Re: How do I connect up a power supply?
- From: Paul <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:27:46 -0400
Frank Martin wrote:
"Paul" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:g9nquq$m3e$1@xxxxxxxxxxxFrank Martin wrote:I have had bad luck with power supplies, the first a 350W unit must have been undersized and it failed taking the HDD control board with it.It uses modular cabling for a reason. You only
The second was oversized but this failed within 6 months, the room being filled with smoke and an IDE DVD reader failed as well, probably because of this.
Now I bought a "Toughpower" 750W "ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS" 12V unit with a 14cm fan with "Imbedded Socket & Modularized Cable Management".
The back of this unit has four banks of sockets, vis: (L>R)
1/ "8pin + 12V power connector. (8-pin socket).
2/ "6pin PCI-E connectors" sockets. (Two sockets of 6pins each).
3/ "4pin peripheral & floppy power connector". (two 6pin sockets.)
4/ "S-ATA connectors". (two six-pin sockets.)
Additionally there is a large thick 24pin cable leading from the unit which plugs into the motherboard, and this I did.
I am not sure which cable plugs into the top left hand side plug of the motherboard, whether it's the one black/yellow cable that runs with the 24pin one, or the "8pin+12V power connector" socket-fed cable plugged into the LHS of the power unit. Which one should it be?
What do the "6pin PCI-E connector" sockets feed? Do they have to be connected at all?
I have plugged the "4-pin Peripheral & Floppy Power Connector" sockets to he DVD readers & writers I have, and this seems to work OK.
Can I use the "S-ATA connectors" for this too?
I am mainly confused as to where to plug in the "6pin PCI express connector" which runs alongside the 24pin plug cable.
Please help, Frank
plug in the things you need to power your computer,
and the other cables can remain unplugged and stored
in the cardboard box.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=7
In the picture here, the top connector (blue), would be
used for processor power. Some motherboards have provision
for a 2x4 connector near the processor area. All the motherboards
I have here, use the more common 2x2 connector (two yellow, two black
wires). Some 2x4 connectors are hinged, and split into two pieces,
giving you a 2x2 connector when you need one. Other cable assemblies,
make both the 2x4 and a 2x2 connector available, so you can deal
with either situation. Look closely at the cable with four yellow and
four black wires, and see what connector type is on the end.
((Thanks, I have used the top blue socket cable to connect to the plug on the motherboard closest to the CPU. This works OK. It has 8 bundled black/yellow wires only four of which seem to be connected. But what is the purpose of the other main cable, not the 24-pin one, which is wired into the supply and which also has 8 bundled wires also black/yellow ut connect to a plug with a securing tab the other way about to the one on the motherboard. When I present this to the motherboard the black/yellow bundled wires are opposite to the one leading fron the modular blue-socket on the power supply. What is this "PCI-express" - labelled cable for? I don't want to experiment because the colours are the other way around when I try.))
((I haven't connected anything to the red "6pin PCI-E" sockets on the powerboard. Is this OK?))
((I have used the "4pin peripheral & floppy power connector" sockets for everything else such as the HHD (there are two) and the two DVD read/writers and the small 3.5mb floppy drive. Is it OK to parallel so many prepheriferal units off these "4pin peripheral & floppy power connectors"?))
((I will buy one of these clamp-on ammeters as soon as possible, and thank you for the advice. The motherboard is MSI945PNeo with a dual-core CPU. The computer is working OK but the powersupply and most of the cables are temporarly connected.))
((When I pulled the failed power suppies to pieces, the first had its capacitors all swollen & leaking, and the second one had one of its small transformer coils all blackened and about to fail. ))
Regards.
This is a picture of the two fixed cables on that power
supply. One is PCI Express, the other is the main 24 pin (20+4)
power connector for the motherboard. The two fixed cables
are pictured here.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules/NDReviews/images/Toughpower750W/IMG_1013.jpg
The text is here.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=7
"Oddly enough, the second of the two fixed cables on the Toughpower 750W
is not a +12V for ATX12V or EPS12V, but is a PCI-e connector. Both the
fixed ATX main power connector and PCI-e connector are on the same rail.
There are two PCI-e connectors on the Toughpower 750W other than this
fixed one, and these two connectors are on their own 12V rail. The manual
states if you are using high end SLI/Crossfire that you should use the two
modular PCI-e cables. So I'm not really certain what purpose this fixed
PCI-e serves."
So that makes a total of three PCI Express connectors. PCI Express connectors
come in 2x3 and 2x4 types. The 2x4 was added as an afterthought, when some
extra high power video cards came out.
The signals on the two kinds of PCI Express, are shown in the wiring diagram
for the following power supply. The 2x3 has three yellow 12V wires, and
three black ground wires. The 2x4 has three yellow 12V wires, and five black
ground wires. As far as I know, one of the ground wires on the 2x4 PCI Express
is a "presence detect" pin. The video card senses the ground has been connected,
and then the card knows a 2x4 has been plugged in. I don't know if a pin was
hijacked for this purpose on the 2x3 connector or not. It might have been.
http://www.pcpower.com/downloads/S75_diagram_3827.JPG
Some PCI Express 2x4 are hinged, and break apart into a 2x3 section and a 2x1
section. This is so the connector can be used for either situation (2x3 or 2x4).
In any case, you haven't mentioned any PCI Express video cards, and
if you're not using one, or if the PCI Express card doesn't use Aux
connectors on the non-faceplate end of the card, then that "fixed"
PCI Express can be left dangling.
A basic computer build uses -
1) 2x2 for the processor, +12V and ground
2) 24 pin main connector, for motherboard power
3) A least one peripheral cable, with floppy, hard drive, CDROM power
You can add to that
4a) The fixed PCI Express, for a low powered card with a single Auxiliary connector.
or
4b) Use the two modular PCI Express, for a higher power card. (8800GTX?)
If there is no video card like that present in the computer, then
the two "red connector" cables, can stay in the cardboard box.
5) The additional peripheral power cables would be needed, if you have a whole bunch
of hard drives or something.
The clamp-on ammeter is an expensive tool, the most expensive of
my cheesy collection of meters. Not every DIY home builder needs
one, but if you ever have concerns about where the amps are
flowing, I find it a handy tool. I can use the DC measurement scale
for computer work, and the AC measurement scale for working on my
central air conditioner (bad fan motor).
Many cheap general purpose multimeters, have a 10 amps limit (protected
by a fuse on the multimeter). That clamp-on meter doesn't have a fuse
on it, and can measure 40 amps DC full scale or 400 amps DC full scale.
I've measured 16 amps flowing on one of the lower voltage rails in
one of my older computers. One of the reasons I bought the clamp-on
meter, is because it did not have the typical 10 amp measurement
limit. Since the meter uses magnetic fields for measurement, it
doesn't get in the circuit path, and that is one of its better
features. I feel real good when working on 220VAC and not making
contact with live voltage. With a normal multimeter, you have
to put the current measurement interface, in series with the load,
which would require cutting a wire.
HTH,
Paul
.
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