Power Supply Connectors Explained

Most everything in a computer system requires power, including the motherboard. The motherboard receives its power from the PC Main or P1 connector. The P1 comes as a 20 or 24 pin connector that’s long and rectangular in shape. Manufacturers have made it so 24 pin connectors can still plug into 20 pin motherboards. Since power supplies are made by varying manufacturers, many will provide a 20 pin P1 connector and an auxiliary 4 pin connector to complete a 24 pin motherboard power connection.

Some power supplies come with an additional 4 pin connector called the P4. The P4 connects an additional power source to the motherboard, which is typically used for the processor. Certain high-end processors require a special 8 pin connector, but most will only utilize the 4 pin.

The most common connector would be the 4 pin peripheral connector. These connectors provide power to the system’s disk drives and optical drives. This connector is sometimes called a Molex after its manufacturer. The majority of these connectors carry four wires, including two black, one red, and a yellow. As we mentioned earlier, the yellow wire carries the +12V current, while the red carries the +5V and the black provides the ground. These peripheral connectors sometimes provide extra power to high end graphics cards, which require more power than traditional GPUs.

 

The Berg 4 pin connector provides power to a computer system’s floppy drive.

Many PSUs come equipped with Serial ATA power connectors. These connectors come in 15 pin configurations and provide all three voltage ranges. Newer PSUs come with a 6 or 8 pin connector for powering the PCI Express slot on a motherboard.

And finally, most PSUs have auxiliary power connectors that provide additional power to the system.