CPU Power Connector - 4pin using only 2?!

[GeekFixUK]

Ok so a bizarre one today that ive not come across. A new client brings in his sons 6 month old gaming rig from ebay (lol i know) costing about £570 (about 930 Canadian i think). The pc is cycling from a windows graphics update. Fired her up and although the cycling was a clear issue i proceeded to reinstall windows as per the clients wishes. i turn around to tend to another pc in the corner and hear a pop and the smell of fresh ozone in the air, turning around i see the pc totally powered down in the corner and my surge protector showing as taking a hit. Yay for me lol. So i open her up and after a bit of hunting around for any issues i find as in the picture. Now ive heard of 8 pin cpu's only taking a full 4 pin rather than an 8pin depending on the cpu installed. But i have never heard of a 4 pin cpu on a mobo only having 2 pins of the psu 4 pin cable plugged in?!?! How has this even worked for the client as they claim the son has no interest in opening pc's he just plays on them. So is this sheer stupidity from the ebay seller making these units at a clearly large profit whilst not caring for quality at all? Or have i missed something? 

 

Anyway the system looks like new parts but budget such as:

 

Toshiba 1tb mechanical hard drive 

Asrock m-atx fm2a68m-hd+

Dual Channel ddr3 1600 8gb total from SuperTalent (never heard of them)

Gigabyte 1050 TI d5 4g

evo labs Kronus 600watt psu

And lastly an AMD A8 7650k on a stock cooler.

 

All in a rather large cheap all black atx case. It just screamed "Holy Sh!t" at me.

[ProjectBox153]

So, only 2 pins were physically in the socket? That's probably the issue. I didn't even know you could fit only two pins in though.

[YedZed]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

So, only 2 pins were physically in the socket? That's probably the issue. I didn't even know you could fit only two pins in though.

That's what he's saying; Its ridiculous that this is the case.

[GeekFixUK]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

So, only 2 pins were physically in the socket? That's probably the issue. I didn't even know you could fit only two pins in though.

You got it and is totally possible if your a moron lol. You just move the 2 vertical pins left one set and the keys on the plug match up.

[YedZed]

GAWD take this computer out of their hands. they are not worthy

[Mira Yurizaki]

It's possible because one row of the pins provides power while the other provides ground. As long as the wires weren't providing an excessive amount of current, this is technically doable.

 

What I don't understand is how they got a square-shaped peg in a house-shaped hole. Ah wait. With enough manhandling.

[GeekFixUK]

Even more so, the psu is clearly an 8pin model so they must of through "Sh!t it doesnt fit, lets not try the other connector and just zip it back"

 

I could maybe thing of such stupidity if a kid did his own build (ive seen it, believe me) but not from a pc builder lol

[KenjiUmino]

... dafuq?

Just now, YedZed said:

GAWD take this computer out of their hands. they are not worthy

if i understood correctly they didn't do anything - they bought it like that

[GeekFixUK]

1 minute ago, KenjiUmino said:

... dafuq?

if i understood correctly they didn't do anything - they bought it like that

Father is adamant his Son is not techy and would never consider opening her up to tinker as its not his type of hobby

[GeekFixUK]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

It's possible because one row of the pins provides power while the other provides ground. As long as the wires weren't providing an excessive amount of current, this is technically doable.

 

What I don't understand is how they got a square-shaped peg in a house-shaped hole. Ah wait. With enough manhandling.

Lol, its actually easier done than you think if you have a 4 pin mobo and an 8 pin psu but most people check if the plug is in correctly once plugged in. Well its cost them a new psu in the mix, might i add, properly installed lol

[YedZed]

10 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

... dafuq?

if i understood correctly they didn't do anything - they bought it like that

If I understood correctly they spent fuckng 750 USD on that shit! aghhhhhhhhhhh

[YedZed]

7 minutes ago, GeekFixUK said:

Lol, its actually easier done than you think if you have a 4 pin mobo and an 8 pin psu but most people check if the plug is in correctly once plugged in. Well its cost them a new psu in the mix, might i add, properly installed lol

Well are you sure the Mobo is fine as well? 

[GeekFixUK]

Lol

8 minutes ago, YedZed said:

If I understood correctly they spent fuckng 750 USD on that shit! aghhhhhhhhhhh

Hahaha yeah, poor client, had they come to me initially i could of done much better.

7 minutes ago, YedZed said:

Well are you sure the Mobo is fine as well? 

Yup, shes alive and happy behind me with Win10 just finishing install.

[YedZed]

9 minutes ago, GeekFixUK said:

Lol

Hahaha yeah, poor client, had they come to me initially i could of done much better.

Yup, shes alive and happy behind me with Win10 just finishing install.

Whew that's good.

[LogicalDrm]

On 26.7.2017 at 10:16 PM, GeekFixUK said:

Even more so, the psu is clearly an 8pin model so they must of through "Sh!t it doesnt fit, lets not try the other connector and just zip it back"

 

I could maybe thing of such stupidity if a kid did his own build (ive seen it, believe me) but not from a pc builder lol

Please say thats not PCIe power connector... Idk if it would even work, I don't remember seeing 6pin CPU connectors.

[Ithanul]

14 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Please say thats not PCIe power connector... Idk if it would even work, I don't remember seeing 6pin CPU connectors.

That is a split 2 x 4 version of the 8 pin CPU power.  Reason for those is for compatibility with mobos that only required 4 pins for power.

 

Front view of these types:

[LogicalDrm]

1 minute ago, Ithanul said:

That is a split 2 x 4 version of the 8 pin CPU power.  Reason for those is for compatibility with mobos that only required 4 pins for power.

 

Front view of these types:

Yeah, it just looked in pic like it would have been 4+2pin.

[Ithanul]

1 minute ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Yeah, it just looked in pic like it would have been 4+2pin.

Yeah, by that angle it gives the impression of a 4+2 pin.

[Unimportant]

On 26.7.2017 at 9:21 PM, GeekFixUK said:

Lol, its actually easier done than you think if you have a 4 pin mobo and an 8 pin psu but most people check if the plug is in correctly once plugged in. Well its cost them a new psu in the mix, might i add, properly installed lol

As @M.Yurizaki pointed out, no wrong connections were made. +12V still went to +12V and ground to ground. It only matters for current, since each signal only had a single connection it would not have been able to carry as much current without heating up.

 

That being said, I'm not convinced this is the problem. Only 2 things could've happened:

• The CPU does not draw enough current to overload the single pin, in which case this is not the problem.
• The CPU does draw enough current to overload the pin, causing a excessive voltage drop which caused the system too fail. (Perhaps because of the VRM driving it's duty cycle too high in order to compensate). However, even a voltage drop of a single volt at a current of a few amps results in a power dissipation of multiple Watts (P = U x I). In that case the connector would have surely been melted, severely damaged. I don't see such damage on the pictures (?), which makes me seriously doubt this has anything to do with it.