Do I really need the 4pin power adaptor for my rig?

[Martijn]

I was planning building 2 rigs with this board:

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/asrock/reviews/K8NF4G-SATA2/Picture%204333%20copy.jpg

They will both be combined with a Sempron 2600 + 256Megs of ran and will probably run at stock or a little overclocked. Since I'm really on a budget, I am not wanting to buy a new PSU. Molex --> 4-pin adaptors are nowhere to find in my area. But do I really need it? The rigs will be folding 24/7, can the PSU handle it without a 4pin power adaptor? Will it cause instability?

I won't be using any other hardware in those rigs except for a wireless card and a harddisk. Onboard video is what I'm gonna use :)

Advice is welcome.

[Martijn]

Thanks. I'll see what happens.

[Dj_iNSULIN]

if you don't power that plug, the cpu will draw power from the +5 V line. I don't know if your PSU can handle it, but it will take 13A from the +5V if it can handle this, it won't be much of a problem. I would recommend you to ensure your psu has at least 30A on +5V power

[Martijn]

It has:

16A on 3.3v
25A on 5v
13A on 12v

Max power output: 230 Watts


Both are Fortron PSUs. Note that it'll probably be only a Sempron 2600 or something like it. Maybe less, but not more.

[nn_step]

YES unless you want to deal with a billion booting problems

[Martijn]

I finally found myself a Molex --> 4pin adaptor, going to buy 2 of them tomorrow. :)

[Jarrod1937]

well i haven't needed it yet. i am using a 20-pin psu and my setup (x800 xl pci-e, amd 64 3200+ overlclocked, 1 gig of ram...etc) and my system runs perfectly stable at all times. i really don't think the 4-pin adpater is truly needed but i guess if your system is going to be sucking up a lot of power.