OverviewofPowerSupplies

Astandardpowersupplydrawspowerfromalocal,alternatingcurrent(AC)source
(usuallyawalloutlet)andconvertsittoeither3.3or5voltsdirectcurrent(DC)for
onboardelectronics,and12voltsDCformotorsandharddrives.Inallcases,itdelivers
bothpositiveandnegativeDCtothecomputer.Powersuppliesmust"condition"the
power,smoothingoutanyradicalchangesinitsquality.Manyhomesandofficeshave
powerthatfluctuatesfarmorethanthedelicatepartsofaPCcantolerateandsurvive
under.MostPCpowersuppliesalsoprovideelectricitytothesystem'scoolingand
processorfansthatkeepthemachinefromoverheating.
Ifthecomputer'spowersupplyisprovidingreliable,cleanpoweranditsowncoolingfan
works,alliswell.Ifthepowersupplyoritsfanshouldfailorcauseerraticbehaviorby
thePC,thepowersupplymustbereplaced.(Althoughitispossibletoremoveand
replaceapowersupplyfan,thelowcostofapowersupplymakesitmorepracticalto
replacethepowersupplyitself.)
Mostsupplieshaveauniversalinputthatwillaccepteither110voltsalternatingcurrent
(VAC),60hertz(Hz)(U.S.standardpower),or220VAC,50Hz(EuropeanandAsian
standard).Whenreplacingapowersupply,therearethreethingstoconsider:physical
size,wattage,andconnectors.Theremainderofthischaptercoversthebasicsofpower
supplies.
NOTE

Ahertzisameasureofunitfrequency:1cyclepersecondequals1hertz.
Akilohertz(kHz)is1,000cyclespersecondamegahertz(MHz)is1
millioncyclespersecond.

PowerSupplySizes

Powersuppliesareavailableinafewstandardsizesandshapes.However,thenamesfor
powersuppliesareanythingbutstandard.Theyarebasedonthetypeofcaseinwhich
theyareinstalledandthetypesofmotherboardconnectionstheywillsupport.Thisis
becausedifferentstylesofcasesplaceitemssuchasplugfittings,mountingscrews,and
fansindifferentplaces,andmotherboardstylesofferdifferentconnectionsandplacement
ofplugs.Thesecablesandfittingsmustbecompatibletoworktogether.
TheveryfirstPCsallusedthesametypeofpowersupplywithalarge,redswitchonthe
side.Variationsweremanufacturedforearlyportablesandtowercases,withlongeror
shortercablesanddifferenttypesofswitches.Theyallsharedacommonpairof
motherboardconnectors.Collectivelytheyareknownas
ATstyle.
Whenreplacingan
ATstylepowersupply,yougenerallyonlyneedtobeconcernedaboutthetypeofcase
thatitwillgoin.Theexceptionsaresomehighendnetworkservers,whichsometimes
allowforanextrapowerleadtothemotherboard.AllnewerdesktopPCs(PentiumIIand
later)andserversuse
ATXstyle
powersupplies.TheATXdesignsimplifiesmotherboard
connectionbycombiningthetwopowerleadsintheATstylepowersupplyintoone.The
mainissuestobeawareofarehowmuchwattagethePCneedstopoweritspartsand
howmanyperipheralconnectorsarerequired.Generallyspeaking,olderPentiumbased
computersandall486basedandearlierPCsusedATstylesuppliesalmostallPentium

IIandlaterbasedsystemsuseATXstylesupplies.TheATXdesignispreferablefortwo
reasons:

Theonoffpowercontrolcircuit(notthebutton)onATXboardsisbuiltintothe
motherboard.OnATstylePCs,itcomesfromthepowersupply.

ATstylepowersuppliesconnecttothemotherboardthroughapairofsixwire
connectors.ATXstylepowersuppliesconnectthroughasingle20pinconnector.

AfewmotherboardsandpowersuppliesprovidebothATandATXfittingsandswitch
support.Thesearerare,butprovidemoreoptionsshouldyouhavetorepairsucha
system.Generally,youshoulduseATXstylepowersuppliesforallreplacements,if
possible.
Whenreplacingapowersupply,it'sagoodideatocomparetheexistingpowersupplyto
thenewone.Makesurethattheyarephysicallythesamesize,havethesameconnectors,
andthatthenewonehasatleastthesamepowerrating.Somehighqualitypower
suppliesoffer"silencer"fansthataremuchquieterthanmostmodels.

PowerSupplyWattage
Powersuppliesareratedaccordingtothemaximumsustainedpower(measuredinwatts)
thattheycanproduce.A
watt
isaunitofelectricalpowerequivalenttoonevoltampere.
Itisimportanttokeepinmindthatthepowersupplymustproduceatleastenoughenergy
tooperateallthecomponentsofthesystematthesametime.

Youcandetermineacomputer'spowerconsumptionbyaddingthepowerrequirements,
measuredinwatts,forallthedevicesintheunit.Whenevaluatingapowersupply,
however,don'trelyonthecomputer'soperatingconsumptionalone.Rememberthata
muchlargerdrainoccursasthemachinepowersup,whenharddrivesandotherheavy
feederssimultaneouslycompetefortheavailablestartuppower.Mostgeneraluse
computersrequire130wattswhilerunningandabout200205wattswhenbooting(at
startup).Soundcards,modems,and(worstofall)monitorsattachedwithanaccessory
pluginthecasecanpushaweakpowersupplytoitslimitandbeyond.
Serversandhighperformanceworkstationsoftenhaveanabundanceofrandomaccess
memory(RAM),multipledrives,SCSI(SmallComputerSystemInterface)adapters,and
powerhungryvideocards,alongwithoneormorenetworkcards.Theyoftendemand
powersuppliesof350500watts.
CAUTION
Thelabelonapowersupplythatsays"Don'tOpen"meansjustthat!
Openingapowersupplyisdangerous.Itisbettertocompletelyremove
andreplaceadefectivepowersupplyasneeded.

PowerSupplyConnectors
Powersuppliesemployseveraltypesofconnectors,allofwhichareeasytoidentifyand
use.Ontheoutsideofthecomputerenclosure,astandardmaleACplugand
threeconductorwire(twopowerwiresandaground)drawscurrentfromawalloutlet,
withafemaleconnectionenteringthereceptacleinthebackofthepowersupply.There
arethreetypesofconnectorsontheinside:thepowermaintothemotherboard(which

differs,asmentioned,inATandATXmodels)andtwotypesoffourpinfittingsto
supply5voltsand3.3voltsofpowertoperipheralssuchasthefloppydiskandharddisk
drives.Let'stakeacloselookateachinturn.

ATStyleConnectionstotheMotherboard
Apairofalmostidenticalconnectors,designatedP8andP9,linksthepowersupplytothe
motherboard(seeFigure5.1).Theseconnectorsareseatedintoarowofsixpinsand
matchingplasticguides,or
teeth,
onthemotherboard.TheP8andP9connectors
must
be
placedintheproperorientation.Themotherboardmanualwillshowwhichfittingsarefor
P8andP9.Iftheconnectorsarenotmarked,
Figure5.1

P8andP9connectorsandmotherboardfitting
makesurethatthetwoblackwiresoneachplugaresidebysideandthattheorangewire
(onP8)andthetworedwires(onP9)areontheoutsideasyoupushthemintoplace.
Thefollowingtableofpowercablesshowsvoltagevaluesforeachofthecolorcoded
wiresonP8andP9.Thegroundwiresareconsidered0voltsallvoltagemeasurements
(see
Chapter22
,"TheBasicsofElectricalEnergy")aretakenbetweentheblackwires
andoneofthecoloredwires.
CableColor SupplyIn Tolerance
Yellow
+12
10%
Blue
12
10%
Red
+5
5%
White
5
5%
Black
Ground N/A
NOTE

Somecomputermakersemployproprietarypowerconnectionsthatrequire
aspecialpowersupply.Toinstallanewpartinthesetypesofcomputers,
youwillneedtofollowtheinstructionsthatcomewiththecomputer.

RemembertoinstalltheP8andP9plugssothattheblackwiresaresidebyside.
Installingthemonthewrongreceptaclecandamageboththemotherboardandthepower
supply.Figure5.2showstheP8andP9connectorsandamotherboard.

NOTE
SomepowersupplieshaveathirdPstyleconnector.Thisisusedonlyon
veryfewmotherboardsanditcanbeignoredonthoseonwhichitis
found.Ifyoucomeacrossone,refertothemanualthatcamewiththepart
forinstructionsonitsrequirementsandinstallation.

Figure5.2

ConnectingP8andP9

ATXStyleMotherboardConnections
ThenewerATXmainpowerconnection,foundonPentiumIIcomputersandlater,is
mucheasiertoinstall.Asingle20pinplugissetintoafittedreceptacleandsecuredwith
acatchonthesideoftheplugthatsnapsoverthefitting.Figure5.3showshowto
properlyseattheconnection.Asmall,flattipscrewdriverisahandytoolforeasingthe
pressureonthecatchtoremovetheplug.Insomecases,youcanuseascrewdriverto
easeinstallationaswell.

Figure5.3

PlacinganATXpluginitsmotherboardreceptacle

ConnectionstoPeripheralHardware
Twostandardtypesofconnectorsareusedtoconnectthepowersupplytoperipheral
hardware:

Molexconnector.
Thisisthemostcommonlyusedpowerconnector.Itprovides
both12voltand5voltpower.Harddiskdrives,internaltapedrives,CDROM
drives,DVD(digitalvideodisc)drives,andolder5.25inchfloppydiskdrivesall
usethisfitting.TheMolexconnectorhastworoundedcornersandtwosharp
cornerstoensurethatitinstallsproperly(seeFigure5.4).
Figure5.4

Molexconnector(nottoscale)

Miniconnector.
Mostpowersuppliesprovideoneormoreminiconnectors(see
Figure5.5).Theminiisusedprimarilyfor3.5inchfloppydiskdrives.Ithasfour
pinoutsand,usually,fourwires.Mostarefittedwithkeysthatmakeitdifficult,
butnotimpossible,toinstallupsidedown.Besuretoorienttheconnector
correctlyapplyingpowerwiththeconnectorreversedcandamageordestroythe
drive.
Figure5.5

Miniconnector(nottoscale)

TwoandThreePinMiniPlugs
AlesscommontypeofpowerconnectorisusedtoconnectthefanofaPentiumIIorIII
processortothemotherboardforpower,toconnectaCDROMdrivetoasoundcard,

andtoprovidepowerfor3.5inchfloppydiskdrives.Theseconnectorshavetwoorthree
wiresthatareusuallyredandblackorred,yellow,andblack.
CAUTION
Donotconnectpowercarryingminiplugstoaudioordatadevicessuchas
aCDdriveorasoundcard,becauseyoucoulddamageordestroythose
devices.

ExtendersandSplitters
PCscanrunoutofpowerconnections,andlargecasescanhavedrivesbeyondthereach
ofanyplugonthesupply.Agoodtechnicianhasaquicksolutiononhandtobothof
thesecommonproblems:extendersandsplitters.
Extenders
arewiresetsthathaveaMolexconnectoroneachendtheyareusedtoextend
apowerconnectiontoadevicebeyondthereachofthepowersupply'sownwiring.
Splitters
aresimilartoextenders,withtheexceptionthattheyprovidetwopower
connectionsfromasinglepowersupplyconnector.