View Full Version : Power supply question
c0w
May 13th, 2005, 06:39 PM
Can someone please tell me why are there so many different connectors in a power supply?
What's the difference between 24 and 20 pins ATX connector? And what's a P4 connector for? Just for Intel P4?
radeonboy
May 13th, 2005, 07:26 PM
There are many different connectors on the motherboard because it is conforming to a standard.
24-pin ATX connectors are for the new 775 series from Intel; an extra form of power because supposedly they need it, this is ATX2.0. 20-pins are the regular ATX version which comes in mostly all Athlons, and Pentiums of today.
The P4 connector is optional for some motherboards but it basically is a backup source for powering everything on the motherboard. This is for Intel and AMD CPU's.
goofball
May 13th, 2005, 08:10 PM
24 pin is part of the ATX 2.0, used to provide extra line of power for +3.3/5/12 from the PSU. also requires dual +12v rails to be 2.0 compliant. Not limited to Intel platform only, nforce4 uses this type of connector, it is usually required for PCI-E motherboards.
20 pins is the old ATX formfactor.
4pin P4 is for extra +12v to the mobo/cpu for extra stability.