GA 790XT USB3 power consumption

[woofman]

I have an 790XT USB3 motherboard and using a phenom II 550 processor and CoolerMaster eXtreme power plus 500w... Im only interested why the MB have 2 x 2 4pin power conector for the CPU becouse my computer works just fine with inserting only 1 x 4pin in upper slot. My power suply unit have 2 x 2 4pin conectors ( on 1 says P2 on other P3, im using the P2 connector in upper slot ). recently i inserted the P3 4pin connector and everything worked same as always, no change at all. I just wanna know what is the diference and what is better for me to do

[absic]

Hi,

The boards will generally work OK with just the 4 Pin ATX plug inserted but the added supply provided by the 8 Pin ATX  enhances system stability and provides extra power if needed.

Hope this helps