Motherboard Connections - CompTIA A+ 220-1201 - 3.5

If you look closely at your motherboard, you'll see a number of different components for CPU and memory. But you'll also see a relatively large connector, and that's used for the main power for your motherboard. This is the connector that provides 3.3 volt, 5V, and 12vt DC power to your motherboard and the components connected to your

motherboard. If you're working with an older motherboard, this may be a 20 pin connector, but newer motherboards use 24 pins to provide the power that it needs. If you have a motherboard with 20 pins, but you have a connector with 24 pins, you can often simply use that same 24 pin connector, even though four pins may

be missing from the connector that's on your motherboard. Some of the cables from your power supply may even be modular, so you can pull off four of those connectors and simply use the 20 that are left. Here's the 24 pin connector on the motherboard. You'll notice that the individual pins on the connector have different shapes. This

keying ensures that you can only plug the main power connector in one single way to that connection. And if you were to look at the connector coming from the power supply, you will see that it has the same type of keying mechanism on the connector. To plug this into the motherboard, you simply line up those

keys in the proper order and push the connector all the way into the motherboard. Normally, this connector will have a lip or locking mechanism so that when you connect this to the motherboard, it can only be removed if you unlock it with the latch. Normally that connector to the motherboard provides all the power we

need. But often you may install an adapter card that requires additional power than what the motherboard is already providing. This is very common if you're plugging in a graphics card or some other device that needs additional power over what the motherboard can provide. This is a PCI Express 8pin and six pin connector. The six pin version