Retarded PSU / PCI-E question

[WerdNerf]

This is kind of a dumb question, but this is my first build and I don't want to screw anything up.

My motherboard requires what looks like a standard peripheral power connector from the PSU for the PCI express power, but my power supply has a different connector for the PCI-E 12V power. It has a 6 pin rectangular connector, but the board requires a standard 4 pin peripheral power connector.

The PSU has several available standard 12V connectors that will fit, but the board requires 12V+_Com_Com_NC , while the power supply connector indicates 12V+_Com_Com_5V+. Am I correct in assuming that since there appears to be no connection (NC) at the 4 pin on the board it's perfectly safe to use the peripheral connector, even though there is 5V+ in that position? I'm just not clear whether NC means there IS no connection or whether it means there SHOULD BE no connection. Since there IS a pin physically there and not an empty slot it's hard to tell.

I know 5V isn't really enough power to do any damage, but I just want to be absolutely certain.

Thanks.

 

[Zorg]

What's the mobo model, and the PSU model. The 12V CPU power connector is not the same as the PCIe connector. Some mobos have a 4 pin molex for additional power, but I don't think that is what you are talking about. It's not clear from your post.

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

5v is more than enough to fry sensitive electronic componets.
Read the manuals that come with your equipment. They will explain how to connect everything.
DO NOT FORCE PLUGS INTO SOCKETS THEY WILL NOT FIT
The 6 pin PCI-E power connector will plug into a PCI-E X16 video card not your motherboard.
The 4 pin power connector on your motherboard is for the CPU and your PSU should have a 4 pin plug with black and yellow (common and +12V) wires.
Just follow the directions in the manuals and Good luck.

 

[englandr753]

I believe that it should mean there is no connection. I havent seen any power supplies that I have installed to have anything other than a 4 pin molex connector of 1 type. As for the difference is usually showing on the device you are trying to install such as a cooler fan, that only has 2 of the cables going into the molex instead of 4.


Im assuming that you are talking about plugging this molex connector into your motherboard? I know my Gigabyte SLI motherboard had this molex connector for the video but was only necessary to plug it in if you were using SLI and needed more power.

You may want to read your manual to make sure you need a molex plug installed, Im assuming your using 1 card.

The 6 pin power connector is for the 8 series cards and some need 2 of those per card.

Hopefully Im understanding what you are saying right and what Im trying to say is clear. Let me know if its not...

 

[WerdNerf]

Yo All,

Thanks for speedy reply.

My board is also a Gigabyte (as per Englandr753) GA-M57SLI-S4 Rev. 2.0 running off a Rosewill 400W PSU. The PCI-E x16 is a Foxconn Fx8500 GT non SLI. The Gigabyte manual is pretty good as is the Rosewill, but the foxconn is for ****. It's only a general manual, and doesn't address the specific card at all. I would have stayed away from foxconn, but I decided an 8500GT for $29.99US was worth the risk.

It looks like you're all correct that the molex connector -which I should clarify is a molex inline 4 pin old IDE style connector- is only for extra power for multipl SLi cards. But this card has no onboard power connection, which is what threw me in the wrong direction. Check it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...=Foxconn+GeForce+8500GT+8500GT-512+Video+Card

I'm new to PCI-Ex16, but can the card get power straight from the slot?

 

[rockbyter]

Scratch all that, you've got a video card that is low power enough to draw all its power from the motherboard, no need for the auxillary connectors, so just zip tie them out of the way with no worries.

 

[englandr753]

Thats the exact same board I had, which in fact is a very good board. If your video card doesnt have a power connector directly on it then the power from the pci-e slot is enough.

You're good to go...

 

[WerdNerf]

if it by strange chance does not, its an older or quite low power board so just tie it away. If every hole has a plug in it, your good to go with no worries.

Looks like Rock was answering my question while I was asking it. Precognition... impressive.

It just doesn't seem like the slot can provide enough power, but I found leadtek and MSI 8500gt's that both look to be sans onboard power connections as well. The 8500/8600 series is only about 1.5 to 2 years old. I guess that's why it was so cheap, but most places are still charging $60-80 for GeForce8500 GT's.

So I guess I don't even need the connector, in which case... problem solved! Now lets see if I can get this baby running.

Thanks for the assistance everyone!

 

[rockbyter]

After inspecting your motherboard and manual i see where the additional confusion come from. there is an unusual molex connector on that board. Why? It would seem to be to supply the motherboard an extra shot of power should it need to supply more to the video card. Plug a cable into it if you run into difficulties, but it shouldn't be absolutely required unless you got a card with a little more draw, or have additional accessory cards in the other PCI-E slots. Its just another way to supply more 12v.