4 Pin power supply on an 8 pin motherboard (Gigabyte F2A88XM-DS2)

[Callum Clarke]

I'm looking to order a new CPU for my build and I was wondering, I currently have a 65W TDP processor installed and I am looking to install a processor with a TDP of 95W. Will a 4 pin connector be okay or will I need to get a molex adaptor or even an entirely new power supply?

 

[Shaun o]

The extra eight pin connector block on the new motherboard is designed to feed a extra 12v power phase to the cpu socket of the motherboard.

Four out of the eight pin block are used for this, while the other four are used to provide up to 75w of power to the pci-e graphics card slot of the motherboard, from the board side.

If you are buying a 95w cpu, and you have a Pci-e graphics card that is high to mid range to fit into the new motherboard as well.

You will need to connect all of the eight pins required to get the board to boot or post correctly Callum.

So I suggest that you start looking for a good, well known and trusted power supply brand of enough wattage as soon as you can If the case Callum. otherwise you may be disappointed when you build you new system and it refuses to power up correctly Callum.

 

[gussrtk]

Depending on your system requirements.... You could get an EVGA 430eatt psu, really cheap, very good psu. But need to see what your gpu and other components are

 

[Callum Clarke]

The extra eight pin connector block on the new motherboard is designed to feed a extra 12v power phase to the cpu socket of the motherboard.

Four out of the eight pin block are used for this, while the other four are used to provide up to 75w of power to the pci-e graphics card slot of the motherboard, from the board side.

If you are buying a 95w cpu, and you have a Pci-e graphics card that is high to mid range to fit into the new motherboard as well.

You will need to connect all of the eight pins required to get the board to boot or post correctly Callum.

So I suggest that you start looking for a good, well known and trusted power supply brand of enough wattage as soon as you can If the case Callum. otherwise you may be disappointed when you build you new system and it refuses to power up correctly Callum.

That cant be right because I already have a dedicated graphics card (A Radeon HD 6570) which uses around 66w and it runs prefectly fine with just the 4 pin in and has done since the system was built 2 years ago.

 

[Shaun o]

No I said. if you upgrade the Cpu to a 95W version and add a Pci-e based graphics card also to the motherboard.
And it is a mid range to high end pci-e gaming card that it will require you to have all eight pins of the 12v E-atx, Eps connector to be connected from the power supply.

I already know the Board has a FM2 based Cpu/ Apu as part of the same cpu package.
Callum.

I was saying in a sense if you decided to fit a Pci-e Graphics card you will be required to fit all 8 pins of 12v power from the PSU to the Motherboard.

At some point if you want to play games with better graphics it will mean adding a Pci-e based graphics card to the system.
So in a sense do you buy one now for when that day comes.
To upgrade the PSU to eight pins now.

Or buy a power supply with eight 12v power pins when you get a Pci-e based graphics card.

The choice is yours.

If your happy with the Amd cpu/ Apu then keep using the old Psu with four 12v pins in the eight pin block of the motherboard.

Forgive me, I was thinking slightly ahead, when the CPU/ APU
can no longer play new games ect.
Meaning the solution would be to put a Pci-e based graphics card in, that will require all eight of the pins for extra 12v power would need to be connected.

 

[Callum Clarke]

No I said. if you upgrade the Cpu to a 95W version and add a Pci-e based graphics card also to the motherboard.
And it is a mid range to high end pci-e gaming card that it will require you to have all eight pins of the 12v E-atx, Eps connector to be connected from the power supply.

I already know the Board has a FM2 based Cpu/ Apu as part of the same cpu package.
Callum.

I was saying in a sense if you decided to fit a Pci-e Graphics card you will be required to fit all 8 pins of 12v power from the PSU to the Motherboard.

At some point if you want to play games with better graphics it will mean adding a Pci-e based graphics card to the system.
So in a sense do you buy one now for when that day comes.
To upgrade the PSU to eight pins now.

Or buy a power supply with eight 12v power pins when you get a Pci-e based graphics card.

The choice is yours.

If your happy with the Amd cpu/ Apu then keep using the old Psu with four 12v pins in the eight pin block of the motherboard.

Forgive me, I was thinking slightly ahead, when the CPU/ APU
can no longer play new games ect.
Meaning the solution would be to put a Pci-e based graphics card in, that will require all eight of the pins for extra 12v power would need to be connected.

Ah okay I understand you. Well I've changed my mind about the upgrade. I'm actually going to get the A8 8600 since it is the best kaveri processor to get in terms of availability. The best performance as well at 65w other then the A10 7800 but that's an extra £40 for a slight performance boost. I'm not going to be using the on board graphics of course and I know you might say get an Athlon but finding one that is kaveri and decent performance and availability at 65w has been an near impossible task for me. The A8 8600 also has the exact same power draw as my current processor (A6 6400K). Only issue is the new graphics card I'm getting is (Gigabyte AMD RX 460) has a higher TDP of 75w and current card which is 60w. Considering the slightly higher power draw, will I need to buy an adapter or will it not be needed in my situation. I'm not after a new power supply because the one that I have is fine. It only lacks a few connectors. The connecter that I'm talking about is a 4 pin + molex to 8 pin.