1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,680 So you know what a pain it is to try and get that thick, bulky 24-pin ATX motherboard connector 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:09,680 up through the cable management grommets into your case and then shove it into the motherboard 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:14,400 itself trying to keep all the little pins lined up and not snap the board in half. Well this is 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:21,040 just one issue the new ATX12VO standard is aiming to solve. Instead of that annoying 24-pin connector 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:27,360 the aim is to replace it with a much more manageable 10-pin cable. I mean 10 pins is good 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:32,560 enough for bowling so why not for motherboards? Hey! Oh! All right strike that from the record. 7 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,600 You like the bowling joke so I got spares. Anyway let's dive in a little deeper into what this 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,400 all might mean for your next PC build. On modern platforms nearly everything on a motherboard 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:48,320 uses power off of the 12 volt rail of the power supply. That is the incoming power is 12 volts 10 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:53,040 which is then further stepped down to be suitable for whichever component needs the juice. CPUs 11 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:59,200 typically use fewer than 1.5 volts for example. However traditional ATX power supplies not only 12 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:06,160 have a 12 volt rail but they also have 5 and 3.3 volt rails. This is the reason why the ATX 13 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:11,520 connector has so many pins but there aren't many components on the board that still use the 5 and 14 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:19,520 3.3 volt rails so why keep them around? Hence the mere 10 pins you'll find on the 12 volt only 15 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:25,520 ATX 12 VO standard. If only having a 12-foot output is good enough for most components why bother 16 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:31,360 having a larger connector? Additionally not having full on 5 and 3.5 volt rails coming off the power 17 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,080 supply should make it more energy efficient especially at idle and ultimately be a little 18 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:40,640 easier on both your power bill and the environment especially as government regulators around the 19 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,920 world have been demanding more and more power efficient electronics. And because the PSUs won't 20 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,360 need as many electronics inside them since they're only outputting a single rail they might even be 21 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:57,760 less bulky. So great let's start sticking ATX 12 VO equipment inside all of our rigs. Well hold on 22 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:03,200 a second there are some drawbacks on doing things this way. For starters one very important standard 23 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:09,520 still uses 5 volts SATA. If you're using a typical ATX power supply you can just connect a SATA cable 24 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:15,360 from the PSU directly to your drive and the power supply will provide the appropriate voltage. However 25 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:21,360 an ATX 12 VO power supply is incapable of doing this so instead SATA power connectors will need to 26 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,240 be moved to the motherboard itself which will take care of the voltage conversion potentially 27 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,960 making things a little more complicated and messy when it comes time to build your system. Additionally 28 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:36,400 that little 10 pin connector may not be able to provide enough power if you're using in a higher end 29 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:42,240 rig. One early ATX 12 VO motherboard we've seen actually has an additional 6 pin connector 30 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:48,000 which can double the juice but now you're having to plug in 16 pins instead of just 10. It still beats 31 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,680 dealing with a single bulky 24 pin brick but it does negate the space savings somewhat. And you'll 32 00:02:53,680 --> 00:03:00,000 still need the typical PCI Express and 8 pin CPU connectors too so while it should make tinkering 33 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,120 with your PC a little easier don't expect the ATX 12 VO standard to be something that totally 34 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,560 revolutionizes the DIY computer scene. But if the 24 pin connector is the absolute bane of your 35 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:16,640 existence when will you actually be able to get your hands on an ATX 12 VO power supply and motherboard? 36 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:21,520 Well right now they're mostly being provided to larger OEMs that sell pre-built PCs and it's 37 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,720 unclear if the new standard will even take off at all in the enthusiast space. The power supply 38 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:32,160 manufacturers are reportedly reluctant to switch over to ATX 12 VO though there are also reports 39 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,680 indicating that Intel might make the specification mandatory on motherboards for its upcoming 40 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,640 Alder Lake processors so we'll just have to wait and see if it has staying power. 41 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,160 I'm just waiting for the day where we can power everything with a single cable 42 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,840 kind of like I try to do that year with my Christmas lights. So thanks for watching guys if 43 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,600 you liked this video hit like hit subscribe and hit us up down in the comments section 44 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,640 with your ideas for topics that we should cover in the future.