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Incompatible Power Supply?


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#1
G-bo

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Hi,I have just received an order of parts for a build I'm doing for a friend.The power supply is a cooler master extreme 2 525 and the motherboard is a Gigabyte 78lmt-usb3.These parts were recommended by the store when some of the items I wanted were not in stock at the time.They were a little more expensive which I said was fine as long as everything was compatible.I am now having an issue with the 8 pin plug on the board for the cpu power as the 2x4 pin coming off of the P/S is keyed different than the one on the board.The 2x4 connectors from the board clearly only go one way (both pieces when put side by side form the clip on the side of the connector).The connector will actually fit but as i say they are keyed differently,there are square and rounded off shapes,apparently the rounded off shapes will go in the square holes however the square ones will not fit the rounded off shapes.As I said it will fit in but shouldn't these shapes match up properly?I have googled this topic to death and everyone seems to have conflicting opinions.Some say to just use the one 4 pin connector that lines up right and not worry about the the other(doesn't seem right to me).The cpu is a quad core AMD Phenom 965 Black Edition 3.4 GHz.I would like to make sure I don't fry anything and that the processor is receiving the proper power that it needs.I have e-mailed the sales person who put together the parts and he says that the 2x4 pin connectors are supposed to fit and I e-mailed him back and told him they do not.Have not heard anything else back from him yet.Would appreciate any help you knowledgeable folks could give me.Should mention that if I could I would have talked to him on the phone but I can't speak so that is out,I have to go the e-mail route.Their store is about an hour away from me.thanks for your help.
Glen.
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#2
fyrfyter33

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I think just connecting the one side with 4 pins will be fine. There are a lot of Motherboards out there that have the 8 pin connectors on them, when they really don't have the need for them. When I was running a Phenom II in an AM3 board, it only used 4 pins for the CPU power supply. The connector should only fit in one way and that should be the same fit for both the PSU and Motherboard, since they are built to a standard.
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#3
G-bo

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thank you for your reply...I have also heard from the store where these parts were purchased and they say the same as you so guess I am worrying over nothing...the store did suggest to hook up both 4 pin connectors tho' not just the one.I still feel that I do not know the whole story behind these mismatched plugs....no matter I am proceeding as suggested ....at least I feel confident now that I'm not going to fry anything which was my big concern.Again thanks very much for your help....much appreciated.Cheers,
Glen.
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#4
phillpower2

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Just to pitch in with my two cents worth folks.

Both connections should be made to avoid depriving the CPU of the 125W Thermal Design Power that it needs to function correctly, anything less and the CPU will labour and you will not get the benefit of the four cores, you would get away with using only 4 pins with the Energy Efficient AMD Phenom™ II X4 Processor as it has a 65W TDP requirement.

Just a FYI, one other possible scenario with 4 and 8 pin connections is using an 8 pin connection in a 4 pin ATX socket, it is perfectly safe to have the additional 4 pins overhanging as long as they do not interfere with anything else on the MB.
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#5
G-bo

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Thanks very much for the update,that makes a lot of sense,I will be hooking up both 4 pin connectors as someday he may upgrade the cpu and need the extra power and stability,thanks for the help guy's....Cheers.
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#6
phillpower2

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You are most welcome :thumbsup:
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