Which are correct connections to mobo from power supply

[tjgraf]

Greetings All.

Building "A Step Above" system with same mobo, ram, and i5 cpu. What a blast! :D
Here's my system:
Case: IKONIK Zaria A20 3IC-Z2DSM Silver Aluminum / SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R LGA 1156 Intel P55
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333
Graphics card: EVGA Geforce GTX 260 core 216 896 MB DDR3
Sound Card: motherboard
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB (I switched this to a Black to get the larger 32 mb cache)
Optical Drive(s): Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM
Monitor: SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 2333SW High Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 20000:1 (1000:1) w/ HPCP Support - Retail Full 1080P
Speakers:
Operating System: Win 7 64 home premium

OK, there is a very large 24 pin power connector from the Corsair power supply I connected to the motherboard. There is also an 8 pin jack on the mobo that accepts a plug from the power supply, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to connect it. The Gigabyte mobo manual says "use of a power supply providing a 2x4 12V power connector is recommended by the cpu manufacturer when using an Intel extreme edition cpu (130W)".

I'm thinking this would parallel the 12V connections already connected and improve amp draw, but I sure don't want to toast something if my i5 750 cpu is not considered "extreme". My power supply has a single large high current 12 V rail.

I say connect it. Am I right?

[zburns]

I think you are right. You also said . . . "My power supply has a single large high current 12 V rail".

You say ... "a single large high current 12v rail". Is this the only 12 volt rail? Do you have a schematic, etc.?

Assuming you have only one +12 volt rail, then your assumption of the wires being parallel are probably correct. This would be so, because the amp output is 60 A.. Wire size for 60A would be around #9 (unusual size).

The wires coming from the PSU for just one connector are probably not large enough for the 60A, so two wires from the PSU going to two PSU connectors plugged into two mobo connectors and the mobo circuit wiring putting the two +12v wires in parallel would make sense. (sorry for the long sentence)

I personally do not like to do something like this if I do not know for absolute certain; you could call Corsair Tech support and confirm the "one +12v rail with multiple leads coming from it; the multiple leads because of the 60A.

If Corsair provided a schematic, it should be easy to know for sure. I did look for a schematic but could not find one.

[The Wise Monkey]

Well, you can try turning it on without connecting the extra power socket, and if it doesn't work, then you know that it needs the extra power. :D

I would recommend that you connect it though - even though the i5 750 has a lower thermal level than others, it is still worth giving it some extra juice, especially if you plan on overclocking it at any point.

[tjgraf]

Hi Folks,

I downloaded a generic "how to build a PC" manual from the Gigabyte web site, and yes, they said to just connect the 2x4 12V connection.

I just finished my build, powered up, and everything seems to be working (YES!!!!) and I'm in the world of BIOS now. It's "see's" the entire 4 gb of RAM. Nice.

It has recognized my Sony optical disk drive and WD HDD, and I set the time and day. I'm into the "integrated peripherals" section and am trying to figure out if I want to put my HDD as "IDE", "AHCI", or "RAID". I looked up AHCI in Wikipedia, and I almost got the drift that i should set it as RAID which defaults to AHCI mode according to Intel for Intel Mobos, even though I'm only planning on initially using 1 HDD since this will be my wife's machine. What are most of you folks doing that are running Win 7 64 bit, and updating software to currently available versions? I'll take my Gigabyte Mobo book to work tomorrow and read up on this during a break.

But what's the consensus on this one? What are you all doing for a new build?

It's 9 PM, and I'm off to bed, so you all think about this and let me know your thoughts whenever you can.