I'm going to need more CPU power if I use a 4-pin connection, but how do I figure that out?
I'm going to need more CPU power if I use a 4-pin connection, but how do I figure that out?
So I have a B550 Motherboard that has an 8-pin and a 4-pin connector to power my CPU, but I know that using just the 8 pin is more than enough for overclocking and stability. However, I am buying a new GTX 3090 GPU and already have an AIO cooler for my CPU. I would like to use the unused 4-pin slot for extra power too. Since I plan to overclock, my PCU came with two 8/4 pin connectors. In reality, I can plug one full 8/4 pin directly into the 8-pin socket on the motherboard. But then for the remaining 4-pin part, I could potentially run it using only half of the second 8/4 pin I have. That leaves me with the other half of the 8/4 pin hanging unused over my motherboard. So what options do I have to connect that extra 4 pin? I did see online that you can buy an 8-pin female adapter into an 8+4 male adapter, but would I still get enough power if both the 8 pin and the 4 pin are connected through one adapter? Also, please ignore my specs for now; what I really want to know is how do I connect the 4 pin effectively and efficiently. My current setup includes: a B550 Motherboard with an RTX 3090 GPU, a 3700X CPU, 2x8GB RAM running at 3200 MHz, a PCU rated for 750 Watts, a single rail power supply, 1TB M.2 SSD, and another 1TB HDD.
This post, and I am being very serious about this, not trying to make you look bad or lower your status, but this tells me that you do not have the knowledge and understanding needed for any kind of undertaking where you would need to use that extra EPS power connection for the CPU. If you don't know it or realize it or...
That extra 4 pin EPS socket has nothing to do with which graphics card you have OR what cooler you put on top of it. Nothing really at all. The only reason you'd actually want that extra wire is if you are using a CPU with the highest core count and doing extreme overclocking. If you aren't trying to run your computer at crazy speeds or push it hard, then you don't need those wires at all no matter what else you have connected. But yes, those plugs are really 4+4 pin so you would need to plug in half of the second wire if you needed to use them.
No, it isn't just a typo. The 8-pin CPU power connector (4 plus 4 pins) is actually the same thing on almost all consumer motherboards made recently or in the last ten years. Many of those boards today even have extra slots for more power, making them look like they have an 8+4 setup. But there isn't really a real 8-pin plug you can find on any computer system anymore. There used to be some 8-pin plugs on specific power supply units in the past, but back then many of those had changed over time and now most just use 6-plus-2 connectors. If your motherboard or power supply doesn't have that old style plug, it's probably going to be hard to help you out with something else.