How to use a 24pin+8pin motherboard on Acer T3-715?

Kuen

I have seen someone's T3-715 with a Asus Q170M2 motherboard in the machine.
Q170M2's power wiring is 24pin + 8pin connectors.
Where as T3-715's board is 24pin + 4pin connectors.
Question:
How to plug the 4pin plug into the 8pin socket?  Which pins to connect?  Which pins not to connect?
Thanks

billsey

They have either replaced the power supply, are only connected with the four in the socket for eight or have used an adapter cable to go between 4 and 8, shorting the available power to the motherboard.

Kuen

billsey said:

They have either replaced the power supply, are only connected with the four in the socket for eight or have used an adapter cable to go between 4 and 8, shorting the available power to the motherboard.

Thank you.

"shorting the available power to the motherboard."
How does this affect the performance of the motherboard, please ?

billsey

It doesn't unless the motherboard is designed with the possibility of installing two or more GPU cards. Only those designs need the additional current from the 8 pin connector.

Kuen

billsey said:

It doesn't unless the motherboard is designed with the possibility of installing two or more GPU cards. Only those designs need the additional current from the 8 pin connector.

Thanks. Someone says somewhere, use a 24pin + 4pin power supply on a 24pin + 8pin motherboard will cause the board unstable. If this is true, then whatever on the board will be not running stably either. Your opinion, please?

billsey

Under powering a MB is a good way to get some weird glitches. Unless you are planning on moving your gaming up to the point where multiple GPU would help I'd stay with a MB that uses the 24+4 design. Doing the conversion cable thing to allow a 24+4 PSU to connect with the 24+8 MB just leaves the 8 pins providing half the potential current load. If you don't have a second GPU installed it likely wouldn't need to draw the extra current and it would work fine, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Kuen

billsey said:

Under powering a MB is a good way to get some weird glitches. Unless you are planning on moving your gaming up to the point where multiple GPU would help I'd stay with a MB that uses the 24+4 design. Doing the conversion cable thing to allow a 24+4 PSU to connect with the 24+8 MB just leaves the 8 pins providing half the potential current load. If you don't have a second GPU installed it likely wouldn't need to draw the extra current and it would work fine, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Boards with 24+8 power supply are designed for playing games. I don't think it is a good choice to have a 24+8 board replacing T3-715's board which doesn't have a good PSU.

May I ask, will you please recommend a MB for replacing Acer T3-715 MB?

billsey

No, there are too many factors involved for me to make a suggestion like that. Boards designed with a 24+8 connector are due to the designer thinking the user will need more current on the +12V circuit than normal. Here is a site that might help to explain, of it's not too technical... Basically, if your MB has the 24+4 you want a PSU with either 24+4 or 24+4+4 (with the 8 pin connector split in two), if your motherboard has the 24+8 connectors you want a PSU that has either 24+8 or 24+4+4. Your best be in all cases if to choose a PSU that gives the widest compatibility, but if you already have the PSU find a motherboard that matches.

Kuen

billsey said:

No, there are too many factors involved for me to make a suggestion like that. Boards designed with a 24+8 connector are due to the designer thinking the user will need more current on the +12V circuit than normal. Here is a site that might help to explain, of it's not too technical... Basically, if your MB has the 24+4 you want a PSU with either 24+4 or 24+4+4 (with the 8 pin connector split in two), if your motherboard has the 24+8 connectors you want a PSU that has either 24+8 or 24+4+4. Your best be in all cases if to choose a PSU that gives the widest compatibility, but if you already have the PSU find a motherboard that matches.

Thank you.

Thank you even your reply to my last question is no.  Yes.  I fully understand.  Too many factors involved.  And I thank you for all the help you have provided me on this forum.

I am 90% certain the issue on my T3-715 is the MB. I am able or almost able to change the MB.  Right now the problem is to find the right MB for replacing the one of T3-715.  Acer does not have their own MB for T3-715, the board is a custom made one.  There is an Acer T3-715 MB if searching it on Google.  But there is no information about who made it, the scpecs, and its model number.   Many people say its just a uATX board, any of of the uATX boards is usable to replace the Acer T3-715.  Yes, it is just one of the uATX boards, but certainly not any one of the uATX boards is "right" to replace the Acer T3-715 board.

Many vendors claim the uATX board they sell can replace Acer T3-715 MB.  But there is no further reply if a second question "What if it doesn't work right?" is asked.  

Now I am almost sure that many uATX boards or eve most uATX boards can start the machine & boot in Windows 10 if they are compatible with Intel i5, of 6th generation, & 1151 pins.  In this case, yes, many uATX boards can replace the one of Acer T3-715.  But that's not all a PC is built for.

On the other hand, I really do not demand much on the PC I am using.  I am an amateur photographer.  All I do on my PC is 1. watching NBC news, and 2. processing my photographic files, usually RAW & TIFF files.  The heaviest app my PC runs is Photoshop.  I do not install other apps except for Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and Shadow Defender (always run my PC in virtual mode). 

With that said, do you think I need a heavy duty MB? 

The PSU of Acer T3-715 is a 500W max. one.  Acer T3-715 is not super fast, yet fast enough for my photo processing work.

My previous question about the 8pin & 4pin was because of the Asus MB Q170M2.  I paid for a gentleman repairing my PC.  He replaced Acer T3-714 MB with Asus Q170M2.  Three days later, he reverted my PC & refunded me.  He installed a different version of Windows on the PC.  I asked him ro reactivated my original SO on the SSD.  Then, he reverted the PC.  Then I thought over and over about the whole thing.  I guess, the "why" is 1. that MB is remodeled, and 2. that MB did not have the S/N which is required for reactivating my original OS.  Am I right?

Then I wanted to buy Q170M2 from Asus.  And that was why I came to ask the question about the 8pin and 4pin on motherboards.

Unfortunately, Asus has no Q170M2 to sell now.     

billsey

I don't see any obvious reason why the Asus Q170M2 wouldn't work fine, though it has a couple of features you likely won't need, such as the second Ethernet port and the old style PCI slots. Did your technician has some problem with that MB? I see it has the 8 pin +12V connector, to allow driving cards for the old style PCI slots, so a different board might have been a better choice. My guess is he chose this one because he had it in stock. If I were building a system using it I'd replace the PSU with one that has the larger connector and put an M.2 SSD in if your old system didn't already have one.