Typically, power supplies have the following connectors:
- PC Main power connector (usually called P1):
Is the connector that goes to the motherboard to provide it with power. The connector has 20 or 24 pins. One of the pins belongs to the PS-ON wire mentioned above (it is usually green). This connector is the largest of all the connectors. In older AT power supplies, this connector was split in two: P8 and P9. If you have a power supply with 24-pin connector, you can plug it into a motherboard with a 20-pin connector. In cases where the motherboard has a 24-pin connector, some power supplies come with two connectors (one with 20-pin and other wi th 4-pin) which can be used together to form the 24-pin connector.
- 4-Pin Peripheral power connectors (usually called Molex for its manufacturer):
These are the other, smaller connectors that go to the various disk drives of the computer. Most of them have four wires: two black, one red, and one yellow. Unlike the standard mains electrical wire color-coding, each black wire is a ground, the orange wire is +3.3 V, the red wire is +5 V, and the yellow wire is +12 V.
- 4-Pin Floppy drive power connectors (usually called Mini-connector):
This is one of the smallest connectors that supplies the floppy drive with power. In some cases, it can be used as an auxiliary connector for AGP video cards. Its cable configuration is similar to the Peripheral connector.
- Auxiliary power connectors:
There are several types of auxiliary connectors designed to provide additional power if it is needed.
- Serial ATA power connectors:
a 15-pin connector for components which use SATA power plugs. This connector supplies power at three different voltages: +3.3, +5, and +12 volts.
- Most modern computer power supplies include 6-pin connectors which are generally used for PCI Express graphics cards, but a newly introduced 8-pin connector should be seen on the latest model power supplies. Each PCI Express 6-pin connector can output a maximum of 75 W.
