Safe way to adapt a 4 pin CPU to an 8 pin?

[Stargaze obama]

I have a 500w PSU I pulled from a prebuilt that I picked up for free, it's been running everything fine but I want to try an oc on my cpu, the only problem I have is it uses an 8 pin on the board but my PSU only has a 4 pin CPU, I have a spare sata power and that's it, the board is only a single rail power delivery but I don't feel comfortable pulling an oc on only the 4 pin? Will it be safe or invest into a better PSU?

[Mateyyy]

Get an actual power supply.

[mariushm]

Just plug the 4 pin connector into the 8 pin header ... it should work fine, if you don't have a very power hungry processor.

The 4 pin connector is good up to something like 150-180 watts, and even a 6 core Ryzen 1600 only consumes up to 100-120 watts.

 

 

[Stargaze obama]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

Just plug the 4 pin connector into the 8 pin header ... it should work fine, if you don't have a very power hungry processor.

The 4 pin connector is good up to something like 150-180 watts, and even a 6 core Ryzen 1600 only consumes up to 100-120 watts.

 

 

I've been running the system fine with the 4 pin, running a Xeon 2630 but I want to get a 2650v2 in the near future, people have had them running at 4.2 ghz but wasn't sure if a 4 pin could handle it's 130w tdp plus a huge oc like that

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Stargaze obama said:

I've been running the system fine with the 4 pin, running a Xeon 2630 but I want to get a 2650v2 in the near future, people have had them running at 4.2 ghz but wasn't sure if a 4 pin could handle it's 130w tdp plus a huge oc like that

Just don't.  Clearly the PSU is not up to the task if it doesn't have the correct connectors.  Get an appropriate PSU.

 

[Stargaze obama]

2 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

Just don't.  Clearly the PSU is not up to the task if it doesn't have the correct connectors.  Get an appropriate PSU.

 

It 500w so it's more than enough power for the system, and I remember many ivy/sandy bridge CPUs being oc to 5ghz like the 2500k on mobos that only use a 4 pin and single rail power delivery... Which makes not much sense

[Stargaze obama]

4 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

Get an actual power supply.

Don't have cash lying around, you wanna buy it for me or be any help?

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Stargaze obama said:

It 500w so it's more than enough power for the system, and I remember many ivy/sandy bridge CPUs being oc to 5ghz like the 2500k on mobos that only use a 4 pin and single rail power delivery... Which makes not much sense

"500W" is just a number on a label.

[Mateyyy]

14 minutes ago, Stargaze obama said:

Don't have cash lying around, you wanna buy it for me or be any help?

In your original post you asked whether you should invest in a better PSU. My answer is that yes, you should invest in a better PSU, and hopefully not try and set up a charity here as they're not really allowed.

[Stargaze obama]

55 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

"500W" is just a number on a label.

But it's still important

[Stargaze obama]

47 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

In your original post you asked whether you should invest in a better PSU. My answer is that yes, you should invest in a better PSU, and hopefully not try and set up a charity here as they're not really allowed.

Not looking for a charity, I just want to know if I can oc on my current PSU, decent psus cost 6/7 times more than my current CPU (Xeon 2630) and my build isn't fully completed yet, I'm still selling things to finish the build for a cooler and nvme drive and some other parts, so buying a new PSU would mean I'm stuck using an am3 stock cooler with steel brackets I made from a pencil holder...

[Mateyyy]

5 minutes ago, Stargaze obama said:

Not looking for a charity, I just want to know if I can oc on my current PSU, decent psus cost 6/7 times more than my current CPU (Xeon 2630) and my build isn't fully completed yet, I'm still selling things to finish the build for a cooler and nvme drive and some other parts, so buying a new PSU would mean I'm stuck using an am3 stock cooler with steel brackets I made from a pencil holder...

I wouldn't do any OC with it, personally. But then again, personally, I wouldn't use some random no-name PSU pulled from a pre-built. You never want to skimp on your PSU, because if it dies, it can take other components with it too, which wouldn't be ideal if you ask me.

Not trying to sound rude or anything but I really wouldn't try my luck with some potential time bomb power supply. Just my two cents.

[Stargaze obama]

13 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

I wouldn't do any OC with it, personally. But then again, personally, I wouldn't use some random no-name PSU pulled from a pre-built. You never want to skimp on your PSU, because if it dies, it can take other components with it too, which wouldn't be ideal if you ask me.

Not trying to sound rude or anything but I really wouldn't try my luck with some potential time bomb power supply. Just my two cents.

The PSU is called "inwin 500w ATX" doesn't seem too bad quality 

Other than the fan at 100% speed all the time which I think I will replace and control fr the main board because of the racket it makes

 

Edit, it's actually called "winpower 500w ATX" funnily enough it's claims "silence on the label

Edited May 20, 2020 by Stargaze obama

[TomvanWijnen]

According to google SATA power can only give 54 watts, so it's not that much. According to google a 4 pin CPU plug can give 144 watts, so if you're staying below that, you should be good.

 

I would, however, also like to mention that just a single 4 pin on a 500 W PSU seems a bit odd - unless it has a good amount of PCI-E plugs. If you google on its full name (winpower 500w ATX is too vague) perhaps you can find something about whether it's any good or not. In general, if it's from a prebuilt, I think it should be just fine.

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, Stargaze obama said:

But it's still important

Not if the PSU is garbage.

 

Example:

 

 

Note how this "500W" power supply only has 384W on the +12V rail.  This makes it only about as effective as a modern day 400W PSU.

[Stargaze obama]

9 hours ago, TomvanWijnen said:

According to google SATA power can only give 54 watts, so it's not that much. According to google a 4 pin CPU plug can give 144 watts, so if you're staying below that, you should be good.

 

I would, however, also like to mention that just a single 4 pin on a 500 W PSU seems a bit odd - unless it has a good amount of PCI-E plugs. If you google on its full name (winpower 500w ATX is too vague) perhaps you can find something about whether it's any good or not. In general, if it's from a prebuilt, I think it should be just fine.

The PSU has 2 Sata, 2 molex, 24/4 pin Mobo

I'm currently using both molex to power a 6 pin splitter for an RX 570

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by Stargaze obama

[Stargaze obama]

8 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

Not if the PSU is garbage.

 

Example:

 

 

Note how this "500W" power supply only has 384W on the +12V rail.  This makes it only about as effective as a modern day 400W PSU.

Mine states 432w

[LauRoman]

Looks close to 10-15$ psu specs. Might only have one 12v rail by any definition.

 

You seem to be unwilling to invest in a better psu, but are willing to go for such an old, low frequency cpu upgrade like a 2650v2? Why?

 

Also, look under the name of the psu it says "powerful and extremely silence" instead of "powerful and extremely silent" or "power and extreme silence". This is a good indicator of a low end off brand not great psu. Though there may be the fattydove racing exception every now and then, bad grammar is a good indicator of a not so great product.

[verisimilar]

58 minutes ago, Stargaze obama said:

Mine states 432w

So it's a 450W PSU by modern standards. From a no name Chinese brand who couldn't be bothering to hire a semi-competent translator. And you are powering a PCI-E 6-pin via molex adapter. 

 

Where do you live? I need to get your fire department ready.

[LauRoman]

After a bit of googling, they seem to have been used by cyberpower pc in their machines close to a decade ago, and they seem to unofficialy clasify that brand's 850w units as 600w. So they clearly do not trust them that much.

 

Rated wattage on the sticker is not the best indicator of quality or reliability if not properly tested or certified by a objective 3rd party. There are quite a few 550w and maybe even 600w stickers on psus that come with a single pcie 6 pin, while a few 400w units come with a double 8 pin.

 

So unless it is a well tested and  reviewed psu, or an OEM rebrand of such a one, i wouldn't trust anything the brand puts on the sticker.

 

Those molex adapters i am not a fan of but might be fine if the gpu is not power hungry. That gpu might be, though, because the 500 series is just 400 with basically a higher power limit, and under serious load might run a bit hotter and hungrier than a 400 series. Use a magnet on the cables of that molex to pcie adapter while it is disconnected from the machine. If the magnet is attracted to the cables it means they are basically made of an iron  heavy alloy and you should probably throw it away because it migh be a hazzard, compared to copper or even aluminum variants.

[Stargaze obama]

1 hour ago, verisimilar said:

So it's a 450W PSU by modern standards. From a no name Chinese brand who couldn't be bothering to hire a semi-competent translator. And you are powering a PCI-E 6-pin via molex adapter. 

 

Where do you live? I need to get your fire department ready.

It's running of 2 molex, so the 150w card I'm using (Rx 570) should be within the limits, I've already stess tested all the parts and everything functions fine, and temps are fine

[Stargaze obama]

1 hour ago, LauRoman said:

After a bit of googling, they seem to have been used by cyberpower pc in their machines close to a decade ago, and they seem to unofficialy clasify that brand's 850w units as 600w. So they clearly do not trust them that much.

 

Rated wattage on the sticker is not the best indicator of quality or reliability if not properly tested or certified by a objective 3rd party. There are quite a few 550w and maybe even 600w stickers on psus that come with a single pcie 6 pin, while a few 400w units come with a double 8 pin.

 

So unless it is a well tested and  reviewed psu, or an OEM rebrand of such a one, i wouldn't trust anything the brand puts on the sticker.

 

Those molex adapters i am not a fan of but might be fine if the gpu is not power hungry. That gpu might be, though, because the 500 series is just 400 with basically a higher power limit, and under serious load might run a bit hotter and hungrier than a 400 series. Use a magnet on the cables of that molex to pcie adapter while it is disconnected from the machine. If the magnet is attracted to the cables it means they are basically made of an iron  heavy alloy and you should probably throw it away because it migh be a hazzard, compared to copper or even aluminum variants.

It's a sapphire Rx 570 pulse itx, pretty sure it's 150w and I'm running of 2 molex connectors, not Daisy chained molex 2 separate lanes

[Stargaze obama]

1 hour ago, LauRoman said:

Looks close to 10-15$ psu specs. Might only have one 12v rail by any definition.

 

You seem to be unwilling to invest in a better psu, but are willing to go for such an old, low frequency cpu upgrade like a 2650v2? Why?

 

Also, look under the name of the psu it says "powerful and extremely silence" instead of "powerful and extremely silent" or "power and extreme silence". This is a good indicator of a low end off brand not great psu. Though there may be the fattydove racing exception every now and then, bad grammar is a good indicator of a not so great product.

2650v2 performs very similar to newer CPUs like the 6700k, I've got 32gb of ddr3 in quad channel running at 1866 so it performs about the same as dual channel ddr4 at 2133, people have easily got the 2650v2 running at 4.2ghz on all cores consuming around 140/150w at load, don't really want to upgrade the entire system when what I currently have still runs everything fine and has newer features like an nvme gen 3 so there's no need to really spend the extra yet, I bought the system about 3 months ago and the entire build came to less than £180 here in the uk so it's pretty good value in my opinion

[Kilrah]

We've many times seen molten CPU power cables and molex-PCIe adapters around here...

So you do what you want, but you asked for "safe" in the title, and the safe approach is ditching that PSU and replacing it with something current and suitable.

[Stargaze obama]

23 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

We've many times seen molten CPU power cables and molex-PCIe adapters around here...

So you do what you want, but you asked for "safe" in the title, and the safe approach is ditching that PSU and replacing it with something current and suitable.

What brands or models of PSU do you recommend, looking at even the cheapest new psus and they are costing over a 1/4 of my whole build, around £50 for an evga 430w psu