Some ATX-standard power supplies are longer than normal, stretching to eight or ten inches long, but keeping their width and height standardized. These fit into almost all full-sized desktop computers, and you’ll find them ranging in power from around 300 watts all the way up to 850 watts. The most common size for power supplies is “ATX”-the same standard name for a consumer-grade “tower” computer. That’s what “form factor” means: there are a few standardized sizes for power supplies, and odds are that one of them will fit the case you’re already using. What Form Factor Should I Choose?Īfter you’ve determined how much power you need, you’ll need to find a power supply that physically fits in your computer. Add a little bit for a safety margin, and you have wattage you need your PSU to deliver. Just plug in your components and it gives you a recommended wattage. If you’re not entirely sure about your PC’s power supply needs, check out this handy online calculator. A margin of error is a handy thing to have, not to mention the fact that having a little extra power gives you room to add more components in the future-like extra storage drives or cooling fans. And since the graphics card specifications recommend at least a 400 watt power supply, that’s where we’ll start.
120mm fan for CPU cooler: under 10 wattsīased on these general figures, we can estimate that the How-To Geek desktop won’t use more than 350 watts under its full load.RAM: under 5 watts per DIMM – estimate 20 watts for our build.
Graphics card (Radeon RX 460): 114 watts at peak.Here are the power requirements for the rest of our test build’s components: On Intel’s website, we see that the processor draws an average of 91 watts under high load. For example, our test machine at How-To Geek uses an Intel Core i7-7700K processor. If you want to estimate your power requirements, look at the specifications of each component in particular. These are typically require much lower power, and can usually get away with rough estimates. Note the black heatshrink where the original connectors used to be.Other components also draw power, including hard drives, optical drives, and cooling systems like fans or radiators. The overall length of the cable is the same.
(Please excuse the dodgy picture, but the camera was away so I had to use my mobile phone.) For instance, with three drives in a row, I want three connectors about an inch apart, not 3-6 inches! I also want the cable to be long because I am routing all cables and wires in and around the motherboard etc. The distance between connectors is never appropriate for me. The objective was to relocate the existing SATA power connectors to the end of the cable, spaced apart accordingly with the power connectors of my mounted hard disks. This is nothing new, but as I experimented with various SATA power connectors and took pictures along the way to assist another forum member, I ended up with sufficient material (and experience?) to put together a simple guide. I didn’t like the locations of the SATA power connectors on my ThermalTake ToughPower 750W PSU cables so I modified them to be more appropriately located and spaced. I figured it was best to get something up rather than nothing Note, the page still requires further updates and enhancements. Pictorial guide on modifying your PC power supply SATA power cable (follow web link for full details.