When assembling a computer we can have quite a few doubts, especially when we have a series of components that we may not be used to seeing, one of the clear examples that we can have is that of modular power supplies. Know how many cables You have to log in at the beginning, it's something quite complicated to guess, so it's very likely that we often forget something, forcing us to find a way to implement it when the source modular inside the box, in order to prevent this from happening, we tell you which ones are necessary.
The power cables that the different PC configurations have are really not something too complicated to install when we have a normal power supply, since they have everything necessary for any computer, and even much more than what we would normally use. . In the case of modular systems we have a series of advantages, one of the main ones being the fact that we can eliminate the power cables used in SATA storage devices, which is perfect for saving space in next-gen configurations that use M.2 drives. .
How to know which connector to use before installing the font
One of the great advantages that modular power supplies offer us is the ease of recognizing each of their components, the connectors who go to their house Power supply They are screen printed to make it easy to know which end to connect here, while also having their technical names to identify them. Most sources generally divide connectors by several names, which are generally as follows:
- Motherboard: motherboard connectors, generally the mythical 24 pins
- PCIe/CPU: connectors for expansion cards (8 pins, 6+2) and CPU (8 pins 4+4)
- SATA/PATA: connectors for storage devices
Modular power supplies have all the cables we may need to connect any component to our PC, while they obviously offer the most basic ones that exist to provide the motherboard with the power it needs. In this regard, the most basic cables that we will always find are the Modular ATX of 24 pinswhich is usually connected to the right side of the board and powers it, as well as the 12v EPS/ATX which has an 8 pin (4+4) configuration and is usually connected in the top area to power the processor.
These are the main two that we will always have to connect, without any exception, while there are others that are used situationally depending on the components that our computer has. If, for example, we use a latest generation graphics card, we will have to choose to use the cable 12V-2×6 12+4 pins, while if we have one a little older we will surely have to use a PCIe with a configuration of 8 pins (6+2) or another that is also 8 pin but dual.
And finally, we would like to mention cables. SATA Yes PATAwhich are used as we have indicated for storage devices and which have the most particular configuration, being easy to recognize thanks to their completely different appearance. SATA, for example, uses a virtually flat connector, very different from others that use a multi-pin configuration, while PATA has a four-pin connector arranged horizontally.
So what cables should I use in my source?
It's really very simple, as we explained at the beginning, it all depends on what you are looking to connect, that is, both ATX 24 pin and EPS/ATX 8 pin will be needed in the vast majority of cases, but PCIe, for example, you almost never need to connect them all. This means that even if the source comes with eight different types of cables, among which we will find some repetitions of each, we obviously do not need to connect them all, which makes the installation and maintenance of the PC much more easy.
