Add the missing 4 pins?

[bigbeark]

I have an IBM Thinkcentre Mini-Tower. It's old but very solid, and the current mobo needs a recap (Duron 1000). I also have an ASUS Core 2 MATX board that would fit except that the IBM PSU is 20-pin and the ASUS wants 24-pin.

The ASUS is a low-end board running a single-core Celeron. I think the IBM PSU would have enough juice to operate the ASUS.

Can I take the extra power from one of the spare Molex connectors. I could use a 24-to-20 pin adapter and splice into it.

Sounds like a bodge, but don't want to buy a new SFF PSU, and might not even fit the IBM case.

Your comments appreciated!

[370forlife]

Re: Add the missing 4 pins?

The extra 4 pins are just 1 12v, 1 5v, 1 3.3v, and one ground. Most 24pin boards can run with just a 20pin installed.

[Scenic]

Re: Add the missing 4 pins?

you only need a 24pin psu if you're running power hungry PCI Express graphics cards.

if you're using low end PCIe graphics or onboard video, it doesn't matter.
be careful about the PSU though. old systems (socket A era, like that Duron 1GHz) are very 5V-heavy (more amperage on 5V), while newer systems (including all Socket 775 boards) get their CPU power off 12V instead.

if the PSU has at least 8A on 12V, and the Celeron is a Core 2 based one (Celeron S4xx) it should work fine.
if it's an older netburst (P4 based) celeron (D3xx), it would easily overload the PSU..


edit: same thing basically goes for the 12V "P4" plug.
you only need the 8pin EPS plug if you're running high-end CPUs or overclock to the max.
the standard 4pin plug is enough for most CPUs..

(i'm actually running a Core 2 Quad Q6600 overclocked from 2.4 to 3.2GHz on a 4pin 12V plug. no probs whatsoever)

[japlytic]

Re: Add the missing 4 pins?

you only need a 24pin psu if you're running power hungry PCI Express graphics cards.

Many high-power PCI Express graphics cards have a 6-pin +12V connector on them. Most of the power is drawn from this 6-pin connector.

[Scenic]

Re: Add the missing 4 pins?

yeah, but they also rely on that 75(?)watt PCIe spec.
especially the "higher end" cards which don't have the 6pin 12V plug (9800GT Green Edition for example).
as long as you're using really low end cards (7300GT, 8500GT, 9400GT .. stuff like that) you don't really need a 24pin PSU.. much less when using onboard video.

if in doubt, there's still stuff like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/190498296403