ITS1 - Power Supplies

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A PC has a lot of different components inside of it that all work together to bring us these advanced technologies that we enjoy every day such as RAM, a motherboard, a CPU, etc. However, none of these components can work if they don't have any power which is why we need a power supply. The power supply is the component that takes the electrical current and converts it to the correct voltage, current, and frequency for the computer and supplies it to the rest of the components to use.

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Each power supply has four main components in them. A transformer, a rectifier, a filter, and a regulator. The transformer's function is to take the alternating current that it receives and to convert it to one voltage or another and steps up or steps down the voltages. Once the current goes to the transformer, it then goes through a rectifier which changes the alternating current to a direct current and only allows it to flow in one direction. Once converted into a direct current, it can still have ripples which is why a filter is needed. This component will smooth out the ripples of the current so that it can be used for the most sensible of equipment. In order for these currents to be used as power for the computer, it needs to be set at a specific voltage in order to function. This is when a regulator comes in play as it will generate a fixed voltage that can be preset. All currents will be set to this voltage so that all the components in the device can use it as power and function properly

Source: https://www.actpower.com/educational/what-is-a-power-supply-and-how-does-it-work/

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The power supply has gone through a lot of development throughout the years and dates back to 1958 when the IBM PC power supply unit was released. This iteration produced two different voltages, +5 V and +12 V. +12 V would provide power for any motors in the computer such as disk drives or cooling fans. +5 V had a much bigger role as it provided power to chips which were widely used in early forms of computers. These power supplies were designed to always be on or off and because of this, it caused many of these power supplies to have different problems such as causing a fuse to blow or cutting the power then attempt to restart.

Later on, in 1995, Intel would release a new version of the power supply called the ATX standard power supply connector. These provided the same positive voltages in +5 V and +12 V but would also provide a different voltage in +3.3 V. In these versions, the front panel power switch would only provide a control signal to the power supply and didn't switch the main AC voltage. This would allow other pieces of hardware or software to have to turn the system on or off.

Next is the ATXV12 standard. As the transistors on a motherboard became smaller, it was becoming more preferable that they would operate on lower supply voltages which would come from the CPU. In order for the CPU to provide that voltage, they needed a voltage regulator module which were usually installed on the motherboards. However these new processors needed up to 100 A at 2 V or less which wasn't a great idea to be provided by off-board supplies. At first, a +5 V supply was able to provide these needs but as power demands increased, the high currents required to provide sufficient power became a problem. A +12 V supply would be invented in these iterations to fulfill these needs.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply_unit_(computer)

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Whether you want to upgrade or install a power supply, you're going to need to remove your previous one and it's important to know how to to prevent any damage. Luckily it's pretty straight forward.

First you need to completely drain it of all power. Turn off your computer and if there's any rear power switch on the back of your case, switch it off then unplug the PSU cable from your outlet. Next, remove the side panel from the case so you can see all of the hardware inside. Take a photo before you do anything in case you mess up so you can have a guide to look to. After that, remove the screws that connect the PSU to the case and then you're free to remove it from the case. If you're looking to install a new power supply, do all the steps in reverse with your new component and you should be good to go.

Source: https://lifehacker.com/alpha-geek-how-to-replace-a-dead-power-supply-228626

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Just like many other components in your PC, your power supply is going to have multiple form factors in order to fit different types of towers.

The most common and most likely the standard form factor is the ATX PS/2. These have a width of 150 x 86 x 140 mm.

Another form factor is the TFX. These have the same specification connectors as the standard ATX PS/2 power supplies but are much smaller with a dimension of 85 x 64 x 175 mm.

The SFX form factor is another one that is similar to the standard ATX power supplies but is smaller with a dimension of 125 x 63.5 x 100 mm. Because they have nearly identical power specifications, you're free to use the same pins between the two. The only other main difference besides the smaller dimensions is that SFX does not require a -5 V rail. Since not many components require this voltage, this won't be much of a problem.

Sources: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/are-ps2-an...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX#TFX

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Although having your power supply is usually a rare occurrence during every day use, it's usually best to know how you can prevent any failure in case anything happens.

Probably most of the situations where a power supply fails is during corporate use where a bunch of computers are being used at once and a lot of electricity is being used. Because of this, most tools for fault tolerance are designed for corporate use and not for every day use. However, a surge protector is able to be used if you're just using your personal PC. If for some reason a power surge occurs, your surge protector will cut off any currents going towards your device and prevent any damage happening.

However, for corporate use, you can't suddenly cut off any currents because then you will lose power and the corporation could lose a lot of data that could be extremely valuable. In order to avoid any risks, a company will use an uninterruptible power supply. If the system detects that power is about to be cut off, the UPS will immediately activate its backup battery to continue providing power so none of the data can be lost and the company can continue functioning.

Picture supply: https://images.app.goo.gl/oETWUNx4eSFxpAhx5

Just like any other component, a power supply is prone to fail eventually so it's important to know how to fix the problem if you don't have any way to get help from a professional.

If at any time you boot up your PC and it fails to successfully turn on or your system randomly reboots, it could be a problem with your power supply. The reasons for this is usually that some part inside of the PSU is broken such as broken MLCC components or damaged ICs and FETs.

Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/why-power-supplies-fail-psus,36712.html

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If you're planning to fix your own power supply, it's always important to have the correct tools at hand.

Probably your most useful tool is the multimeter. This tool measures the voltage output of your 24-pin connector. If any of the ports aren't outputting the right amount of voltage, the multimeter will let you know so you know which port is specifically being faulty.

Sometimes the problem doesn't deal with hardware and is rather a problem with the software. You can download a PC repair tool online then run it to see what isn't working. If the problem is with your power supply, it could deal with BIOS and you can use the repair tool to fix your BIOS.

Source: https://windowsreport.com/windows-10-power-supply-problem/