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Different compionents of the computer use different voltages, which go through that same 24-pin motherboard connector.Originally Posted by jimmythecow
okay.. i haveed and i have been reading a little on
but i still cant find what im looking for. I have an ATX mobo, and on that mobo i have to plug in the ATX plug. now when i look at the opus it has the ATX plug thig built in. yay... but for my needs i dont want an opus. i want an ITPS. so... the way i see it is that it has 3 wires in, power, ground, remote, and 2 wires out. power ground. so here is my Q. now that i have a "clean" 12v how do i get it to run my ATX mobo/HDD? I keep hearing people blah blah about the 12 rail. but i have no clue what you guys are talking about. so any and all help on what aire goes where. point to a page please. im just dang confused on the whole 12v thing. i thought the ATX plug had WIERD volts like. 3.5, 5, 12, -12, -5 ground... blah blah blah.... thnx for the help in advance
The 12v is the most important, because thats where the motherboard gets its power, to be distributed as the motherboard dictates to RAM, PCI bus, AGP, northbridge, southbridge, etc. ad nauseum.
The Opus (and its competitors) do two things:
1) regulate the voltage coming from the battery/alternator to prevent power fluctuations that could damage the computer.
2) output the correct voltages to the ATX connector, as well as the 5v molex (hard drive) connectors.
The ITPS basically leaves the circuit open during engine cranking so that it's not going to fry your computer parts. It will close the 12v circuit and sent a power-on to the motherboard to boot the system.
Most of these don't regulate power, from what I've read (I could be wrong about this), but cirumvent the power surge from an engine crank by not closing the circuit until 5sec or so after crank.
More information here.
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