Can a Atx power supply work with a micro atx motherboad?

[Gigabite]

Hi

I am a new member to this great forum, i dropped by here because i was wondering if anyone has any knowledge about using a standard Atx motherboard power supply with a micro atx motherboard.

I really need to know if i can/can't use a atx power supply with a micro atx, because i plan to upgrade my Power supply.

Thanks

[Whyzman]

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

Here:

http://www.directron.com/matxps.html

[jlreich]

Yes you can. Only thing you need to look out for is making sure it has the correct main connector. Meaning if your mobo has a 20pin connector, make sure the power supply has a 20+4 pin connector. a 20+4pin connector has a 4pin section that can be removed so it can be used with either a 24pin or 20pin motherboard. Most new power supplies have this type of connector.

Also make sure it will fit inside your existing case without infringing on the CD/DVD drive cables. If your case is small you may need to actually get in there and do some measuring. Don't worry about height or width as these are standard, but look at the depth, or how long it is.

[Gigabite]

HI

thanks guys, so u are positively sure a atx PSU will work with a micro atx motherboard? Ive heard that a atx psu will fry a micro atx motherboard:( , due to the massive wattage power it has.

[mjc]

Wrong...

Whoever told you that needs to realize that a power supply isn't pumping massive amounts of electricity indiscriminately...but only as needed. Besides, there is no real difference between an ATX and mATX board, other than size...they both conform to the ATX standard.

[Gigabite]

Hi

I was wondering does the Amps of the standard atx power supply have an inluence on the micro atx motherboard? Also is there such a thing like a incompatible power supply? Also what is a 12volt rail?

Thanks

[jlreich]

Yep, as MJC said they are both ATX boards. Only difference is in size. There are also other ATX otherboard sizes such as FlexATX, Full ATX, and ExtendedATX. They all use ATX power supplies.

Yes there are microATX power supplies, but they are still ATX. It just about the physical size. OEM's like Dell and HP generally use microATX PSU's and motherboards because they usually use very small cases that will not accommodate a full size components.

In fact I have two or three old machines with microATX mobo's running on newer ATX power supplies right now. I have an old HP not three feet from me with an ATX PSU in it. Yeah it's kinda crammed in the small case, but it works.

EDIT -

Also is there such a thing like a incompatible power supply?
Yes, an AT power supply is not compatible with an ATX motherboard, and vice versa. ATX with ATX and AT with AT. But you won't find an old AT system much anymore. We moved to ATX quite a few years ago now.

The other thing would be will it fit in your case and leave enough room for your CD/DVD drives?

[Gigabite]

ok thanks jlreich, can someone explain to me what a 12volt rail is?, also do the amps mean anything? for example my current PSU has:

+12v--/14A
-12v--/.8A

What do these mean? also i am plannig to buy a psu with +12v 18a, will this work on my system?, or do i have to find one with 14A?

thanks

[pave_spectre]

Each voltage output of a power supply is usually referred to as a 'rail', so you have a 12V rail, 5V rail etc.

The amp rating is how much current the power supply can produce on each of its rails. Modern systems tend to draw more amperage than older ones

Generally speaking the higher the current rating the better, however be careful that the power supply doesn't produce high current on one voltage rail at the expense of the others 9cheap and nasty supplies have been known to do this).

A good quality supply should be able to produce reasonable current for each voltage rail. Someone else will know what each voltage should be capable of producing to minimise problems.

Getting a supply with a higher current rating than the one you have now should not be a problem.

[Gigabite]

ok thanks, what brand of psu would u recommend? and how many watts?

[mjc]

http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=47399

or similar models, but from the same manufacturers.

Also, in order to say 'how big' we need to know what it is being used for...so system specs are needed.

[Gigabite]

Hi

My system specs are:

-250GB, 16mb cache, 7200RPM seagate hard drive
-Windows Vista Business edition.
-Asus DVD Burner
-Gigabyte GA-K8VM800M Motherboard
-1 GB DDR 333 PC2700 ram
-AMD sempron 3400+ (2.0ghz) with HT
-Nvidia Geforce 6200 256MB DDR2 AGP 8X
-X blade case with 2 fans.

Also ive seen some power supplies with V2.0, What does this mean?

and if i buy a power supply with a SATA and PCI connector, can i still use the power supply even though i dont use the sata and pci connectors. ( My hard drive uses IDE interface and i have a agp slot, can the psu with sata and pci connectors still work with my computer?)

thanks

[jlreich]

can i still use the power supply even though i dont use the sata and pci connectors.
Sure that's not a problem.

Here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153026) is one that will do fine for your system and still easy on the wallet (for quality PSU's anyway). The only thing about Thermaltake PSU's are they have a lot of cables. That's a plus yes, but you will have to take the time to try and make all the extra cables neat inside your case.

As I mentioned before, you should grab a measuring tape and make sure you will have enough room to fit this PSU, or any other you might choose into your case with still having enough room for the cables for your optical drives. You will probably be OK with this one as it is only 5.5" deep. But it's best to be sure before you buy. Make sure you will have at least 1.5" between the PSU and your drives. I would say that is probably the minimum to still be able to get the cables to your optical drive.

[Gigabite]

ok thanks jlreich,

what is a V2.0 psu? can it be suitable for my system?

Thanks

[jlreich]

ATX 2.0 is a revision of the ATX spec (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX) with the latest revision being 2.2 to include certain new features. Yes it will work with your system. :)

[HomeSA]

Speaking of PSU compatibility, and Dell was mentioned above, isn't it true that Dell PSU will not work on any other brand PC? Isn't there something about the 20 pin connector that is reversed on a Dell PSU which would fry a motherboard if used on a non-Dell PC? Or is this all a myth?

Just checking my facts ....

[mjc]

Speaking of PSU compatibility, and Dell was mentioned above, isn't it true that Dell PSU will not work on any other brand PC? Isn't there something about the 20 pin connector that is reversed on a Dell PSU which would fry a motherboard if used on a non-Dell PC? Or is this all a myth?

Just checking my facts ....

Was true...

Newer models adhere to the ATX standard and use standard power supplies...older models don't. I'm not sure a complete list of when the change occurred and which models changed, exists, so unless the machine is fairly new, I wouldn't use a non-Dell PSU in it...

[jlreich]

I don't know the exact time line either, but I'm pretty sure it was over five years ago since they moved to the ATX standard.

[HomeSA]

Thanks for the clarrification. Then no worries these days.

I once put a Dell PSU out of a Dell PII machine into a HP PIII machine and poof.:eek:

[rond36]

Speaking of Dell PSUs PC Power and Cooling makes replacement and upgrade PSUs for Dell PCs and HP PCs
http://www.pcpower.com/products/power_supplies/selector/dell.htm
http://www.pcpower.com/products/power_supplies/selector/hp-compaq.htm