SMPS

Three Types of SMPSs

SMPS full form is Switching Mode Power Supply. It is a main power supply to power the each
and every component of computer or it converts the main power supply 230volts to 12volts,
5volts, 3volts and distribute to all components of computer.

SMPSs are three types.

AT SMPS

ATX SMPS

BTX SMPS

AT SMPS:
AT stands for Advanced Technology. These are all old SMPSs. They had 12pin power connector,
this is called as AT power connector. They were used in Pentium-I, Pentium-MMX, Pentium-II
and Pentium-III CPUs.

ATX SMPS:

ATX stands for Advanced Technology eXtended. They had 20pin Power connector, this is called
as ATX power connector. They were used in Pentium-III, Pentium-IV and AMD CPUs.

BTX SMPS:

BTX stands for Balanced Technology eXtended. They have 24pin Power connector, this is also
called as ATX power connector. It has 15pin SATA power connectors. They are used in Dual
core, core2duo, Quad core, i3, i5, i7 and latest AMD CPUs.

AT, ATX, BTX SMPS Connectors, voltages and

functions
There are three types of SMPSs. They are AT, ATX, BTX. These three types of SMPSs have
different connectors and each wire has different voltages. Here the connectors and its voltages.

AT SMPSs have 12 pin power connector, ATX SMPSs have 20 pin power connector and BTX
SMPSs have 24 and 28 pin power connectors. AT power supplies were used in 80s and from
1996 we use ATX power supplies. Here are the AT, ATX and BTX SMPSs voltages and users.

Smps

AT

ATX

BTX

Red

+5v

+5v

+5v

Yellow

+12v

+12v

+12v

Blue

-12v

-12v

-12v

White

-5v

-5v

-5v

Black

0v

0v

0v

Orange

+5v

+3.3v

+3.3v

Green

----

+5v

+5v

Gray or Brown

----

+5v

+5v

Purple

----

+5v

+5v

Red

: it is used for signal sending

Yellow

: It is used for motor running

White &Blue: It is used for backward compatibility

Black

: It is used for grounding purpose

Orange

: It is used for power good signal

Green

: It is used for power supply on in ATX

Gray & Brown: It is used for power good signal in ATX

Purple

: It is used for auto shutdown in ATX

More About Switching Mode Power Supply

SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) has different connector for motherboard, disk drives and
floppy drives. so we have to know all the SMPS connectors and its purpose.

back side of the CPU, there is a power socket. This socket takes 230 volts power from wall
socket. This is also called as AC 230 volts input connector. This is male connector. Some SMPSs
have AC 230 volts output connector also. This connector gives power to monitor. This is female
connector.

ATX power connector:

Below is the 24pin ATX power connector, this is latest model smps power connector. it has
20pins or 24pins.

12V ATX connector:

Below is the 12v ATX connector. It has 4pin. yellow carries 12v. so this is called as 12v ATX
connector.

Peripheral Power Connector:

Below is the peripheral power connector. this is IDE power connector. it has 4 pins.
yellow carries 12 volts, red carries 5 volts and black is the ground wire. any SMPS has 4
peripheral power connectors. every motherboard supports 4 IDE devices such as hard disk
drives and CD or DVD drives. latest motherboards have only single IDE connector, so latest
motherboard supports only 2 IDE drives. so that latest SMPSs have 2 peripheral power
connectors for connecting 2 IDE drives.

SATA Power Connector:

Below is the SATA power connector. it has 7 pins. It is only for Serial ATA drives such as SATA
hard disk drives and SATA CD or DVD drives. latest SMPSs have this connector. all SMPSs have
2 SATA power connectors.

Floppy Power Connector:

here is the floppy power connector, it is different from all other connectors. of course all are
different. this is only for floppy. but now a days no one use floppy drives.