3.7 – Summarize power supply types and features

Question 1

Which power connector should be used to power an SATA hard drive?
 ❍ A. Molex
 ❍ B. 6-pin
 ❍ C. 24-pin
 ❍ D. 15-pin

Answer 1

D. 15-pin connectors power SATA hard drives and other SATA devices (such as
optical drives). Molex connectors power fans, older IDE devices, and other secondary devices. 6-pin power connectors are used for video cards (as are 8-pin
connectors). 24-pin refers to the main power connection for the motherboard.

Question 2

Which voltages are supplied by a Molex power connector?
 ❍ A. 12 V and 5 V
 ❍ B. 5 V and 3.3 V
 ❍ C. 3.3 V and 1.5 V
 ❍ D. 24 V and 12 V

Answer 2

A. Molex connectors provide 12 volts and 5 volts. There are four wires: if color coded, yellow is 12 V, red is 5 V, and the two blacks are grounds.

Question 3

A company salesperson just returned to the United States after three months in
Europe. Now the salesperson tells you that her PC, which worked fine in Europe,
won’t turn on. What is the best solution?
❍ A. Install a new power supply.
❍ B. The computer will not work in the United States due to European
licensing.
❍ C. Install a power inverter to the power supply.
❍ D. Change the voltage from 230 to 115.

Answer 3

D. Most likely, the voltage selector was set to 230 V so that it could function properly in Europe (for example, in the UK). It needs to be changed to 115 V so that
the power supply can work properly in the United States. Make sure to do this
while the computer is off and unplugged.

Question 4

Which of the following can have 8 pins? (Select all that apply.)
 ❍ A. PCIe
 ❍ B. SATA
 ❍ C. ATX main power
 ❍ D. CPU
 ❍ E. Molex

Answer 4

A and D. PCIe power can be 8-pin or 6-pin. CPU power (EATX12V) can be
8-pin or 4-pin. SATA power is 15-pin (and data is 7-pin). ATX main power is typically 24-pin. Molex is a 4-wire connector; it is sometimes also referred to as
“peripheral.”