Hi
could you please tell me what is the difference between a pc power supply with 24 pin connector (20pin + 4pin) and the earlier type with only 20 pin connector? ( I'm not reffering to the seprate 4 pin plug that powers the cpu).
Yeah, like Blue said, the more power-hungry boards require a 20+4 or 24-pin connector in addition to the 4-pin CPU power connector. However, some motherboards don't explicitly NEED the 20+4 and will work the same with just the 20-pin. This is the case with my motherboard (Gigabyte EP45-DS4P)
Most any board should work with just the 20-pin connector. The additional pins are just redundant power and ground pins. Hey they have to keep messing with something.
When buying a PSU, look for the dual purpose connector where the extra four pin receptacles can be detached.
That's just typical - I've just bought a new 550W PSU cos the last one blew up (catastrophic failure). I didn't think i could use a 500W 20pin. I suppose it's safer to use the proper connector anyway...