Computer Assembly - How To Assemble A PC
Connect The Motherboard To The Power Supply
The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition motherboard is ready to be connected to the power supply. There are three connections to be made. There is the 4-pin power connector shown circled in yellow at the top-center of the picture, the 24-pin power connector shown circled in yellow at the bottom-center of the picture, and the 3-pin power supply exhaust fan connector shown circled in yellow at the bottom-left of the picture.
Sort out the 24-pin power plug from the power supply. It looks as shown below. Notice there are 24 holes at the end of the plug arranged 2 x 12.
Insert the 24-pin power plug from the power supply into the 24-pin connector on the motherboard. It should click into place. If it needs to be unplugged, it should not slide right out - it should be necessary to squeeze the locking clip as it's removed. The connection is keyed so they can only be connected in one way.
Once inserted, it looks like this.
Find the 4-pin power plug coming from the power supply. It looks as shown below.
Insert the 4-pin power plug from the power supply into the 4-pin connector on the motherboard. Like the 24-pin plug, it should click into place, and to unplug it's necessary to squeeze the locking clip as it's removed. The connection is keyed so they can only be connected in one way.
Once inserted, it looks like this.
The power supply has an exhaust fan. Most power supplies need to have a power connection made for the exhaust fan to work. Seems strange doesn't it? I mean, most things connect to the power supply. Yet somehow the power supply fan needs to connect outside of the power supply. But that's the way it is much of the time. The connector may be a 3-pin connector, such as with the power supply I'm using, or a 4-pin connector. The connector may be labeled as being for the power supply fan, which is helpful, but it's not labeled with the power supply I'm using. Even so, it's easy to pick out as the lone 3-pin connector cord coming from the bundle of power supply cords. Often the 3-pin connector has blue wires, as it is with the power supply in the Antec Sonata II.
The connector is a standard 3-pin connector.
The 3-pin connector for the power supply fan can be plugged into any 3-pin socket on the motherboard. The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition has five 3-pin headers on the motherboard. The one labeled "PWR_FAN" suggests it is intended for connecting the 3-pin plug for the power supply exhaust fan. There may be other 3-pin headers closer to the power supply, but in general it's best to use it as labeled. The BIOS and other applications assume the fan that is connected to a header is for a particular device. For example, it is a safety precaution built into most computers to shutdown if no cooling is detected to keep the processor from overheating. So if there is no fan detected spinning on the 3-pin header intended for the CPU cooling fan, labeled "CPU_FAN" on my motherboard, then the computer will shutdown shortly after being powered on. Fortunately, the cord for the power supply fan connector is plenty long enough to reach its intended 3-pin header, even allowing for tucking it out of the way. The 3-pin connector is keyed to the socket so that it cannot be plugged in the wrong way around. If the cord hadn't been long enough to reach then one option would be to use a 3-pin to 4-pin converter to connect the fan to one of the 4-pin power connectors coming from the power supply.
This is how it looks when connected.
Here's how the interior of the computer case looks now with the power supply connections made.
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Insert the 24-pin power plug from the power supply into the 24-pin connector on the motherboard. It should click into place. If it needs to be unplugged, it should not slide right out - it should be necessary to squeeze the locking clip as it's removed. The connection is keyed so they can only be connected in one way.
Once inserted, it looks like this.
Find the 4-pin power plug coming from the power supply. It looks as shown below.
Insert the 4-pin power plug from the power supply into the 4-pin connector on the motherboard. Like the 24-pin plug, it should click into place, and to unplug it's necessary to squeeze the locking clip as it's removed. The connection is keyed so they can only be connected in one way.
Once inserted, it looks like this.
The power supply has an exhaust fan. Most power supplies need to have a power connection made for the exhaust fan to work. Seems strange doesn't it? I mean, most things connect to the power supply. Yet somehow the power supply fan needs to connect outside of the power supply. But that's the way it is much of the time. The connector may be a 3-pin connector, such as with the power supply I'm using, or a 4-pin connector. The connector may be labeled as being for the power supply fan, which is helpful, but it's not labeled with the power supply I'm using. Even so, it's easy to pick out as the lone 3-pin connector cord coming from the bundle of power supply cords. Often the 3-pin connector has blue wires, as it is with the power supply in the Antec Sonata II.
The connector is a standard 3-pin connector. The 3-pin connector for the power supply fan can be plugged into any 3-pin socket on the motherboard. The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition has five 3-pin headers on the motherboard. The one labeled "PWR_FAN" suggests it is intended for connecting the 3-pin plug for the power supply exhaust fan. There may be other 3-pin headers closer to the power supply, but in general it's best to use it as labeled. The BIOS and other applications assume the fan that is connected to a header is for a particular device. For example, it is a safety precaution built into most computers to shutdown if no cooling is detected to keep the processor from overheating. So if there is no fan detected spinning on the 3-pin header intended for the CPU cooling fan, labeled "CPU_FAN" on my motherboard, then the computer will shutdown shortly after being powered on. Fortunately, the cord for the power supply fan connector is plenty long enough to reach its intended 3-pin header, even allowing for tucking it out of the way. The 3-pin connector is keyed to the socket so that it cannot be plugged in the wrong way around. If the cord hadn't been long enough to reach then one option would be to use a 3-pin to 4-pin converter to connect the fan to one of the 4-pin power connectors coming from the power supply.
This is how it looks when connected.
Here's how the interior of the computer case looks now with the power supply connections made.
