Atx 2.0 Wtf

[BouncingSoul]

Everytime I think I know everything I find something new. My roommate was just about to order the final piece of the new PC (Asus SLI Deluxe) and he sees a note indicating ATX 2.0 required. I have no idea what this is. I'm guessing its something to do with they type of connectors on the board and I'm also guessing that the power supply in his new case won't be 2.0. I recomended a new PSU anyway and he found a nice Antec on newegg for under $50. This one doesn't say 2.0 compliant though so we did a search of their site for Antec ATX 2.0 found a range of PSU's for well over $100. So what's the deal here, is this required or is there an adapter we can get or what?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Luna]

Everytime I think I know everything I find something new. My roommate was just about to order the final piece of the new PC (Asus SLI Deluxe) and he sees a note indicating ATX 2.0 required. I have no idea what this is. I'm guessing its something to do with they type of connectors on the board and I'm also guessing that the power supply in his new case won't be 2.0. I recomended a new PSU anyway and he found a nice Antec on newegg for under $50. This one doesn't say 2.0 compliant though so we did a search of their site for Antec ATX 2.0 found a range of PSU's for well over $100. So what's the deal here, is this required or is there an adapter we can get or what?

Thanks in advance.

The on difference is the 24 pin power connection on the motherboard. You can buy a converter online that will do 20 to 24 pin. Just make sure the 20 pin PSU you buy is able to handle the board.

You can also just buy PSU's with 24pin connections on them.



I did not know this till I got the SLI-Deluxe, and by then I already had my PSU bought. So I went to Fry's, got a PSU that came with a converter, then returned it the next day but 'forgot' to put the converter back in the box :dead:

So I got one for free

 

[RickyC]

The ATX 2.0 specs require dual +12V rails. If the mobo is a true ATX 2.0 mobo, this is required. The new PSU's are backward compatable though with a 20 pin adapter.

 

[BouncingSoul]

The ATX 2.0 specs require dual +12V rails. If the mobo is a true ATX 2.0 mobo, this is required.

I have no idea what you just said!

 

[LordOfLA]

He said that ATX 2.0 boards require 2 12v DC inputs.

 

[RickyC]

hehe, thanks Lord for putting it into plain English.

Sometimes I just type whats in my head, it doesn't always make sense even to me :squareeye but I didn't think it was that cryptic.

 

[BouncingSoul]

Okay, we got the power supply covered I think. Is 350 enough for SLI (2x 6600 GT) and AMD64 3500?

 

[LordOfLA]

no. you need 480-550 from a decent manufacturer - I recommend Tagan for that

 

[LordOfLA]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-101-509&depa=0 for the tagan 480w

 

[BouncingSoul]

no. you need 480-550 from a decent manufacturer - I recommend Tagan for that

I didn't think it would be enough but price is a concern when you already have the parts and are not sure if you need to upgrade. The one you recommended is a good combo of price and performanace though, thanks!

 

[trainmaster77]

The ATX 2.0 specs require dual +12V rails. If the mobo is a true ATX 2.0 mobo, this is required. The new PSU's are backward compatable though with a 20 pin adapter.

yeah 2.0 is exactly 2 12v connetions ..one 24pin one 4 pin

 

[digerati]

Just went through the same discovery, confusion, and questioning about new ATX 2.0 PSU's myself.

Decided to upgrade my system to an Athlon64 3000+, Chaintech vnf4 nforce4 ultra, and Radeon x800 XL pcie, to go along with my 120gb seagate SATA HD, and 512x2 geil pc3200 RAM.

People said my Antec 380w PSU that came with my Sonata case wasn't tough enough to handle the new equipment so I had to figure out what to get to replace it.

Everyone recommended the Antec Neopower 480w, but at $130 it was more than i probably needed. So cut it down to either an Antec Trupower 430w, which wasn't atx 2.0 compatible, but did provide about 26A - +12v or an Enermax 420w that was ATX 2.01 compatible and cost about the same. It seemed to say it had about 18A on each of the 12v rails.

Anyhow, despite being an Antec PSU guy, Enermax seemed reputable and had the advantage of being ATX 2.01 certified.

I just hope I made the right choice.

If your friend still needs a PSU, maybe the enermax will do, I got it off newegg for about $80.

 

[Steevo]

The 925X Intel mobo io got would use a 20 pin, but had the extra 4 *if* you had the connecter. And the new Antec case has the 20, with a extra adapter to make it 24 pin. According to Intel you can use just the 20, but the board might shutdown under extreme load conditions.

 

[ming]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but ATX 2.0 also has 1 or 2 4 pin plugs for PCI-e cards.

 

[LeeJend]

Extra, extra, read all about it!

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20041223/index.html

An adapter will not cut it! The 4 extra pins are there to carry more current that is required for the new MBs. That's why they made a new standard.

The new standard also requires SATA plugs so you won't need the adapters that clutter up the system.

The bad news is that the True Power supplies and the rest of the Antec line do not appear to be ATX12V 2.0 compliant. They have the old 20 pin connector and the seperate P4, 4 pin connector, though they do have SATA connectors.

Capacity - the Ture power 380 will just make it to support your roomies rig. The 430 would be a wiser choice. Make sure his MB can support the old 20 pin + 4 pin configuration.

RANT - Your roomie is spending over $1000 on new MB, CPU RAM, HDs, Video Cards. The stupid SOB is going to risk all that to a cheap ass power supply. If the supply goes everything goes, poof, kaboom, smoke, flames, etc.

DO NOT BE STUPID! Spend the bucks on a good power supply and a GREAT surge protector. ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH! IQ's are dropping again.

 

[vivid_vibe]

I guess I'm a little confused about the new 24-pin mobos and psu's. I have a 24-pin mobo that is being powered just fine by my Antec TRUE430 which is 20-pin. The mobo manual says this is perfectly fine. What exactly is the deal?

edit: Nevermind. Found the answer on Tom's Hardware. I forgot about the extra 4-pin connector slot on my mobo.

 

[LeeJend]

With ATX 2.0 they moved the extra 4 pin connector next to the other 20 pins and beefed up the wiring. Capacity isn't the concern as much as voltage drop in the wires and MB traces.

 

[vivid_vibe]

With ATX 2.0 they moved the extra 4 pin connector next to the other 20 pins and beefed up the wiring.

So, in other words when/if I buy an ATX 2.0 psu, I can disconnect that extra 4-pin power connector on the mobo?

Capacity isn't the concern as much as voltage drop in the wires and MB traces.

I can understand that. Thanks for clearing that up.