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I need to connect two 4-pin molex connectors to the backplane of my NAS (Silvstone DS380) but the PSU i use (Seasonic SS-250SU) did only come with one Molex connector.

Since i don't want to put all the current needed while spinning up (8 7200RPM HDDs) through one molex connector with an Y-cable at the end i thought it might be possible to convert a ATX12V connector into a 4-pin molex. The PSU has two of these ATX12V (to combine them into a 8-pin) but my motherboard (ASRock E3C224D4I-14S) only uses one.

I have seen adapters that combine two 4-pin molex to one ATX12V 4-pin connector, so i gathered that should be possible also the other way round.
But how would i do that?

used items: PSU (mine only has one 4-pin molex): http://www.seasonic.ru/products/items/30
case: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452
motherboard: http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224D4I-14S

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  • Have a look at this thread PSU with an ATX 12v 4-pin whether this helps with some idea.
    – BDRSuite
    Jun 12, 2015 at 10:00
  • The answer is "no", because the ATX12V only has 12V and GND pins, whereas the Molex connector for the HDD requires 5V, 12V and GND pins.
    – sawdust
    Jun 12, 2015 at 10:11
  • @sawdust - add your comment as an answer so you get credit for it.
    – kazoni
    Jun 12, 2015 at 13:49
  • You could consider using a molex splitter to power it.
    – Ben Sampica
    Jun 12, 2015 at 20:17

1 Answer 1

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Can i convert a ATX12V 4 pin into a 4 pin molex (IDE)?

The answer is "no".
The ATX12V has only one supply voltage among its four pins: two pins for 12V (yellow wire) and two pins for GND (black wire). The Molex connector (for the HDD) also has four pins, but has two supply voltages. It has one 5V pin (red wire), one 12V pin and two GND pins.
The ATX12V connector is not going to provide you with a 5V pin.

I have seen adapters that combine two 4-pin molex to one ATX12V 4-pin connector, so i gathered that should be possible also the other way round. But how would i do that?

You "gathered" incorrectly.
The conversion you refer to uses only half the pins of two Molex connectors, and leave half the pins unused.
If you want to do the reverse conversion, you would need to start with two spare 5V and two GND pins as well as the ATX12V connector.

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