Will a 4-pin connector work with an 8-pin motherboard input properly?

[VG Docs]

The Situation

 

I recently had a hand-me-down build with a 1045t, ga-78lmt-s2p, and a poor PSU (PS-6401-3). To save a little bit on power, and as a viable upgrade option I decided that I'm going to get a 4670k, and the motherboard I received recently is the Asrock Z87 Pro4, it has an 8 pin input. I'm going to get a new PSU as soon as possible (Capstone 750 is what I plan on getting), but I may not be able to get it for a couple months after I get the 4670k (Sucky financial situation atm). 

 

The Question

 

I don't plan on overclocking or anything like that, but would it be safe for me to use a single 4-pin connector from my current PSU until I can manage to get a better PSU? The last thing I want is for my $100 motherboard to screw up immediately after I use it, after waiting for so long to use the build.

 

Additional Information

 

Here are the rest of my specs, and I'm open to suggestions. I'm currently using my friends' old eMachines with an Athlon 64 3200+, so I do want to use this build as soon as possible before this computer drives me insane.

 

Future Build:

 

• CPU: i5-4670k
• RAM: 8GB(4x2) 1333 MHz
• Video Card: MSI Radeon 6950 (Am willing to use my 9500 GT temporarily or the onboard GPU If it has one)
• Hard Drives: x1 7200 RPM 1TB Seagate, x1 7200 RPM 1.5 TB Western Digital (Am willing to use only one if needed)
• Optical Drives: x1 CD/DVD Drive, don't know specifics atm, just comment if you need them.
• Motherboard: Asrock z87 Pro4
• Fan: Hopefully the Hyper Evo 212, but I'll use stock fan if needed to get a new PSU.
• Monitors: x1 LED Acer 23" 1080p @ 75 Hz, x1 LCD HDTV 27" Sanyo display through HDMI and DVI , respectively (Am willing to use only one monitor if needed).
• USBs (Probably through the 3.0 ports): x1 keyboard, x1 Mouse (Razer Deathadder), Cyber Snipa 5.1 Headset
• PSU: Hopefully the Capstone 750, but at worst it'll be the PS-6401-3

 

If you need ANY additional information, please ask.

[Vitalius]

The answer is yes. A 4-pin can be put, by itself, into an 8-pin CPU power socket and the machine boot up and run. It will give it what power it can, and if the CPU draws more than that, it will shut the system down. If it shuts down when you start doing intensive stuff, just underclock the CPU.

 

However, I've actively used 4-pin connectors in 8-pin CPU power sockets without having issues. Just don't overclock.

[Wiflare]

I'd honestly recommend going with an i3-4130/fx-6300 and beefing up your gpu & psu.

edit: post your builds in the workbench section and we can help out your build, it honestly might need some.

[Crion]

It will work but personally, I'd only do this in a "oh crap, my psu died and the only spare I have has a 4-pin connector" moment, which is basically your situation.  Like has already been mentioned, don't overclock in this state.

[Moosie]

The 4pin/4pinx2 power at the top of the board is supplemental power It's not necessary if you don't go over the power limit of the 24-pin connector. With haswell being so power-efficient, you can run a lot of systems without the supplemental connectors.

The 6950 is a pretty power-hungry card. If you run with only 1 hard drive, and disconnect your optical drive, you'll pull under the 400 watts. But that's just above idle. If you're gonna be gaming, don't risk that.

I'd say if you have your heart set on the 4670k, go for it but use the onboard graphics for a little while (the intel 4600 are better than the 9500gt),

Another option is selling the mobo, getting a 6300, mobo and new psu for about the same out-of pocket. Then your next purchase can be upgrading your graphics card for an all-around better system.

[ProKoN]

The answer is yes. A 4-pin can be put, by itself, into an 8-pin CPU power socket and the machine boot up and run. It will give it what power it can, and if the CPU draws more than that, it will shut the system down. If it shuts down when you start doing intensive stuff, just underclock the CPU.

 

However, I've actively used 4-pin connectors in 8-pin CPU power sockets without having issues. Just don't overclock.

^^^^^^^

This is your best answer

 

4pin atx power is mandatory

 

8 pin atx is supplemental

[Cubit481]

Downclock it or run with power saver mode...if it runs ok with it...configure the clock to an upper limit so that it utilizes less power...and yeah buy the psu as soon as u can...

[BoggerBoss]

On 4/5/2014 at 4:01 PM, Vitalius said:

The answer is yes. A 4-pin can be put, by itself, into an 8-pin CPU power socket and the machine boot up and run. It will give it what power it can, and if the CPU draws more than that, it will shut the system down. If it shuts down when you start doing intensive stuff, just underclock the CPU.

 

However, I've actively used 4-pin connectors in 8-pin CPU power sockets without having issues. Just don't overclock.

would this be a problem at all with an i9 9900k? my system isn't booting at all and thought this could be why