Hello everyone in this video we're going
to be talking about computer power supplies. And a power supply, just like its name says,
supplies power to a computer. It converts electricity into the specific voltages that the
computer needs. The power supply is a square metal box with a bunch of wires emerging from one end
with connectors that fits inside the computer case. And it's usually located at the very top
or the very bottom of a standard tower case. Power supplies also come in different shapes and
sizes and mounting bolt patterns, which is known as the form factor. And the most common form factor that a power supply comes in is ATX. A power supply is equipped with different types of connectors. These connectors will plug directly into the motherboard or plug into the individual components
of a computer. And one type of connector is called the P1. The P1 is the main power connector
that connects directly into the motherboard and supplies it with power. The P1 connector will
either have 20 or 24 pins. Early motherboards will use the 20 pin connector, while modern motherboards will use the 24 pin. Today modern power supplies will have a 24 pin connector. However some power
supplies will come with a 20 plus 4 pin connector. This connector is to make it compatible with
20 or 24 pin motherboards because 4 pins can be divided from the other 20 if needed. As technology
progressed, another type of connector was needed to supply more power to the CPU. So they added the
P4 connector. This is a 4 pin connector that connects directly into the motherboard that's
usually located near the CPU. The P4 came out in the early 2000s, and like I stated before, it's
purpose is to supply more power to the CPU. As technology progressed even further, it turned
out that the P4 connector wasn't sufficient enough to supply enough power to modern CPUs. So they
added another connector called the P8. The P8 which is also known as the EPS, is an 8 pin connector that plugs into the motherboard that supplies even more power for newer, power hungry
CPUs. Then there's also the 6 and 8 pin PCI-Express power connectors. And these connectors are used to supply high-end PCI-Express video cards that need additional power for them to run. Now these connectors don't plug into the motherboard, they plug directly into the video card itself, and depending on that video card they will use either the 6 or 8 pin connector or both at the same time. But some higher-end video cards may require the use of two or three of the 8 pin connectors to
supply their power needs. And another type is the SATA connector. This is a 15 pin connector that is used to supply power to storage and optical drives that have a SATA power connection.
These will plug into devices such as SATA SSDs, hard drives, optical drives, and case fans.
And then there's the molex connector. The molex connector is a 4 pin or socket connector. It's
an older connector that was used to supply power to older hard drives and optical drives. And these
have largely been replaced by the SATA connector. But today these can still be used to power cooling
fans. These connectors were often times a pain to work with because it was a hassle to get the pins
lined up when plugging them in. Power supplies also come in different wattages. And these wattages will vary roughly between 200 and 2000 watts. And picking out the correct wattage for a power supply will depend on what and how many components are inside a computer that need power. So a computer
with minimal components will only require a low wattage power supply. While a computer with
a lot of components will require a higher wattage. Now that being said, an average computer
today will need a power supply anywhere between 500 and 600 watts. But a higher-end enthusiast PC
with a lot of components, such as multiple drives, fans, RGB lighting, and multiple video cards
would need a power supply closer to 1000 watts or even more. So guys if you're building a PC and
you're not sure what wattage power supply you'll need, Coolermaster has a power supply calculator
on their website to help you do just that. Just select your computer components and
it will tell you what wattage you'll need. And I'll put a link in the description below. Power supplies also come in non-modular, fully modular, and semi-modular. And the difference between these
is how the cables are attached to the power supply. So for example, a non-modular power supply means
that all the connector cables are permanently attached to the power supply and cannot be
detached. So even if a certain cable is not going to be connected and used, the cable cannot be
detached from the power supply. It's just going to be laying around doing nothing which leads to poor
cable management and it can also restrict airflow which leads to a higher temperature. Now a fully
modular power supply means that all the connector cables can be manually attached or detached if
needed. Which makes it convenient because you only need to attach the cables that you're
going to actually use. And the cables that you're not going to use, you can just detach them.
Now this makes it for a more clutter-free computer with better cable management which leads to
better airflow and a lower operating temperature. And then there's also the semi-modular power
supply. And this means that only the necessary cables that require a computer to turn on
which are the P1 main power connector and the CPU connector are permanently attached to
the power supply. But all of the other cables such as the SATA, molex, PCI-Express, and so
on can be attached or detached if needed. Now if you notice when you go to purchase a
power supply you might see a graphic on the box that says 80 plus. And this is a certification
given to power supplies that have at least an 80% energy efficiency when that power
supply is running at 20%, 50%, and 100% load. When a power supply is installed on a computer and turned on it pulls A/C power out of the wall and then converts it into D/C power for the computer. But during that conversion process some power is lost due to heat. So as an example, this 600 watt power supply at 100% load is outputting 600 watts. But that doesn't mean
that it's going to pull 600 watts out of the wall. It actually has to pull more than 600 watts out
of the wall because it has to compensate for the loss of power that's going to happen during the
conversion. So let's say that it pulls 800 watts out of the wall in order to have 600 watts for
the computer. So if it's pulling 800 watts and only outputting 600 watts then that means that
200 watts or 25% is lost during the conversion Which means that it has a 75% efficiency
which also means that this power supply would not qualify for the 80 plus certification because
it has to be at least 80% efficiency. But if this power supply instead pulled 750
watts, then 600 out of 750 would be 80% which would then make it qualify
for the 80 plus certification. And it also has to qualify at 50% power
load. So at 50% load this power supply will put out 300 watts, which means that they can only pull
a maximum of 375 watts out of the wall to qualify for the 80 plus certification, because 300 out
of 375 is 80%. And the same thing goes for this power supply running at 20%
load. So at 20% load this power supply puts out 120 watts, which means that it can only pull
out a maximum of 150 watts out of the wall to qualify for the 80 plus certification because
120 out of 150 is 80% efficiency. The 80 plus certification also has different levels indicated by an additional rating using a precious metal Such as bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and titanium.
And power supplies that have an energy efficiency of more than 80% are given these additional
ratings. For example if a power supply has an energy efficiency rating of at least 82%
then they will get an 80 plus bronze certification. It it has a rating of at least 85% then
they will get an 80 plus silver certification and so on. And you can see their different
levels and their minimum efficiency ratings And on a final note, if you're going to purchase
a power supply make sure you get a quality one from a decent brand, because a few years ago
I learned a lesson. I purchased a cheap power supply for one of my customers and then when I
installed it and turned it on it actually blew up So.. it didn't catch on fire or anything but
let's say I learned a lesson. So if you want to know which power supply I use and what brand I
recommend, I'll put a link in the description below So I want to thank everyone for watching, please
subscribe and I will see you in the next video
