Question about 8 pin CPU connectors
Question about 8 pin CPU connectors
You're asking if it's safe to connect an 8-pin cable extension to your PSU and a normal 4-pin cable to the remaining ports. Since you have two 8-pin CPU ports, one uses a sleeved extension and the other connects to an 8-pin port, switching to another 8-pin port for the 4-pin cable is fine. Just make sure the connections match your board's layout to avoid issues.
You don't have to connect cables to both ports. The four-pin option is only needed for serious overclocking and works best with very power-hungry chips. The eight-pin EPS connector can safely handle over 300 watts, and most processors don’t reach even 200 watts—especially those with six to eight cores, which rarely exceed 120-140 watts. Using just the eight-pin connector is perfectly acceptable.
You're likely seeing around 100-120 watts after overclocking. No cause for concern. On AMD Ryzen chips, stock settings use about 12-15 watts per core... The 5600X with six cores runs roughly 75 watts (12.5 watts per core × 6 = 75 watts) while encoding videos with all cores active in handbrake.