Power supply connections - Noob question

  Well, everyone was a beginner once.  I am connecting a Seasonic 500w PS
to my Gigabyte DS3 board.

This mobo has a 4 pin ATX_12V connector, and a 24 pin ATX connector.

The Seasonic manual says to connect the 12V 4 pin AND the 24 pin
connectors to the motherboard.

The Gigabyte manual says 'If you use a 24 pin ATX power supply, please
remove the small cover on the power connector; otherwise, please do not
remove it'.

This leads me to believe that the 24 pin connection is an optional
alternative to the 4 pin connection.  Is the Seasonic manual misleading
here?  I'd like to minimize cable clutter.  Must I use the 24 pin
connection, or not?

Thank you, homebuild vets!

 On 8 Dec 2006 08:25:31 -0800  'Jonathan Currie'
posted this onto alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt:


They may exist but.....
I've not seen a mobo with a 24pin *and* 4pin, only 20pin or 24pin.
Some with 20pin have also got a 4pin connector adjacent or nearby
to beef it up to a 24pin.

If your PSU has a 4pin plug are you sure the other one is not a 20pin?

  You got me curious, so I double checked.  The mobo is a Gigabyte
GA-965P-DS3.   There is definitely both a 4 pin connector, labeled
'ATX_12V' and a 24 pin connector labeled 'ATX'.

Here is the exact manual quote:

ATX_12V/ATX (Power Connector)
With the use of the power connector, the power supply can supply enough
stable power to all
the components on the motherboard. Before connecting the power
connector, please make sure
that all components and devices are properly installed. Align the power
connector with its
proper location on the motherboard and connect tightly.
The ATX_12V power connector mainly supplies power to the CPU. If the
ATX_12V power
connector is not connected, the system will not start.
Caution!
Please use a power supply that is able to handle the system voltage
requirements. It is
recommended that a power supply that can withstand high power
consumption be used (300W
or greater). If a power supply is used that does not provide the
required power, the result can
lead to an unstable system or a system that is unable to start.
If you use a 24-pin ATX power supply, please remove the small cover on
the power connector
on the motherboard before plugging in the power cord ; Otherwise,
please do not remove it.


hummingbird wrote:

 On 8 Dec 2006 11:43:13 -0800  'Jonathan Currie'
posted this onto alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt:


This looks like your MoBo:

OK, you need to attach the 24 pin PSU to the 24pin MoBo connector
and carefully make sure it's pushed home into the clip.

Don't connect the 4pin PSU to the MoBo 4pin connector at this stage.
It's likely you will not need to attach it at all, but when you get
the system running, check the voltages are stable etc via the BIOS.

It may be a translation error in your seasonic manual.
By connecting only the 24pin to start with will do no harm at all.

It looks to me that your devices have the 4pin plugs/connectors also,
to accomodate older versions of the other, if you see what I mean. So
if your mobo had a 20pin and seperate 4pin connectors, your PSU would
still be usable and vice-versa. This is reasonably common during the
upgrade to 24pin standards.

 On 8 Dec 2006 11:43:13 -0800, "Jonathan Currie"


The reason for this caution is to prevent you from installing a 20-pin
ATX power supply connector in a misaligned manner into the 24-pin
motherboard ATX power connector.



If you don't use the 24-pin power connector, you won't be able to turn
on the power supply, since the 5-volt standby power comes through that
connector, and the motherboard turns on the power supply through that
connector.