Do I need the 4-pin EPS power connector on my motherboard if I'm just overclocking ram?

[Jack Of Owls]

I use the standard ATX 20-pin power connector along with the 8-pin EPS but I know you're suppose to use the extra 4-pin EPS connector if you overclock but otherwise don't bother. My motherboard is an Asus ROG Strix z490-E using a 10850K chip. I use the XMP profile for my ram which effectively overclocks it to 4000MHz and pushes voltage to 1.4v. Do I need that extra 4-pin power connector if I just overclock ram and nothing else? My PSU normally doesn't have the 4-pin EPS but I bought this adapter a few months ago just before I bought the motherboard in case I needed it. Just want my rig to be as stable as possible and the extra juice might help.

 

[Azrak]

This question is asked over and over. The standard response is "no, the 4-pin EPS connector is not needed. Just use the 8-pin connector."
My retort is always the same: If you already have the extra 4-pin power cable available as part of the PSU standard set of cables, why not use it? It does not hurt anything and in fact can only help by spreading the current load across more wires.

In your specific case however, I wouldn't plug it in. Reason: That adapter cable is REALLY UGLY! lol Don't get me wrong - Startech makes good stuff, but they need to step up their presentation game and start using all black cables and connectors.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

This question is asked over and over. The standard response is "no, the 4-pin EPS connector is not needed. Just use the 8-pin connector."
My retort is always the same: If you already have the extra 4-pin power cable available as part of the PSU standard set of cables, why not use it? It does not hurt anything and in fact can only help by spreading the current load across more wires.

In your specific case however, I wouldn't plug it in. Reason: That adapter cable is REALLY UGLY! lol Don't get me wrong - Startech makes good stuff, but they need to step up their presentation game and start using all black cables and connectors.

I could always paint it black lol ♬I see an ugly startech 4-pin EPS adapter I want to paint it black♬

 

[athenian200]

I ran into a similar problem. I definitely noticed an improvement in overclock stability with that third EPS connector when overclocking Rocket Lake to 5GHz. But basically, yeah... there's nothing special about the 8-pin EPS connector, it's basically just two 4-pin connectors and then a third one. It will work fine with just an 8-pin connector if you don't overclock much and make sure to enforce the power limits or use an AVX offset to make sure it doesn't eat through more power than two 4-pin EPS connectors can provide.

I would up buying a similar cable to the one you got:

https://smile.amazon.com/COMeap-Det...7K5J/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B08M5F7K5J&psc=1

The difference is, this one wound up using a spare PCI-E connector that came with my 700W that I wasn't using because I don't run SLI. It seems like only 750W PSUs and up come with that third EPS connector out of the box.

I don't know if a simple 4-pin molex can provide enough juice for an EPS connector. But I know for sure those PCI-E power connectors can deliver a ton of juice, they'd have to in order to power a GPU.

 

[NattyKathy]

I can't say for sure whether it will matter for mem OC stability, but will say I agree that Molex-EPS/ATX12V connector looks shady af. The single 12V pin on that can't sink much current at all. The PCIe->EPS/ATX12V adapter looks much better.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Well, Startech... looks like you done me wrong lol if I had known about it back when I started to put together the accesories for my new motherboard I would have spent the couple of bucks more and gotten the PCIe/EPS adapter. Plus, black is beautiful, man.

 

[RazorWind]

This question is asked over and over. The standard response is "no, the 4-pin EPS connector is not needed. Just use the 8-pin connector."
My retort is always the same: If you already have the extra 4-pin power cable available as part of the PSU standard set of cables, why not use it? It does not hurt anything and in fact can only help by spreading the current load across more wires.

In your specific case however, I wouldn't plug it in. Reason: That adapter cable is REALLY UGLY! lol Don't get me wrong - Startech makes good stuff, but they need to step up their presentation game and start using all black cables and connectors.

This. The extra 4 pin generally isn't needed unless you're doing something ridiculous like competitive overclocking with sub-ambient cooling.

What kind of PSU doesn't have the second 8 pin EPS lead these days, though?

 

[Jack Of Owls]

What kind of PSU doesn't have the second 8 pin EPS lead these days, though?

I'm a frugal to a fault so I tend to use/recycle as much as I can pull from my old system when doing a new upgrade so in this case I'm using my old Antec NeoECO 620C 620W PSU which doesn't have the extra 4-pin EMS connector but does have the 8-pin one.