Information Sheet 1.

2
(ASSEMBLE COMPUTER HARDWARE)
Power Supply Unit and System Panel Connector
Learning Objective:

After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to know and identify Power Supply Unit and its
functions.

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

Designed to convert 110 volts or 230 AC power from the mains to usable low-voltage DC power (12 volt, 5
volt and 3.3 volt) for the internal components of the computer. It provides the necessary electrical power to make the
computer work. Because motherboards, power supplies and computer case are often sold together and must be
compatible with each other.
20 OR 24 ATX PIN POWER CONNECTOR

• It allows you turn on the motherboard: early models had a 20-pin

configuration, whilst the current standard is now 24.

Note that it still comes as a block of 20 pins, to which you can add a block
of 4 pins. This is to ensure compatibility with older motherboards and their
20-pin connectors.

4 pin Molex

• The most classic. Still very present in every PC, it is sometimes used
directly on the motherboard (MSI) and is used to connect the hard disk
and other drives. Some graphics cards may require this connector too.
• provides both 12 volt and 5 volt
• hard disk drives, optical disk drives and floppy disk drives

Note that molex/sata connectors are easily available nowadays. the most
commonly used

4 PIN MINI CONNECTORS

• supply power to floppy drive

• standard connector for 3.5 inch floppy disk
• four pins out and usually four wires

4 PIN ATX

• This connector, called P4-ATX was introduced by Intel

for Pentium 4 it plugs into the motherboard and
exclusively powers the processor.

15 PIN SATA POWER CONNECTOR

• Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)

designed for transfer data to and from hard disk and
optical disk drives.
 • Designed to meet the demand for higher data transfer rates, Molex Serial ATA interconnects are available in
a variety of configurations to meet various power and signal supply requirements in the Data/Computing and
Telecom/Networking industries

SYSTEM PANEL CONNECTOR

Alternatively referred to as the fpanel or front panel connector, the system panel connector is what
controls the computer's power button, reset button, and LED's found on the front bezel of a computer using the
system panel cables.

TYPES OF SYSTEM PANEL CABLES

• HDD LED (IDE LED) - The LED activity light for the hard drive. This is the LED that flashes as information is being
written and read from the hard drive.
• Power LED (PLED) - The LED power light, which indicates when the computer is on, off, or in Standby.
• Power SW (PWRSW) - Controls the power button that allows you to turn on and off the computer.
• Reset SW - Handles the reset button to restart the computer.
• Speaker - The internal speaker used to sound the beep noises you hear from your computer when it is booting.

SYSTEM PANEL CABLES CONNECTION

Red(+)-White (-) Green (+)-White (-)

Orange-White Blue-White

USB Connector Audio Connector