2d at 1.8ghzcan't remember model number

 

[MrBungle]

no no no. i had a 4-pin going to my 8-pin motherboard (P5B Deluxe - the one i traded for my new one). i ran it that way for a few months and everything inside was frigid.

Edit: that was with my E6320 @ 2.8. no heat issues whatsoever. in fact, EPS connector on my motherboard had a plug over 4 of the holes so you knew which way to plug a 4-pin connector in. even the Asus manual said it was fine.

 

[Skullzaflare]

im running a [email protected] on a single 4pin, but my quad and psu comes tomorrow, so ill be on 8pin for the quad

 

[grunion]

I had a P4 running, just using the 4pin and nothing scorched, fried or melted.

 

[jcharlesr75]

My motherboard has an eps 12v connector on it. When i got it out of the box there was a small piece of plastic over four of the eight pins. When my D didnt work right, i just scavenged another P4 connector from an old power supply that i had lying around. I spliced it into the P4 connector and it is working fine for over a year now. I believe that the eps 12v id for the dual core procs. If you have a HT or a single core proc, youll probably be ok with just the four pins used.

 

[MrBungle]

i also speak from experience that an E6320 @ 3.0 and an E6400 @ 3.2 work just dandy with a 4-pin in an 8-pin motherboard. i'm not interested in extreme overclocking, so i never tried to go further. i doubt the 4-pin would have held me back though.

 

[DJZeratul]

I was running my Q6600 @ 3.35 GHz for around a day or so with the 4pin 12v connector and wasnt having any problems whatsoever... Not sure if this is because I have a pretty beefy 630w power supply or what, but it seemed okay. Im definately for safetys sake going to find my 8pin connector (I have a modular PSU and I think I left the 8pin cord at my old house) and use the 8pin. Ill report back if it changes system /ambient tcase temps or what not.