ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019 9797
HOWTOFITTHEPSUANDCABLES
W
ith everything in place, the final steps
aretoget powertoeverything.
Remember,ifyou canroutecables through
the rear of your case, do so, as this will
keep your computer looking less cluttered.
If you’reusing amodular PSU,only
connect thecables thatyou’ll needto
furtherreduceclutter.
FITTHEPSU
With mostcases, PSUsare fitted at the
bottomof the case, sometimes inaseparate
caged-off area.Turn the PSU so that itsfan
is facing downward stowardsthe bottomof
the case: youmay find it easierto standyour
case up the normalwayfor this step.
Slide the PSU in and push it backwards,
so that the powerconnector isfacing out the
back of your case. From therear of your
case, screw in the powersupply.The mounts
will be clearly visible, andyoushould need
four screwstohold the PSU in place. Screw
the PSU in quitetightly so that it’spulled into
the rear of the case. 1
CONNECTTHE24-PIN
CONNECTOR
Find the large24-pin connector onyour
motherboardand plug in the matching PSU
cable. This will haveaseparatefour-pin
connector thatyouhavetopush into make
the full24-pin plug. Thecable canonly go
in oneway, with the clip in thecable
designedto grasp the ridge on the
motherboard; ifyoucan’t getthe cable
to go in, try turning it around and trying
again.Alittle bitof force, followedbyaclick,
shows youhaveitr ight. 2
CONNECTTHESECONDARY
POWERCONNECTOR
Motherboards haveasecondary power
connector(the ATXauxiliaryconnector). This
canbeafour-pin or an eight-pinconnector.
If it’ sthe latter,you’ll needto squeeze
together the twofour-pinconnectors from
your PSU.Ifit’sthe former,look at the PIN
layout on the motherboardand line this up
with thecorrect four-pinconnector.
In all cases, the secondary power
connectorcanonly plug in oneway, with
the clip designedto grab the ridge on the
motherboard’sconnector.Afirm push and
an audible click showyou’vedone the job.
CONNECTSATAPOWER
CABLES
Any2.5in SSDs, harddrives and optical
drives needto haveSATA powerconnectors
plugged in. Thesecanonly plug in oneway,
and shouldconnect withaslightclick,
lettingyouknowthat they’refirmly in the
rightplace. 3
TOPTIP
Make sure you have the
secondarypower
connector in place;it’s
easy to miss andmeans thatyour
computer won’t startup.
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3
1
3
BUILDYOURDREAMPCFROMSCRATCH
