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Lesson 9: Power cable installation - Build my own computer

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Overview

In lesson 9 we'll continue the process to build my own computer and install the power supply into the case. Then we'll connect the power cables to the motherboard and disc drives.

Installing the Power Supply into the case

On most cases the power supply is installed at the top of the case above the motherboard.  In this case the power supply goes below the motherboard at the bottom of the case.

The power supply is secured to the case with 4 screws. Hold the power supply in place and match up the power supplies screw holes with the holes on the case.

Insert the first screw at the top and the second, at the opposite, bottom corner. Leave them loose until all the screws are in and then tighten them down.

Check the power supply for a slider next to the primary power switch. If it has a slider, set it to 115V or 230V depending on your local power requirements.  115V is standard for the US.  Most modern power supplies don't have a switch and detect the voltage automatically.

Wait to connect the power supply to the outlet until the computer is fully put together.


There are 6 types of connectors on an ATX12V 2.3 or EPS12V 2.91 power supply.

• The first is a 24 pin connector that provides the main source of power to the motherboard.
  Some power supplies come with a 20 plus 4 pin connector and you can remove 4 of the pins by breaking them off incase your motherboard only needs the 20 pins.
• The second is a 4 or 8 pin plug that connects to the motherboard. Some power supplies come with 2 4 pin plugs that you can combine to create an 8 pin plug.
• The 3rd is a 4 pin plug, also called Molex, which connects to some fans, hard drives, DVD and Blu-ray drives.
• 4th is a smaller 4 pin plug used to power a floppy drive.
• 5th a flat SATA power connector for SATA drives
• 6th a 6 or 6 plus 2 pin PCI Express video card power connector. 
  Not all video cards require a connection to the power supply.
  Most video cards that do require the 6 or 6 plus 2 pin connectors will come with a 4 pin molex to 6 or 6 plus 2 pin adapter.

All of the power plugs are keyed, so you can’t put them in upside down.

Modular Power Supplies

If you have a modular power supply, decide which of the cables you will need and save the rest for future use.  Read the manual for the power supply to make sure you plug the cables into the correct spots on the power supply. 

Connecting power cables to the components

We'll begin by connecting the 4 pin Molex plugs into the fans that came with the case. It sometimes takes some extra pressure.  These fans only have 4 pin connections so we can't plug them into the motherboard to monitor or control their speed.  The fans have low, medium and high speed switches.  We'll connect the fan we installed on the side of the case to one of the 3 pin power connections on the motherboard.

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