Do any new mobos take 20-pin ATX connectors?

[stroberaver]

I've got an old 300W Chieftex PSU lying around, which I had been thinking of re-using in future, possibly in a low-power/quiet storage solution in case my little Synology NAS fills up. The PSU is decent enough for a simple/low wattage storage system - 17A @ 12V, very quiet fans, the 4-pin 12V booster, but it only has a 20-pin ATX connector.

If I needed to, I could use my old case to build a near-passive storage system with that AMD BE processor and a low wattage 690 chipset (and you never know, it could double up as movie storage for the tv too, with the 690's HDMI output).

I'm just wondering though, do any modern mobos have/work with just 20 pins instead of the 24 pins? They all seem to have 24 pin connectors now.

[shaithis]

I think most, if not all, 24pin ATX boards will work with a 20 pin PSU plugged in.

How well they will work (i.e. stability) will depend on many factors though.

[hermeticist]

As above, you can also get 20 to 24 pin converters, but:

ASRock 4CoreDual-Vsta Socket 775 VIA PT880 Ultra Motherboard |Specialtech.co.uk -

Don`t know if other Asrock boards are 20pin or whether these are still available, you can also reuse AGP/PCIE cards and DDR or DDR2 & will take socket 775 up to & including Quadcore. Don`t expect much overclocking, but from what I`ve heard they`re fairly reliable - good for recycling into a second PC.

[stroberaver]

Thanks.

A legacy board like that Asrock looks good, but lacks in quantity of onboard SATA connectors for a few hard drives. Good to know that many mobos will still work on 20-pin supplies even though they have 24-pin connectors. I guess an adapter is the safer option though.

It's all just hypothetical anyway - mainly because I have a good solid Chieftec case sitting around which would be nice to put some cool'n'quiet hardware in with stacks of storage running something like FreeNAS. This PSU and a low rpm 80mm case exhaust fan will keep it quiet, and taping up the lower intake will force the airflow over the hard drives (and keep more dust out).

However my bank account and photography hobby suggests that spending anything on computer hardware for the rest of this year is not A Good Thing. And I've got a Synology server with 1TB in it which is only 1/3rd full at the moment. So at the moment I'm really just toying with ideas for the future, but thanks anyway.

[hermeticist]

One problem that you may have, is if the 24pin `boards also require a 12v P4 connector (or similar), which your PSU may not have. You can probably get a molex to "whatever" converter, but if you start spending a fortune on converters it might be time to buy a new PSU.

[Syd]

Sorry for the slight HiJack BUT: It just got me thinking - my seasonic 500w has a 20pin and a 4 pin that are 'together' and you can actually 'slide' the extra 4 block onto the 20 to make a 24. I didnt do this as i assumed that the CPU power connector and the extra 4 pin molex were adequate - should I connect that 4 pin extra as well?
(It is running atm without the 4pins)
The mobo is a MSI NEO2 FR P35.

[stroberaver]

One problem that you may have, is if the 24pin `boards also require a 12v P4 connector (or similar), which your PSU may not have.

It has...

The PSU is decent enough for a simple/low wattage storage system - 17A @ 12V, very quiet fans, the 4-pin 12V booster

Sorry for the slight HiJack BUT: It just got me thinking - my seasonic 500w has a 20pin and a 4 pin that are 'together' and you can actually 'slide' the extra 4 block onto the 20 to make a 24. I didnt do this as i assumed that the CPU power connector and the extra 4 pin molex were adequate - should I connect that 4 pin extra as well?
(It is running atm without the 4pins)
The mobo is a MSI NEO2 FR P35.

If you've got a 20/24 pin connector and a 24-pin mobo then heck yes, I'd always use the full 24 pins.

[Hunain]

Can someone please clarify, what differences arise using a 20 Pin connector on a 24 Pin mobo, specially if you are overclocking.

[Syd]

If you've got a 20/24 pin connector and a 24-pin mobo then heck yes, I'd always use the full 24 pins.

[Hunain]

BUMP BUMP, sorry, but Can someone please clarify, what differences arise using a 20 Pin connector on a 24 Pin mobo, specially if you are overclocking

[s_kinton]

BUMP BUMP, sorry, but Can someone please clarify, what differences arise using a 20 Pin connector on a 24 Pin mobo, specially if you are overclocking

There should be no difference normally. However, if you are overclocking and playing around with any voltages then not having a 24pin connector could be lead to instability at a lower clock than you would normally achieve.

[JohnK]

A lot of the Asrock boards including recent ones have 20pin power + separate 4pin 12v. I bought one cos the PSU in my HTPC case was bespoke and old-style. They are cheap but surprisingly good quality - I think they are a budget division of Asus.

ASRock Motherboard - Product - 4Core1333-Viiv - Overview

@dabs for £55

Has 6 SATA2 ports.

[dogie]

Many mATX boards are 20 pin. Asrock have very very complicated and successful architecture, and so can get away with 20 pin on a lot of their boards.

[Syd]

It has...



If you've got a 20/24 pin connector and a 24-pin mobo then heck yes, I'd always use the full 24 pins.

Done and working well thnx