How a PC power supplies work | ||||
Power Supply
Power supplies, often referred to as "switching power supplies", use switcher technology to convert the AC input to lower DC voltages. The typical voltages supplied are:
The 3.3- and 5-volts are typically used by digital circuits, while the 12-volt is used to run motors in disk drives and fans. The main specification of a power supply is in watts . A watt is the product of the voltage in volts and the current in amperes or amps. If you have been around PCs for many years, you probably remember that the original PCs had large red toggle switches that had a good bit of heft to them. When you turned the PC on or off, you knew you were doing it. These switches actually controlled the flow of 120 volt power to the power supply. Today you turn on the power with a little push button, and you turn off the machine with a menu option. These capabilities were added to standard power supplies several years ago. The operating system can send a signal to the power supply to tell it to turn off. The push button sends a 5-volt signal to the power supply to tell it when to turn on. The power supply also has a circuit that supplies 5 volts, called VSB for "standby voltage" even when it is officially "off", so that the button will work.
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Table of Contents: › Introduction to How PC Power Supplies Work › Switcher Technology › Power Supply Standardization › Power Supply Wattage › Power Supply Problems › Power Supply Improvements |