Power supply unit (computer)

A power supply unit (or PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage regulated DC power
for the internal components of a computer. Modern personal computers universally use
switched-mode power supplies. Some power supplies have a manual switch for selecting
input voltage, while others automatically adapt to the mains voltage.

Most modern desktop personal computer power supplies conform to the ATX
specification, which includes form factor and voltage tolerances. While an ATX power
supply is connected to the mains supply, it always provides a 5 Volt standby (5VSB)
voltage so that the standby functions on the computer and certain peripherals are
powered. ATX power supplies are turned on and off by a signal from the motherboard.
They also provide a signal to the motherboard to indicate when the DC voltages are in
spec, so that the computer is able to safely power up and boot. The most recent ATX PSU
standard is version 2.31 as of mid-2008.

An ATX power supply unit with top cover

removed
Contents
Functions
Development
Original IBM PC, XT and AT standard
ATX standard
ATX12V standard
+3.3 V and +5 V rails
Entry-Level Power Supply Specification
Single vs. multiple +12 V rail
12 V–only supplies
Power rating
Efficiency
Appearance
 Connectors
Modular power supplies
Other form factors
Life span
Wiring diagrams
Testing
Monitoring
See also
Notes
References
External links
Computer power supply calculators
ATX power supply specifications

Functions
The desktop computer power supply changes
alternating current from a wall socket of mains
electricity to low-voltage direct current to operate the
processor and peripheral devices. Several direct-
current voltages are required, and they must be
regulated with some accuracy to provide stable
operation of the computer. A power supply rail or
voltage rail refers to a single voltage provided by a
power supply unit (PSU).[1] Simplified circuit diagram of a typical PSU Diagram of a typical XT and AT
voltage regulator circuit
First-generation microcomputer and home computer
power supply units used a heavy step-down
transformer and a linear power supply, as used, in for example, the Commodore PET introduced in 1977. The Apple II, also introduced
in 1977, was noted for its switched-mode power supply, which was lighter and smaller than an equivalent linear power supply would
have been, and which had no cooling fan. The switched-mode supply uses a ferrite-cored high frequency transformer and power
transistors that switch thousands of times per second. By adjusting the switching time of the transistor, the output voltage can be closely
controlled without dissipating energy as heat in a linear regulator. The development of high-
power and high-voltage transistors at economical prices made it practical to introduce switch
mode supplies, that had been used in aerospace, mainframes, minicomputers and color
television, into desktop personal computers. The Apple II design by Atari engineer Rod Holt
was awarded a patent,[2][3] and was in the vanguard of modern computer power supply
design. Now all modern computers use switched-mode power supplies, which are lighter, less
costly, and more efficient than equivalent linear power supplies.

Computer power supplies may have short circuit protection, overpower (overload) protection,
over-voltage protection, under-voltage protection, over-current protection, and over-
temperature protection.
Internals of a PSU with passive PFC (left)
The ATX standard followed some manufacturers design to have power supplies also supply a
and active PFC (right)
standby voltage, so that most of the computer system could be powered off after preparing for
hibernation or shutdown, and powered back on by an event. When the computer is powered
down but the power supply is still on, it can be started remotely via Wake-on-LAN and Wake-on-ring or locally via Keyboard Power ON
(KBPO) if the motherboard supports it. This standby voltage is generated by a smaller power supply inside the unit. The standby power
source was a small linear power supply with conventional transformer, which was later changed to a switching power supply, sharing
some components of the main unit due to cost- and energy-saving requirements.

Power supplies designed for worldwide use were equipped with an input voltage selector switch that allowed the user to configure the
unit for use on local power grid. In the lower voltage range, around 115 V, this switch is turned on changing the power grid voltage
rectifier into a voltage doubler in delon circuit design. As a result, the large primary filter capacitor behind that rectifier was split up into
two capacitors wired in series, balanced with bleeder resistors and varistors that were necessary in the upper input voltage range,
around 230 V. Connecting the unit configured for the lower range to a higher-voltage grid usually resulted in an immediate permanent
damage. When the power factor correction (PFC) was required, those filter capacitors were replaced with higher-capacity ones, together
with a coil installed in series to delay the inrush current. This is the simple design of a passive PFC.

Active PFC is more complex and can achieve higher PF, up to 99%. The first active PFC circuits just delayed the inrush. Newer ones are
working as an input and output condition-controlled step-up converter, supplying a single 400 V filter capacitor from a wide-range
input source, usually between 80 and 240 V. Newer PFC circuits also replace the NTC-based inrush current limiter, which is an
expensive part previously located next to the fuse.

Development
Original IBM PC, XT and AT standard
The first IBM PC power supply unit (PSU) supplied two main voltages: +5 V and +12 V. It
supplied two other voltages, −5 V and −12 V, but with limited amounts of power. Most
microchips of the time operated on 5 V power. Of the 63.5 W these PSUs could deliver,
most of it was on this +5 V rail.

The +12 V supply was used primarily to operate motors such as in disk drives and cooling
fans. As more peripherals were added, more power was delivered on the 12 V rail.
PCB of a power supply from an IBM XT clone
However, since most of the power is consumed by chips, the 5 V rail still delivered most of
the power. The −12 V rail was used primarily to provide the negative supply voltage to the
RS-232 serial ports. A −5 V rail was provided for peripherals on the ISA bus (such as
soundcards), but was not used by any motherboard other than the original IBM PC
motherboard.

An additional wire referred to as 'Power Good' is used to prevent digital circuitry

operation during the initial milliseconds of power supply turn-on, where output voltages
and currents are rising but not yet sufficient or stable for proper device operation. Once
the output power is ready to use, the Power Good signal tells the digital circuitry that it
can begin to operate.

Original IBM power supplies for the PC (model 5150), XT and AT included a line-voltage
power switch that extended through the side of the computer case. In a common variant
found in tower cases, the line-voltage switch was connected to the power supply with a A typical XT PSU power switch, which is an
integral part of the PSU.
short cable, allowing it to be mounted apart from the power supply.

An early microcomputer power supply was either fully on or off, controlled by the
mechanical line-voltage switch, and energy saving low-power idle modes were not a design consideration of early computer power
supplies. These power supplies were generally not capable of power saving modes such as standby or "soft off", or scheduled turn-on
power controls.

Due to the always-on design, in the event of a short circuit, either a fuse would blow, or a switched-mode supply would repeatedly cut
the power, wait a brief period of time, and attempt to restart. For some power supplies the repeated restarting is audible as a quiet rapid
chirping or ticking emitted from the device.

ATX standard
When Intel developed the ATX standard power supply connector (published in 1995),
microchips operating on 3.3 V were becoming more popular, beginning with the Intel
80486DX4 microprocessor in 1994, and the ATX standard supplies three positive rails:
+3.3 V, +5 V, and +12 V. Earlier computers requiring 3.3 V typically derived that from a
simple but inefficient linear regulator connected to the +5 V rail.

The ATX connector provides multiple wires and power connections for the 3.3 V supply,
because it is most sensitive to voltage drop in the supply connections. Another ATX
addition was the +5 V SB (standby) rail for providing a small amount of standby power,
even when the computer was nominally "off".
Voltage converter for 80486DX4 processors
There are two basic differences between AT and ATX power supplies: the connectors that (5 V to 3.3 V). Note the heat sink on the linear
provide power to the motherboard, and the soft switch. In ATX-style systems, the front- regulator, required to dissipate the wasted
panel power switch provides only a control signal to the power supply and does not switch power.
the mains AC voltage. This low-voltage control allows other computer hardware or
software to turn the system on and off.

ATX12V standard
As transistors become smaller on chips, it becomes preferable to operate them on lower
supply voltages, and the lowest supply voltage is often desired by the densest chip, the
central processing unit. In order to supply large amounts of low-voltage power to the
Pentium and subsequent microprocessors, a special power supply, the voltage regulator
module began to be included on motherboards. Newer processors require up to 100 A at
2 V or less, which is impractical to deliver from off-board power supplies. A typical installation of an ATX form factor
computer power supply
Initially, this was supplied by the main +5 V supply, but as power demands increased, the
high currents required to supply sufficient power became problematic. To reduce the
power losses in the 5 V supply, with the introduction of the Pentium 4 microprocessor, Intel changed the processor power supply to
operate on +12 V, and added the separate four-pin P4 connector to the new ATX12V 1.0 standard to supply that power.

Modern high-powered graphics processing units do the same thing, resulting in most of the power requirement of a modern personal
computer being on the +12 V rail. When high-powered GPUs were first introduced, typical ATX power supplies were "5 V-heavy", and
could only supply 50–60% of their output in the form of 12 V power. Thus, GPU manufacturers, to ensure 200–250 W of 12 V power
(peak load, CPU+GPU), recommended power supplies of 500–600 W or higher. More modern ATX power supplies can deliver almost
all (typically 80–90%) of their total rated capacity in the form of +12 V power.
Because of this change, it is important to consider the +12 V supply capacity, rather than the overall power capacity, when using an
older ATX power supply with a more recent computer.

Low-quality power supply manufacturers sometimes take advantage of this overspecification by assigning unrealistically high power
supply ratings, knowing that very few customers fully understand power supply ratings.[4]

+3.3 V and +5 V rails

+3.3 V and +5 V rail voltage supplies are rarely a limiting factor; generally, any supply with a sufficient +12 V rating will have adequate
capacity at lower voltages. However, most hard drives or PCI cards will create a greater load on the +5 V rail.

Older CPUs and logic devices on the motherboard were designed for 5 V operating voltage. Power supplies for those computers regulate
the 5 V output precisely, and supply the 12 V rail in a specified voltage window depending on the load ratio of both rails. The +12 V
supply was used for computer fan motors, disk drive motors and serial interfaces (which also used the −12 V supply). A further use of
the 12 V came with the sound cards, using linear chip audio power amplifiers, sometimes filtered by a 9 V linear regulator on the card to
cut the noise of the motors.

Since certain 80386 variants, CPUs use lower operating voltages such as 3.3 or 3.45 V. Motherboards had linear voltage regulators,
supplied by the 5 V rail. Jumpers or dip switches set the output voltages to the installed CPU' s specification. When newer CPUs
required higher currents, switching mode voltage regulators like buck converters replaced linear regulators for efficiency.

Since the first revision of the ATX standard, PSUs were required to have a 3.3 V output voltage rail. Rarely, a linear regulator generated
these 3.3 V, supplied from the 5 V and converting the product of voltage drop and current to heat. In the most common design this
voltage is generated by shifting and transforming the pulses of the 5 V rail on an additional choke, causing the voltage to rise delayed
and rectified separately into a dedicated 3.3 V rail[5] and getting the rising idle voltage cut by a device type TL431,[6] which behaves
similar to a zener diode. Later regulators managed all the 3.3, 5 and 12 V rails. Cutting the pulse by the voltage regulator the rato of the
3.3 and 5 V is controlled. Some of these PSUs use two different chokes, feeding the to the 3.3 V rail from the transformer to manage
changing loads by pulse with ratio between the 3.3 and the 5 V outputs. In designs using identical chokes, the pulse width manage the
ratio.[7]

With the Pentium 4 and newer computer generations, the voltage for the CPU cores went below 2 V. Voltage drop on connectors forced
the designers to place such buck converters next to the device. Higher maximum power consumption required the buck converters no
longer fed from the 5 V and changed to a 12 V input, to decrease the current required from the power supply.

In drives a small linear voltage regulator is installed to keep the +3.3 V stable by feeding it from the +5 V rail.
Entry-Level Power Supply Specification
Entry-Level Power Supply Specification (EPS) is a power supply unit meant for high-power-consumption computers and entry-level
servers. Developed by the Server System Infrastructure (SSI) forum, a group of companies including Intel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and
others, that works on server standards, the EPS form factor is a derivative of the ATX form factor. The latest specification is v2.93.

The EPS standard provides a more powerful and stable environment for critical server-based systems and applications. EPS power
supplies have a 24-pin motherboard power connector and an eight-pin +12 V connector. The standard also specifies two additional four-
pin 12 V connectors for more power-hungry boards (one required on 700–800 W PSUs, both required on 850 W+ PSUs). EPS power
supplies are in principle compatible with standard ATX or ATX12V motherboards found in homes and offices but there may be
mechanical issues where the 12 V connector and in the case of older boards connector overhang the sockets.[8] Many PSU vendors use
connectors where the extra sections can be unclipped to avoid this issue. As with later versions of the ATX PSU standard, there is also
no −5 V rail.

Rail Color mark

Single vs. multiple +12 V rail
12V1 Yellow (black)
As power supply capacity increased, the ATX power supply standard was amended (beginning with version
12V2 Yellow
2.0[9]) to include:
12V3 Yellow (blue)
3.2.4. Power Limit / Hazardous Energy Levels 12V4 Yellow (green)
Under normal or overload conditions, no output shall continuously provide more than 240 VA under
any conditions of load including output short circuit, per the requirement of UL 1950 / CSA 950 /
EN 60950 / IEC 950.

— ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide, version 2.2[10]

The requirement was later deleted from version 2.3 (March 2007) of the ATX12V power supply specifications,[11] but led to a distinction
in modern ATX power supplies between single and multiple rails.

The rule was intended to set a safe limit on the current able to pass through any single output wire. A sufficiently large current can cause
serious damage in the event of a short circuit, or can melt the wire or its insulation in the case of a fault, or potentially start a fire or
damage other components. The rule limits each output to below 20 amps, with typical supplies guaranteeing 18 A availability. Power
supplies capable of delivering more than 18 A at 12 V would provide their output in groups of cables (called "rails"). Each rail delivers up
to a limited amount of current through one or more cables, and each rail is independently controlled by its own current sensor which
shuts down the supply upon excess current. Unlike a fuse or circuit breaker, these limits reset as soon as the overload is removed.
(Obviously, if the group of wires is limited to 20A, so is each wire in it.) Typically, a power supply will guarantee at least 17 A at 12 V by
having a current limit of 18.5 A ± 8%. Thus, it is guaranteed to supply at least 17 A, and guaranteed to cut off before 20 A. The current
limits for each group of cables is then documented so the user can avoid placing too many high-current loads in the same group.

Originally at the time of ATX 2.0, a power supply featuring "multiple +12 V rails" implied one able to deliver more than 20 A of +12 V
power, and was seen as a good thing. However, people found the need to balance loads across many +12 V rails inconvenient, especially
as higher end PSUs began to deliver far greater currents up to around 2000W, or more than 150A at 12v (compared to the 240 or 500W
of earlier times). When the assignment of connectors to rails is done at manufacturing time it is not always possible to move a given load
to a different rail or manage the allocation of current across devices.

Rather than add more current limit circuits, many manufacturers chose to ignore the requirement and increase the current limits above
20 A per rail, or provided "single-rail" power supplies that omit the current limit circuitry. (In some cases, in violation of their own
advertising claims to include it.[12]) Because of the above standards, almost all high-power supplies claimed to implement separate rails,
however this claim was often false; many omitted the necessary current-limit circuitry,[13] both for cost reasons and because it is an
irritation to customers.[14] (The lack was, and is, sometimes advertised as a feature under names like "rail fusion" or "current sharing".)

The requirement was withdrawn as a result, however the issue left its mark on PSU designs, which can be categorized into single rail
and multiple rail designs. Both may (and often do) contain current limiting controllers. As of ATX 2.31, a single rail design's output
current can be drawn through any combination of output cables, and the management and safe allocation of that load is left for the user.
A multiple rail design does the same, but limits the current supplied to each individual connector (or group of connectors), and the
limits it imposes are the manufacturer's choice rather than set by the ATX standard.

12 V–only supplies
Since 2011, Fujitsu and other tier-1 manufacturers[15] have been manufacturing systems containing
motherboard variants that require only a 12 V supply from a custom-made PSU, which is typically
rated at 250–300 W. DC-DC conversion, providing 5 V and 3.3 V, is done on the motherboard; the
proposal is that 5 V and 12 V supply for other devices, such as HDDs, will be picked up at the
motherboard rather than from the PSU itself, although this does not appear to be fully implemented
as of January 2012.

The reasons given for this approach to power supply are that it eliminates cross-load problems,
simplifies and reduces internal wiring that can affect airflow and cooling, reduces costs, increases
power supply efficiency, and reduces noise by bringing the power supply fan speed under the 12 V only connector on a Fujitsu
control of the motherboard. mainboard.
At least two of Dell's business PCs introduced in 2013, the Optiplex 9020 and Precision T1700, ship with 12 V–only power supplies and
implement 5 V and 3.3 V conversion exclusively on the motherboard.

Power rating
The overall power draw on a PSU is limited by the fact that all of the supply rails come through one transformer and any of its primary
side circuitry, like switching components. Total power requirements for a personal computer may range from 250 W to more than
1000 W for a high-performance computer with multiple graphics cards. Personal computers without especially high performing CPUs
or graphics cards usually require 300 to 500 W.[14] Power supplies are designed around 40% greater than the calculated system power
consumption. This protects against system performance degradation, and against power supply overloading. Power supplies label their
total power output, and label how this is determined by the electric current limits for each of the voltages supplied. Some power supplies
have no-overload protection.

The system power consumption is a sum of the power ratings for all of the components of the computer system that draw on the power
supply. Some graphics cards (especially multiple cards) and large groups of hard drives can place very heavy demands on the 12v lines
of the PSU, and for these loads, the PSU's 12 V rating is crucial. The total 12 V rating on the power supply must be higher than the
current required by such devices so that the PSU can fully serve the system when its other 12 V system components are taken into
account. The manufacturers of these computer system components, especially graphics cards, tend to over-rate their power
requirements, to minimize support issues due to too low of a power supply.

Efficiency
Various initiatives exist to improve the efficiency of computer power supplies. Climate Savers Computing Initiative promotes energy
saving and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging development and use of more efficient power supplies. 80 Plus
certifies a variety of efficiency levels for power supplies and encourages their use via financial incentives. Efficient power supplies also
save money by wasting less power; as a result they use less electricity to power the same computer, and they emit less waste heat which
results significant energy savings on central air conditioning in the summer. The gains of using an efficient power supply are more
substantial in computers that use a lot of power.

Although a power supply with a larger than needed power rating will have an extra margin of safety against overloading, such a unit is
often less efficient and wastes more electricity at lower loads than a more appropriately sized unit. For example, a 900-watt power
supply with the 80 Plus Silver efficiency rating (which means that such a power supply is designed to be at least 85% efficient for loads
above 180 W) may only be 73% efficient when the load is lower than 100 W, which is a typical idle power for a desktop computer. Thus,
for a 100 W load, losses for this supply would be 27 W; if the same power supply was put under a 450 W load, for which the supply's
efficiency peaks at 89%, the loss would be only 56 W despite supplying 4.5 times the useful power.[16][17] For a comparison, a 500-watt
power supply carrying the 80 Plus Bronze efficiency rating (which means that such a power supply is designed to be at least 82%
efficient for loads above 100 W) may provide an 84% efficiency for a 100 W load, wasting only 19 W.[18]

A power supply that is self-certified by its manufacturer may claim output ratings double or more than what is actually provided.[19][20]
To further complicate this possibility, when there are two rails that share power through down-regulating, it also happens that either
the 12 V rail or the 5 V rail overloads at well below the total rating of the power supply. Many power supplies create their 3.3 V output
by down-regulating their 5 V rail, or create 5 V output by down-regulating their 12 V rails. The two rails involved are labeled on the
power supply with a combined current limit. For example, the 5 V and 3.3 V rails are rated with a combined total current limit. For a
description of the potential problem, a 3.3 V rail may have a 10 A rating by itself (33 W), and the 5 V rail may have a 20 A rating (100 W)
by itself, but the two together may only be able to output 110 W. In this case, loading the 3.3 V rail to maximum (33 W), would leave the
5 V rail only able to output 77 W.

A test in 2005 revealed computer power supplies are generally about 70–80% efficient.[21] For a 75% efficient power supply to produce
75 W of DC output it would require 100 W of AC input and dissipate the remaining 25 W in heat. Higher-quality power supplies can be
over 80% efficient; as a result, energy-efficient PSUs waste less energy in heat and require less airflow to cool, resulting in quieter
operation.

As of 2012 some high-end consumer PSUs can exceed 90% efficiency at optimal load levels, though will fall to 87-89% efficiency during
heavy or light loads. Google's server power supplies are more than 90% efficient.[22] HP's server power supplies have reached 94%
efficiency.[23] Standard PSUs sold for server workstations have around 90% efficiency, as of 2010.

The energy efficiency of a power supply drops significantly at low loads. Therefore, it is important to match the capacity of a power
supply to the power needs of the computer. Efficiency generally peaks at about 50–75% load. The curve varies from model to model
(examples of how this curve looks can be seen on test reports of energy efficient models found on the 80 Plus website (http://www.80pl
us.org/manu/psu/psu_join.aspx)).

Appearance
Most desktop personal computer power supplies are a square metal box, and have a large bundle of wires emerging from one end.
Opposite the wire bundle is the back face of the power supply, with an air vent and an IEC 60320 C14 connector to supply AC power.
There may be a power switch and/or a voltage selector switch.

A label on one side of the box lists technical information about the power supply, including safety certifications and maximum output
power. Common certification marks for safety are the UL mark, GS mark, TÜV, NEMKO, SEMKO, DEMKO, FIMKO, CCC, CSA, VDE,
GOST R mark and BSMI. Common certificate marks for EMI/RFI are the CE mark, FCC and C-tick. The CE mark is required for power
supplies sold in Europe and India. A RoHS or 80 Plus can also sometimes
be seen.

Dimensions of an ATX power supply are 150 mm width, 86 mm height,

and typically 140 mm depth, although the depth can vary from brand to
brand.

Some power supplies come with sleeved cables, which besides being more
aesthetically pleasing, also make wiring easier and have a less detrimental
Various connectors available from a computer PSU
effect on airflow.

PSU dimensions[24][25]
Connectors
PSU Width Height Depth
Typically, power supplies have the following connectors (all are Molex (USA) Inc Mini- standard (mm) (mm) (mm)
Fit Jr, unless otherwise indicated): ATX12V / BTX 150 86 140

ATX motherboard power connector (usually called P1): This is the connector that ATX large 150 86 180
goes to the motherboard to provide it with power. The connector has 20 or 24 pins. ATX – EPS 150 86 230
One of the pins belongs to the PS-ON wire (it is usually green). This connector is the
largest of all the connectors. In older AT power supplies, this connector was split in CFX12V 101.6+48.4 86 96
two: P8 and P9. A power supply with a 24-pin connector can be used on a SFX12V 125 63.5 100
motherboard with a 20-pin connector. In cases where the motherboard has a 24-pin
TFX12V 85 64 175
connector, some power supplies come with two connectors (one with 20-pin and
other with 4-pin, i.e. 20+4-pin form) which can be used together to form the 24-pin LFX12V 62 72 210
connector.
FlexATX 81.5 40.5 150
12V only power connector (labelled P1, though it is not compatible with the ATX 20
or 24 pin connector): This is a 16-pin Molex connector supplying the motherboard with six 12 V lines with common returns, a 'supply
OK' signal, a 'PSU ON' signal and an 11 V auxiliary supply. One pin is left unused.[26]
12V only System monitoring (P10): This is a 171822-8 AMP or equivalent connector carrying a supply to the PSU fan and sense
returns.[26]
ATX12V 4-pin power connector (also called the P4 power connector). A second connector that goes to the motherboard (in addition
to the 24-pin ATX motherboard connector) to supply dedicated power for the processor. 4+4-pin For the purpose of backwards
compatibility, some connectors designed for high-end motherboards and processors, more power is required, therefore EPS12V has
an 8-pin connector.
 4-pin Peripheral power connectors: These are the other, smaller connectors that go to
the various disk drives of the computer. Most of them have four wires: two black, one
red, and one yellow. Unlike the US standard mains electrical wire color-coding, each
black wire is a ground, the red wire is +5 V, and the yellow wire is +12 V. In some
cases these are also used to provide additional power to PCI cards such as FireWire
800 cards.
4-pin Molex (Japan) Ltd power connectors (usually called Mini-connector, mini-Molex,
or Berg connector): This is one of the smallest connectors that supplies a 3.5-inch
floppy drive with power. In some cases, it can be used as an auxiliary connector for
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) video cards. Its cable configuration is similar to the
Peripheral connector.
Auxiliary power connectors: There are several types of auxiliary connectors, usually in 4-pin peripheral power connector
6-pin form, designed to provide additional power if it is needed.
Serial ATA power connectors: a 15-pin connector for components which use SATA
power plugs. This connector supplies power at three different voltages: +3.3, +5, and +12 V, in three pins per wire, one designed to
precharge capacitive loads on for hot-plugging designed backplanes.
6-pin Most modern computer power supplies include six-pin connectors that are generally used for PCI Express graphics cards, but
a newly introduced eight-pin connector should be seen on the latest model power supplies. Each PCI Express 6-pin connector can
output a maximum of 75 W.
6+2-pin For the purpose of backwards compatibility, some connectors designed for use with high end PCI Express graphics cards
feature this kind of pin configuration. It allows either a six-pin card or an eight-pin card to be connected by using two separate
connection modules wired into the same sheath: one with six pins and another with two pins. Each PCI Express 8-pin connector can
output a maximum of 150 W.
An IEC 60320 C14 connector with an appropriate C13 cord is used to attach the power supply to the local power grid.

Modular power supplies

A modular power supply provides a detachable cable system, offering the ability to remove unused connections at the expense of a small
amount of extra electrical resistance introduced by the additional connector.[27] This reduces clutter, removes the risk of dangling cables
interfering with other components, and can improve case airflow. Many semi modular supplies have some permanent multi-wire cables
with connectors at the ends, such as ATX motherboard and 8-pin EPS, though newer supplies marketed as "fully modular" allow even
these to be disconnected. The pin assignment of the detachable cables is only standardized on the output side and not on the side
connectable to the power supply. Thus, the cables of a modular power supply must only be used with this particular modular power
supply model. Usage with another modular power supply, even if the cable prima facie appear compatible, might result in a wrong pin
assignment and thus can lead to damage of connected components by supplying 12V to a 5V or 3.3V pin.[28]
Other form factors
The Small Form Factor with a 12 V connector (SFX12V) configuration has been optimized
for small form factor (SFF) system layouts. The low profile of the power supply fits easily
into these systems.

The Thin Form Factor with a 12 V connector (TFX12V) configuration has been optimized
for small and low profile microATX and FlexATX system layouts. The long narrow profile
of the power supply fits easily into low profile systems. The cooling fan placement can be
used to efficiently exhaust air from the processor and core area of the motherboard,
making possible smaller, more efficient systems using common industry components.[29]
A semi modular power supply to the left and a
Most portable computers have power supplies that provide 25 to 200 W. In portable
non-modular power supply to the right
computers (such as laptops) there is usually an external power supply (sometimes
referred to as a "power brick" due to its similarity, in size, shape and weight, to a real
brick) which converts AC power to one DC voltage (most commonly 19 V), and further DC-DC conversion occurs within the laptop to
supply the various DC voltages required by the other components of the portable computer.

External power supply could send data about itself (power, current and voltage ratings) to the computer. For example, genuine Dell
power source uses 1-Wire protocol to send data by third wire to the laptop. The laptop then refuses a non-matching adapter.[30]

Some computers use a single-voltage 12 V power supply. All other voltages are generated by voltage regulator modules on the
motherboard.[22]
 An SFX form factor PSU A TFX form factor PSU A FlexATX form factor A formerly used AT PSU,
PSU mechanically of the same
size as the ATX PSUs

PS3 power supply, An adapter allowing an

shorter than ATX, only, SFX PSU to substitute an
300 W maximum (not to ATX or PS3 PSU
be confused with the
PlayStation 3)[31]

Life span
Life span is usually specified in mean time between failures (MTBF), where higher MTBF ratings indicate longer device life and better
reliability. Using higher quality electrical components at less than their maximum ratings or providing better cooling can contribute to a
higher MTBF rating because lower stress and lower operating temperatures decrease component failure rates.[32]
An estimated MTBF value of 100,000 hours (roughly, 140 months) at 25 °C and under full load is fairly common.[33] Such a rating
expects that, under the described conditions, 77% of the PSUs will be operating failure-free over three years (36 months); equivalently,
23% of the units are expected to fail within three years of operation. For the same example, only 37% of the units (fewer than a half) are
expected to last 100,000 hours without failing.[a] The formula for calculating predicted reliability, R(t), is

R(t) = e −t t
MTBF

where t is the time of operation in the same time units as the MTBF specification, e is 2.71828, and tMTBF is the MTBF value as specified
by a manufacturer.[34][35]

Power supplies for servers, industrial control equipment, or other places where reliability is important may be hot swappable, and may
incorporate N+1 redundancy; if N power supplies are required to meet the load requirement, one extra is installed to provide
redundancy and allow for a faulty power supply to be replaced without downtimes.[36]

Wiring diagrams
AT power connector (on 24-pin ATX12V 2.x power supply connector
older, AT motherboards)
Color Signal[A] Pin[B] Pin[B][C] Signal[A] Color
Color Pin Signal
+3.3 V Orange
Power Orange +3.3 V 1 13
Orange P8.1
good +3.3 V sense[D] Brown

Red P8.2 +5 V Orange +3.3 V 2 14 −12 V Blue

Yellow P8.3 +12 V Black Ground 3 15 Ground Black
Blue P8.4 −12 V Red +5 V 4 16 Power on[E] Green
Black P8.5 Ground Black Ground 5 17 Ground Black
Black P8.6 Ground Red +5 V 6 18 Ground Black
Black Ground 7 19 Ground Black
Black P9.1 Ground
Grey Power good[F] 8 20 Reserved[G] None
Black P9.2 Ground
Purple +5 V standby 9 21 +5 V Red
White P9.3 −5 V
Yellow +12 V 10 22 +5 V Red
Red P9.4 +5 V
Yellow +12 V 11 23 +5 V Red
Red P9.5 +5 V
Red P9.6 +5 V Orange +3.3 V 12 24 Ground Black

A. Light-blue background denotes control signals.

B. Light-green background denotes the pins present only in the 24-
pin connector.
C. In the 20-pin connector, pins 13–22 are numbered 11–20 respectively.
D. Supplies +3.3 V power and also has a second low-current wire for
remote sensing.[38]
E. A control signal that is pulled up to +5 V by the PSU and must be
driven low to turn on the PSU.
F. A control signal that is low when other outputs have not yet reached,
or are about to leave, correct voltages.
G. Formerly −5 V ( white wire), absent in modern power supplies; it
was optional in ATX and ATX12V v1.2 and deleted since v1.3.

Pinouts of ATX 2.x motherboard power

connectors, 24-pin (top) and four-pin
"P4" (bottom), as viewed into mating
side of the plugs[37]
 24-pin ATX motherboard power plug; pins 11,
12, 23 and 24 form a detachable separate four-
pin plug, making it backward compatible with
20-pin ATX receptacles

Testing
A 'power supply tester' is a tool used to test the functionality of a computer's power supply. Testers can confirm the presence of the
correct voltages at each power supply connector. Testing under load is recommended for the most accurate readings.[39]

ATX PSU tester with an LCD ATX PSU tester with LED Ripple tests are performed with an
indicators external load and monitoring
equipment[40]
Monitoring

The voltage of the PSU can be monitored by the hardware monitor of most modern motherboards.[41] This can often be done through a
section within the BIOS, or, once an operating system is running, through a system monitor software like lm_sensors on GNU/Linux,
envstat on NetBSD, sysctl hw.sensors on OpenBSD and DragonFly BSD, or SpeedFan on Windows.

Most of power supply fans are not connected to the speed sensor on the motherboard and so cannot be monitored, but some high-end
PSU can provide digital control and monitoring, and this requires connection to the fan-speed sensor or USB port on the motherboard.

See also
IEC 62700 (DC power supply for notebook computers)
List of computer powersupply manufacturers
Power management
Power supply
Quiet PC
Switched-mode power supply applications

Notes
a. This figure assumes that the PSUs have not reached the higher failure rate portion of the bathtub curve.

References
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supply-specifications-atx-reference,review-32338-2.html). Tom's Hardware. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
2. Edwin D. Reilly, Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003
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are.co.uk/power-supply-specifications-atx-reference,review-32338-5.html). Retrieved 2018-04-19.
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y/Spec_PSU_250-30PFJ.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-26.
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88_1.html). motherboards.org. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
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111

External links
How PC Power Supplies Work (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-supply.htm)
Website with Information & Research on Active Mode Power Supply Efficiency (http://www.efficientpowersupplies.org/)
How to Buy an Energy-Efficient Power Supply (https://web.archive.org/web/20070227053257/http://www.efficientpowersupplies.org/
pages/PC_Energy_Star_Recommendation.pdf)
PC Repair and Maintenance: In-depth Look at Power Supply (http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=31105)
How to Discover Your Power Supply Real Manufacturer (https://web.archive.org/web/20070514033001/http://www.hardwaresecrets.
com/article/370)
How Much Power Can a Generic 500 W Power Supply Really Deliver? (https://web.archive.org/web/20080511164749/http://www.ha
rdwaresecrets.com/article/534)
Everything You Need To Know About Power Supplies (https://web.archive.org/web/20080512153640/http://www.hardwaresecrets.co
m/article/181)
What is power supply for computers? (https://www.nipron.co.jp/english/product_info/encyclopedia/2_1.htm)
Various power supply cables and connectors (http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html)
Power supply sizes (http://www.evercase.co.uk/PowerSupplyMeasurements.htm), connectors and certifications (http://www.evercas
e.co.uk/PowerSupplyConnectorsAndCertifications.htm), and test procedures (http://www.evercase.co.uk/PDFFilesandForms/HowTo
TestAnATXPSU.pdf)

Computer power supply calculators

OuterVision Power Supply Calculator (http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator) (frequently updated)
SnooP and goodone's Power Supply Calculator (http://psucalc.info); provides rails' electrical current distribution
Computer Power Supply Calculator (http://www.vbutils.com/power.php) (updated quarterly)
Journey Systems' online power supply calculator (https://web.archive.org/web/20110713121329/http://www.journeysystems.com/su
pport/calculator/)
53w5
ATX power supply specifications
ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide, v2.01 (http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/ATX12V%20PSDG2.01.pdf)
ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide, v2.2 (http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/ATX12V_PSDG_2_2_public_br2.pdf)
ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide, v2.3 (http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5Cspecs%5CPSU_DG_rev_1_1.pdf) (Power
Supply Design Guide for Desktop Platform Form Factors, v1.1)
ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide, v2.31 (http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/Power_Supply_Design_Guide_Desktop_P
latform_Rev_1_2.pdf) (Power Supply Design Guide for Desktop Platform Form Factors, v1.2)
ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide, v2.4 (https://web.archive.org/web/20170718011357/https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/p
ublic/us/en/documents/guides/power-supply-design-guide.pdf) (Power Supply Design Guide for Desktop Platform Form Factors,
v1.31)

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