Hi,

just got an MSI RS480M2 through the letterbox this morning and am wondering about my current PSU. It's an FSP350 which has been stable as anything and quiet for a year and a half so I'm going to carry on using it until experience or performance tells me otherwise. Trouble is it has a 20 pin cable and NO 4 pin or SATA cables.

The SATA isn't a problem 'cos I've already got a couple of power adapters and know they're trusted.

24 to 20 pin - MSI's manual states that plugging a 20 pin directly to mobo is fine, foolproof lugs to aid correct alignment etc. I know there are opinions for and against this though.

So I need to buy a four pin 12v adapter cable.

Or my main question is does a 20-24 pin adapter negate the need for the separate 4 pins?

If so is it any better?

If not what are the extra 4 pins on the main power socket for if they can be ignored?

New sys specs:
Athlon 64 3000 (Venice)
MSI RS480M2
2x512 CORSAIR PC3200 CL2
120GB Seagate Barracuda
Inno3D GF6600GT 128MB
Lite-On 16x DVD/RW

I know people are recommending 400w and above now, but for portability sake I doubt this config will grow much (one more HD and a front panel USB/Card Reader at most) and it only calculates to about 300w so I'm determined to recycle my 350w PSU.

Any experiences with 20 pin PSU on 24 pin mobos?

no 4 pin? are you talking about the 12v 4 pin or molex?

http://www.xoxide.com/20-to-24-pin-adapter.html
Should be what you're looking for?

the 350w powersupply you have... is it a brandname one with good amperage? or is it a generic one..? if it is a generic one i would look into buying a new ps.. cuz yer near the minmum power requirements...


if you noitce lockups... that would be the 1st place to look

OK my mistake, it does have the 4pin 12v cable, I'd hidden it between the mobo tray and case panel so didn't find it til i took it out. Main connector is only 20 pin tho.

It's a FSP Aurora PSU which I know aren't fancy but are considered to be reliable. Just looked at the spec tho and its rated 220W between the 5V+3.3V (good) but only 16A on the 12v line (not so good). I know good ones now have dual 12v lines with that much on EACH! Newer CPU requirements etc.

Readings tell me that the extra 4pins on the ATX2 main plug are for this second 12V line so the CPU and mobo are powered separately but isn't that what the single 4pin 12V cable is for? Or is that off the same 12V line internally?

Does this mean that ideally I need both a 4pin plug AND a 24pin or does the 4pin do the same job as the EXTRA 4 pins on the ATX2 connector?

The system is running now fine in 2D, Prime95ed and everything but 3D only last 5-15mins before slowing/ freezing/ crashing. The symptoms seem like overheating but gfx temps are 50-75*C (idle/HL2) well within the 120*C slowdown limit. It runs stable (but slow) with onboard video forever tho.

I'm not sure wether to RMA the gfx or get a newer PSU so answers to the above would be of great help. Unfortunately I can't swapout the gfx cos I don't know anyone else with PCIE. May be able to swap out the PSU, i'll ask friends of their PSU specs...

Some boards can use a 20 instead of the 24 pin connector. But you must use the 4 pin connector. No 6 pin connectors on that board so your ok there. One of the guys I work with has the same mobo, he had to replace his generic 350 with a better psu before it was stable.

I'd still think your borderline on the psu and the vga is pushing it over the top. It's worth tying a swap before you RMA if you can get your hands on another psu.

Going away for a couple of days so can't confirm it immediately but I'm pretty sure it's gonna turn out to be the PSU now.

It's an FSP PSU so I was making assumptions about it but I noticed today its only got 16A on the single 12V line, newer units have that on EACH of two, totalling 30ish Amps... and the mobo manual (of course I hadn't read it until now) suggests at least 18Amps.

One friend has a 400W unit but doesn't remember what brand he bought so I can't look for specs yet but as soon as I'm back I'll be round his house with a screwdriver. If it works I'll be getting a 400W FSP unit 'cos mine (until now) has been a rock.

Check out this extremem psu calcuator.....
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

Just input all your hardware and it will recommend what's your power requirements.

It's always a good idea to go with a higher watt rating. The psu will run more efficently the more room it has to spare. Just remember even though it says its a 450 watt. If your pc is using only say 330 it will only supply 330watts and not the full 450watts.

Just stick with the good name brands.......antec, enermax, fortran, sparkle. They will do you well.

In my own personal opinion. I would go with a 450W. Just to give you some breathing room.

As for your problems. I do indeed think its a power supply issue. Just be sure to get a ATX 2.01 PSU. It will come with the added pci-e connectors for your video card. FYI: The psu has a dedicated 12v line just for the video card.

I hope this helps.....
TC
rockin'male

Yeah, I've conceded and ordered a 400w FSP (Fortron Source) ATX2 special SATA edition. Total of 30amps over two 12V lines should hopefully sort my problems. SATA connectors, PCIe connector (although my GFX doesn't have one), 24pin, 4pin P4 12V etc...

I'm sure it's the ampage rather than wattage thats the prob since all calculators show my system as well bellow 300W. I'll report success or failure in a couple of days...

Got the 400W FSP PSU today and it's improved but not solved the problem. High spec games now either run for longer or at higher settings. Then freeze again.

This is getting silly though, it's a reputable quality unit rated 100W above my calculated requirements. I can only assume that I need more Amps rather than Watts.

Anyone know how the two 12v lines are distributed? I'm wondering about the new PSU still only having 16A on each line, although it has 30A total perhaps only 16A are going to mobo (and 16A to CPU) hence still not supplying the 18A recommended by MSI manual...

May i ask what games are you playing that are causing your system to freeze?

When you mean freeze does that mean total lockup/reboot or can you get into task manager and shut down the game?

There are alot of factors besides the psu that could be related to your problem.
Dust
Memory errors
CPU temps
Case cooling
Software or the graphics card itself

Have you checked your cpu and system temperatures? You may need to add additional cooling if your temps are too high. Also check your cpu and gpu fans are working properly and not full of dust.

I recommend running memtest86 to check your ram for errors.....

Check to see if all your hardware drivers for your system are up to date.
Install any game patches for the games in question.

Lastly it could be the graphics card, which would be hard to diagnose with just a freezing problem.

Try this......Take the side panel off and try running one of your games that freezes. See if it lasts longer before it freezes. Also you could put a box fan next to the open case and see if it freezes. This is just to check for a overheating problem.

I hope this helps you out. This i hope should help to narrow down the culprit of your problems.

Good luck!
TC
rockin'male

I'm now pretty sure it's the VGA chip or VGA RAM overheating. The system's not in a case yet and moving a 120mm fan to various positions helps if it's over the VGA. Thing is, I've watched the GPU temps while running apps in a window and it doesn't go above 65*C which isn't really hot for a GF6 series card, So I have to think it's either an underperforming card or it's the onboard RAM overheating.

The RAM already has heatsinks on but that could be to try and improve cheap RAM maybe?
I'm gonna check what thermal goop, if any, has been used. Then think about trying one of those Zalman VGA coolers...

PS it's only intense 3D when it happens ie Battlefield 2, HL2, Doom3...