BTX Motherboard Form Factor
How to install a power supply
The first BTX motherboards
were ATX motherboards
turned upside down, except
for the component location
that really were BTX positioning.
(en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/BTX_
(form_factor)
How to install a power supply
7. PCIe Express power
6-pin and 8-pin PCI Express power
connectors are required of almost every
mid-to high end graphics cards. Depending on
the model a card may require one or two
6-pin connectors, or one 6-pin and one 8-pin.
If you plan to run dual graphic cards then is
obviously doubled! (www.techradar.com)
BTX PSU
9. Adapters
As connectors and requirements have
changed over the years, instead of making
older PSUs redundant companies have
simply offer adapters. These take one or
two Molex connectors and convert them
into SATA, PCIe 6-pin and PCIe 8-pin
power connectors. (www.techradar.com)
6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors
8. Molex and SATA
The remaining power connectors are usually
used to power any optical drives and hard drives
in a system, the old 4-pin Molex connectors
mostly used here. SATA hard drives is the final
exception requiring the SATA power connectors,
but many drives provide connectors for Molex as
well, in this case only use one or the other not
both. (www.techradar.com)
Molex and SATA connectors
Adapters
6. ATX 12V power
The ATX 12V connector is specifically designed
to power the processor with a clean 12V supply
and should be powered from its own 12V rail.
The original and current version is a square 4-pin
design that is suitable for more motherboards,
however high-end Intel motherboards, mostly
socket 1366 models require an up rated 8-pin
version. So check your motherboard before
buying a PSU. (www.techradar.com)
ATX 12V Connector
How to install a power supply
3. Mount the PSU
The standard ATX mount points on a PSU
are all the same. In some cases you may need
to remove the CPU cooler or the case to gain
full access. For tower cases it’s usually easiest
to place the case on its side, as then you can
rest the PSU on its side. (www.techradar.com)
How to install a power supply; How much power
Testing Power Supplies Continued
4. Secure the PSU
The PSU is screwed in place
using four standard ATX is case
screw, make sure you can see all
four before screwing it into place,
as it possible to install the PSU
the wrong way.
(www.techradar.com)
Mean Time Between Failure
Installing new PSU
Always properly remote PSU.
Calculated MTBF value of 100,000 hours. About 11 years of continuous operation. (www.techwarelabs.com)
2. Make sure you choose a suitably
powerful PSU. As a rough guide you
need to add the wattage used,
sometimes called the TDP, for the
processor and graphic card. These
are the two main power eaters and it’s
important the 12V rail on your new
PSU will supply enough power to
both. If in doubt use an online PSU
calculator
(http://www.coolermaster.com/psu_ calculator.php).
Symptoms of a failing PSU
1. The system does not start
2. The system shuts off
3. The system reboots
4. Fan does not run or is noisy
(techradar.com)
Extreme Silent PSU
Never open a PSU, because they
still hold a electric charge, even when
unplugged always replace bad PSUs.
MTBF 100,000 hours or 11 years
IBM Power Supplies continued
The 12 volt rail was used primarily to operate fans and
floppy disk drive motors. The original PC PSU could
deliver a maximum 63.5 watts most of which was on the
5 volt rail. As time passed, PCs included bigger, faster
chips which increased the load on the 5 volt rail. As technology improved, more devices where added, like
hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives so the 12 volt rail
had to deliver more power too.
How to install a power supply
IBM power Supplies continued
As technology improve, the transistor in the
chips continued to shrink and they needed
to run off of voltages lower than 3.3 volts. It was not practical to continue to run all the chips directly of the voltage provided by the PSU because they would have to add more and more lower voltage rails as time passed.
Gaming series
800w ATXeps
Bronze mini ATX
10. Tidy up
A neat case is a happy case. Leaving
cables all over the case can interfere
with air flow and lead to the
system running hotter than normal.
(www.techradar.com)
Testing Power Supplies
750gaming 120mm fan slient ATX PSU 12V
Power Supplies continued
How to install a power supply
Always tidy up before closing case.
When choosing a power supply
make sure it includes all the
necessary connectors for the
type of motherboard you will be
using. (www.techradar.com)
You can use a power supply tester or a
multimeter to test a power supply. If the
+/-12 volt power supply drops below +/-10.8
volts or if the +/-5 volts drop below +/-4.5 volts,
the unit is may be failing and it should be
replaced. The PSU can be tested by turning on
the PSU, and inserting a shunt on pin 16 and a
ground pin 15 or 17 on the motherboard
connector. (Testout.com)
ABT-520MA1W 520
ATX PSU
PC-LCD power supply tester
5. ATX power
This is 20/24-pin ATX main
motherboard power
connector, older systems
only use the first 20-pin. In
this case the extra 4-pins
can simply over hang the
socket or some PSUshave a
connector where the last
four pins unclasped.
(www.techradar.com)
20/24-pin ATX motherboard power connector
Power Supplies
Power supplies must match the motherboard case and form factor.
Types of form factors are ATX, micro ATX, and ITX.
If you have an ATX motherboard, purchase an ATX power supply.
If you have BTX motherboard,
purchase a BTX power supply. Pico BTX is a
motherboard form factor that is meant to miniaturize the 12.8 x 10.5 in (325 x 267mm) BTX standard. Pico motherboards measure 8 x 10.5 in (203 x 267mm). This is
smaller than current "micro-sized motherboards, hence
the name "pico". These motherboards share a common
top half with other sizes in the BTX line, but support
only one or two expansion slots, designed for half-height
or riser-cards applications.(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTX_(form_factor)
ICEBERG 680W ATX
Power Supply Connectors
Power Supply Units
Testing Power Supplies continued
A Power supply unit converts AC to low-
voltage DC power for 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.
(Testout.com)
Symptoms of a failing PSU The system does not
start. The system shuts off. The system reboots
Fan does not run or is noisy. Never open a PSU,
because they still hold a electric charge, even
when unplugged. Always replace bad PSUs.
24-pin ATX,
4-pin Molex,
4-pin FDD,
4- pin p4_12V,
15 -pin SATA2,
6-pin PCI express,
6-pin Aux,
4-pin hp video power,
6-pin dell_p6
IBM Power Supplies Continued
Open PSU
Mini BTX PSU
PSU connector wires
(techwarelabs.com/articles)
BTX Power Supply Unit
As technology improve, the transistor in
the chips continued to shrink and they
needed to run off of voltages lower than
3.3 volts. It was not practical to continue
to run all the chips directly of the voltage
provided by the PSU because they would
have to add more and more lower voltage
rails as time passed. (www.playtool.com)
BTX- Balanced Technology Extended.
The BTX power supply was originally intended to replace the ATX power supply unit in late 2004 and early 2005. IT designed for the BTX Motherboard; which was supposed to alleviate some that arose from newer technology, which often demand more power and created more heat. (www.Ask.com)
Power Supplies Continued
Power Supply Units
Micro BTX PSU
750 Gaming 120mm fan mini BTX PSU
No Power, No Go!
A computer system will not start without a properly operating power supply unit,
that will support the system power requirements.
Each separate voltage output is
referred to as a rail. Rails refer to
a single voltage provided by the
PSU (power supply unit). Many
power supplies have a switch on
the back that turns the power on
and off. Power supplies include a
fan that help cool the system.
(Testout.com)
Sources and References
R2 800W ATX
500W 12V Aluminum ATX PSU blue
There are two types of power supplies:
1. ATX
2. BTX
Let's look at the history!
BTX Continued
The BTX standard was proposed by Intel, but future development of BTX retail products by
Intel was canceled in September 2006 following Intel’s decision to refocus on low-power CPUs, after suffering scaling and thermal issues with
the Pentium 4. The first company to implement BTX was Gateway inc, followed by Dell and MPC.
(www.Ask.com)
Biography
www.techwarelabs.com/articles,
www.Testout .com
www.Ask.com
en. Wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX
www. playtool.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTX_(form_factor)
www.techradar.com
Pictures
www.tomshardware.com
www.Amazon.com
en. Wikipedia.org/wik/ATX
www.ebay.com
BTX PSU with ATX
compatible connectors
Always read motherboard documentation before installing a new PSU
Power Supplies Continued
History of ATX and BTX
ATX- Advanced Technology eXtended .
The ATX Motherboard was introduced in
1995. The official specifications ATX Motherboard released by Intel in 1995 has
been revised many times since. The most
recent ATX Motherboard specification is
version 2.2. The most recent ATX 12V power supply unit specification version is 2.31
revised in mid 2008. (en.wikipedia.org)
hp Q57 Elite 8100 MS-7557 mini BTX PSU
The original IBM PC drew most of their
power from two rails: 5 volts and 12 volts.
Their power supplies also provided
-5 and -12 volts but those only delivered
small amounts of power. They had a 5 volt
rail because that was the voltage needed to
power most of the standard silicon chips of
the time. (playtool.com)
Power Supplies
BlackMoon PSU
ATX, BTX, Micro ATX, Mini BTX
IBM Power Supplies Continued
How to install a power supply
Standard ATX power supplies provide +3.3 volts,
+/- 5 volts , and +/-12 volts DC power. Most
modern components require +12 volts output.
Micro ATX power supplies only provide +/-12
volts. Most power supplies have the capacity to
receive both 110 and 220 volt power by toggling
a switch. U.S 110, parts of Europe 220.
(Testout.com)
Power Supplies Continued
ATX PSU, (red) toggle switch
1. Which PSU to buy?
While PC case styles can vary wildly in exterior dimensions
have to match the ATX specification. This means they have
to accept a PSU 15x9m and at least 14cm long. There of
course exceptions to the rule, first the mini-case can use
smaller micro ATX, or entirely custom-designed PSUs,
where the physical size differs from this standard as seen
here. Check before buying. (www.techradar.com)
Older power supply units blow air into the case and
cross the CPU. Current power supplies pull cool air in
from the front, where the power supply and additional
fans at the rear blow the warm air out. Power supplies
provide “soft” power, this allows the motherboard to
always have power, even when the power is turned off.
(Testout.com)
The 12 volt rail was used primarily to
operate fans and floppy disk drive motors.
The original PC PSU could deliver a
maximum 63.5 watts most of which was on
the 5 volt rail. As time passed, PCs included
bigger, faster chips which increased the load
on the 5 volt rail. As technology improved,
more devices where added, like hard disk
drives and CD-ROM drives so the 12 volt rail
had to deliver more power too.
(www.playtool.com)
Verify type of PSU required
ABT-520MA1W 520 ATX PSU
Gaming series 800w ATXeps Bronze mini ATX
Power Supplies