Old M/B and new Power Supply problems with 12V power connector

Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin type.

So my questions are:
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.

Thanks

J Mann

 

My guess is the 3-pin connector is to control the fan speed in the power
supply. The new power supply probably does not need this connection.
If your motherboard does not a place to connect the 4-pin square connector,
you do not need it.
In other words, go ahead and use the new power supply!
Jack

 

The 4-pin square connector (with retaining clip?) sounds like a Pentium 4 12v
power connector. Any P4 power supply will operate just fine with an older ATX
system.

The only drawback of the replacement power supply might be that its fan cannot
be throttled or shut down when the system is running cool. That's the usual
purpose of a 3-wire fan lead on a power supply. So the replacement power supply
will be noisier overall... Ben Myers