Connecting 20+4 pin PSU to 24+4 Pin motherboard

[jrfoster15]

Hello, I have been trying to find a definitive answer to this question online, to no success. I am currently upgrading an old PC, and the motherboard looks like this:

http://imgur.com/SAAp4v9

I have tried attaching a new power supply, but as you can see there is a separate 4 pin connector in addition to the 24 pin connector, meaning the 20 pin on the power supply can't cover the other side. The PSU that came with the PC had both a 24 pin and a 4 pin to cover both. What are my options here? Do I need to buy another PSU? Or will this work.

I should add that the cables in the background of the pic are from the old PSU, with the new PSU's cables being currently connected (leaving 4 pins open).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mark RM]

You can actually plug a 20 pin connector into a 24 pin motherboard and it will work. just like in that pic yes.

For a low energy system, this is not at all harmful.

If you would provide us with some details (specs) I'm sure we could make a recommendation.

 

[jrfoster15]

You can actually plug a 20 pin connector into a 24 pin motherboard and it will work. just like in that pic yes.

For a low energy system, this is not at all harmful.

If you would provide us with some details (specs) I'm sure we could make a recommendation.

Thanks for your response. The system is an old Lenovo IdeaCenter K330. It has an I5 2300? and I just put in a gtx 1050 ti. The current PSU is a 280W and I am trying to put in a new 400W one to better suit the new GPU, so it is a very low power system. I was just put off by having the empty plugs like in the picture.

 

[Mark RM]

any modern PSU would have a 24 pin plug though, it's usually 20+4 pin , and then 4+4 pin for the CPU

what PSU?

 

[jrfoster15]

any modern PSU would have a 24 pin plug though, it's usually 20+4 pin , and then 4+4 pin for the CPU

what PSU?

It's an EVGA 400W (https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Warranty-Power-Supply-100-N1-0400-L1/dp/B00LV8TZAG). It does have a 20+4 pin, but I used the 4 to connect to the CPU. I didn't know there was a different pin to connect to it.

 

[Mark RM]

yep entirely different cable.

 

[jrfoster15]

yep entirely different cable.

There's no other 4 pin cable connected to the PSU. There's just a 6pin and 2 8pins.

 

[Mark RM]

24-Pin ATX 1 - main header for motherboard
EPS (CPU) 1 x 8-Pin (4 + 4) ---- this the one for your CPU, it's two four pin cables that can become an eight but do not need to.
PCIE 1 x 8-Pin (6 + 2), 1 x 6-Pin
SATA 4 x
Four-Pin Peripheral 3 x
Floppy 1 x