History of Computer Power Supplies

[@vrapbrap]

This reminds of those dark ages when Half life 1 was new and a friend of mine got a weird shady, cheap power supply despite everyone telling him not to. Moments later smoke was rising from his tower. Good times.

[@conflictingpersonalitiesga5075]

heh

[@pesshau6508]

Similar thing happened to a friend of mine around the same period as well. It was a Q-Tec, IIRC.

[@agnel47]

I build a budget gaming PC with a Corsair VS450, RIP me.

[@HaydenH]

I don't have any other friends that can build a PC.

[@AlexFlockhart]

I used to work for a company that serviced camera surveillance PC's, and they would always order the cheapest PSUs they could purchase or even salvage, leading to many fireworks displays and fried motherboards. Don't save pennies on PSUs folks.

[@zotar9279]

I bought a 1200 watt PSU back when SLI and Crossfire were new things. Feels like I am set for life with that.

[@dubsy1026]

Zotar SLI was new in 1998 or so. You may want to find something else

[@HaydenH]

@@dubsy1026 He probably means when it was popular.

[@dubsy1026]

@@HaydenH yeah, but his PSU is apparently still the same from then. Which _might_ become an issue

[@HaydenH]

Dubsy 102 I know, but he *meant* when it was popular.

[@Samqdf]

providing the capacitors stay good. I bought a high end PSU thining the same thing but I ended up having to replace it

[@BaronVonQuiply]

01:31 Ah, I remember wandering into Radio Shack, finding a PS/2 compatible mouse, and saying to myself "there's no *way* this fits a Playstation".

[@tafelsalz1]

"With high-end cards getting more and more power efficient..." RTX 3000 series: Well yes, but actually no

[@Marchey_]

I was going to say the same thing 😂

[@clarkenfixinclunkers6583]

@@Marchey_ the intro didnt age well lol

[@mairo5124]

Intel core 11th génération: **bonjour**

[@annoyinggasta]

I'm telling you, Ampere will age terribly

[@ElBozoII]

wait until RTX 4000 series, you need 550-650w minimum

[@threepointonefour607]

Apple logo at 2:47... Shots fired

[@raulserrano351]

So true

[@Tbonedoesfsx]

wtf is that name

[@koeingsegg]

So many shots lol

[@wobblysauce]

+

[@CaveyMoth]

According to this video, Apple is not a reputable brand.

[@EMETRL]

oh no, my psu just died. Oh well, gotta get a new case and rebuild my entire PC from scratch now

[@MilankoDebil]

no put new psu in

[@MilankoDebil]

@Nick Howley shut the fuck up

[@awadafuk4863]

no put new psu in

[@HeenaPatel253]

Understandable have a nice day

[@SotiriosURMusic]

Actually, it's cheaper to replace your desk. Your pc should work fine afterward.

[@teagan_p_999]

2:48 Not mentioning any names...

[@teagan_p_999]

*cough cough* apple *cough cough*

[@dkamm65]

Did you not notice the giant fucking Apple logo behind while he was saying that?

[@jonathancole4078]

you doughnut its sarcasm

[@JockeyStrappers]

haha thanks for pointing that out i missed it

[@radomiami]

🍎🍏🍎

[@LellePrinter82]

I still use my 700 watt psu since I bought it new back in 2007. Tagan Dual Engine TG700-U25. Built like a tank, well made, it's heavy, has dual 80mm fans and +12V@56A(4 Rails together). Costed around 1500 SEK at the time ~ 150 euros or 160 usd. This PSU doesn't show any sign of giving up anytime soon.

[@marcussoh38]

lol apple logo at 2:47 ... Subtle

[@M4RC3L001]

shots fired...

[@turkyandgravy]

Apple isn't the only thing that's proprietary. Sure it's proprietary at the hardware level, but Windows is just as bad as Apple as far as software, if not worse. Just look at secure boot, Microsoft's attempt at locking people into only using their operating system by putting a password on the bios that only Windows can unlock, making devices defective by design.

[@fearmemortals]

Haha that subliminal messaging

[@shooterboss]

That's a good point, but at the same time Apple is also trying to lock people into their software ecosystem. Mobile app development for iOS, for instance, must be done on a Mac device, and the App Store will ban you if you try using a virtual machine to get around that restriction. Also, Apple ensures that no other manufacturer can legally sell a PC with their operating system installed.

[@nonnarbl]

+Ryan Mattox why do you think we've all started to hate Microsoft increasingly more? Given how ubiquitous it is though, it's a necessary evil nowadays.

[@TricksterRad]

That apple logo when Linus talks about locking into a brand.

[@sethatkins3731]

xD I saw that,

[@sUmEgIaMbRuS]

Also, the console gaming scene in a nutshell

[@rainragsdale3192]

Loved that

[@michaelflynn6952]

Fascinating. From beginning to end. I really wanted to know this.

[@wildmonkeymc2380]

Hu

[@Kwipper]

2:48 I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE! XD

[@H3c171]

😂😂😂

[@Sinus_Lebastian]

That was beautiful

[@the1whoplayz]

Lol I'm watching on a mac

[@Bubgun45]

Die Apple Die

[@lgndk11r]

Well, that took courage.

[@tacokoneko]

3:34 BTX power supplies are actually fully compatible with ATX standard, at least externally and, as far as my experience goes, electrically; any BTX case will fit an ATX power supply, albeit usually only in the prebuilt/old-fashioned orientation at the top of the case, and vice versa. The connectors are also the same. I do know the Dell at least, while manufacturing prebuilts to the BTX standard, did sometimes put their own spin on it by having a locking clip of sorts at the top of the case and a corresponding slot on their power supplies. This would make ATX power supplies fit somewhat awkwardly, and the clip would press against the top of it and leave scratches and dents. Besides this, though, as far as I am aware there was never any substantial difference.

[@EposVox]

Ooh

[@pythonl0rd584]

4 years and I manage to be the first like somehow

[@EpicLokvanji]

@@ungabunga3183 3rd

[@TheThouZands]

eh?

[@no_more_free_nicks]

2:41 - I loved how certain logo appeared in the background.

[@yuke5550]

You forgot the mention the different types of capacitors that different PSUs use. They really really make a world of a difference.

[@Warhawk76]

Very cool, I love learning about this stuff! I am just old enough to have exposure to the really old computers... we have come so far!

[@metalheadmalta]

As a PCB designer and electronics technician myself with loads of years of experience, I can tell that you have done some good research, although there is much more once can say. But very good job... thumbs up.

[@foureye7058]

That dig at apple was gorgeous.

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

Voltage (there's no -age equivalent): the amount of "oomph" each charge has Current or amperage: the amount of charge going through a particular point in a wire per second Power or wattage: how much "oomph" is being delivered or used per second, calculated as voltage times current Therefore, 10 watts could be either 10V * 1A or 1V * 10A. Please let me be not the only one who understands this...

[@atlas8827]

No, you are not the only one who understands high school physics.

[@kostasch5686]

"laughs in electrical engineering"

[@michielappeldoorn3657]

+Guilherme Eduardo Carvalho not high school for me

[@il2xbox]

"Voltage (there's no -age equivalent)"... that's because voltage is the "-age equivalent" of electrical potential. Do you even physics, bro?

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

I took an entire physics course and got obsessed with the thing; how did I miss that?!

[@Tbonedoesfsx]

IPC as fast as possible........ still waiting, Luke lied!

[@BebinhoXD]

same here

[@jorelc6]

no multiplayer Luke ¬¬ ( /s)

[@FriedRalion]

Llorch Durden h6

[@vyor8837]

The long and short of it is that the "I" in IPC is essentially how many calculators you can use at once. So you have 2 hands, that's two calculators. So that's 2 instructions you can do at once. The "PC" part is "per clock," 1 megahertz is 1 million cycles in a second, 1 gigahertz is 1 billion cycles in a second. So if you run at, say 1 hertz(aka, 1 cycle a second), you could do 2 calculations a second with your calculators. If you ran at 1 megahertz you could do 2 *million* calculations in a second. Modern processors can do a lot more than 2 calculations every clock cycle of course, but there you go.

[@nicholasvinen]

4:48 folks, remember to keep the gears in your voltage regulator modules lubricated. You wouldn't want them to seize up.

[@TheBlueScreenYT]

I hadn’t watched to that point so I legit got scared that I was doing everything wrong

[@SomethingCool51]

My motherboard has a bunch of gears on it (B550 Taichi) thanks for reminding me. Maintenance is key!

[@NotxSplayd]

Linus: Quagmire Me: Giggity

[@TheSillydude45]

lmao

[@MsHojat]

I've always wondered why the heck his name is Quagmire. That is a really dumb name. I assume it was intentional, but I don't like it.

[@nobeltnium]

i don't understand :O

[@denniswoycheshen]

nobeltnium Giggity..... :O

[@burdendmist6543]

Holy shit i was thinking the same thing boi bro.

[@captainfraser3827]

0:26 That Aged well.

[@anthonylehmann1]

0:31 That did not age well!

[@jedits1988]

Been building PCs since 1993 and still build retro rigs - Aside from some minor connection differences (single mains vs "black to black" multimain), the ATX standard varies a lot more, with many aux pins here and there, indeed even 20 pin to 24 pin variants. There was no such variety with AT.

[@Devar]

I recall BTX being the next big thing. I'd love to see a video on what it promised and what happened with it!

[@NorbiPeti]

We have a HP PC that we wanted to upgrade which also meant using a new case. Not only was the CPU cooler mounted on the case itself but it had a built-in proprietary PSU with very different cables. Even though we supposedly worked the pins out and used the original PSU for a few cables it still didn't boot.

[@-_YuvrajSingh_-]

Graphics cards are becoming more efficient day by day.... I wish linus knew there would be something coming as the ampere and rdna2 back then

[@CarlitosG1711]

a history of techquickie as fast as possible

[@yashdeo8047]

so, who else hasn't finished watching the video but got bored and went to the comments😂😂

[@magzire]

+capsonjames get bent you toxic waste

[@batfan1939]

Guilty.

[@bsg2621]

i started looking 4:39

[@JonathanWJ]

I have an IBM-PC 5150. What I found most surprising is that the same exact power cable can be shared between it and my current desktop rig. That must have made at least something easier over the years! :)

[@spazmaticaa7989]

Ahhh, the BTX form factor. Crushed my dreams of upgrading my uncles old Dell xps 400. Now I need to build my own. Could be worse.

[@Nathan-fx3hr]

Watching in 2020 and seeing an Rx 480 being considered high end really put how far computers have come into perspective

[@bpfoley89]

Watched this during my run at the gym, did a mile in 9:52! Thanks Linus!

[@baronclime6423]

I remember changing some of those old at and pre at power supplies. Sometimes you could wind up way down a rabbit hole depending on some of the craps soldered onto the bleeding thing.

[@1pcfred]

I just love standards. There's so many to choose from!

[@chickywilly]

LOL! 😂

[@cantchange901]

Damn professionals always hoarding standards

[@1pcfred]

@@cantchange901 free the specs!

[@KuraIthys]

You can still buy AT power supplies brand new. They're used in a lot industrial automation stuff, which means they're still needed by businesses for various purposes. Side effect? You can still buy them. Worth knowing if you are into retro computing. (the one I came across was a 300 watt brand new AT power supply - more than enough for nearly any system that could even make use of one... The internal construction may well be closer to modern power supplies, but that really doesn't matter...)

[@deggial2005]

2017 psu problems: coil whine

[@nessotrin]

deggial2005 It's always been there. It's a design defect that cannot be predicted, hardware companies need to redesign those PSU when it happens. Reviews are here to help us with that.

[@SiGeTVee]

SFX/SF or small form factor power supplies are not irrelevant! A growing number of consumers actually like the mini-ITX profile cases and would prefer to utilize more of the precious little realestate for motherboard components and/or cooling rather than have a power supply hog all the space.

[@AvokadoTV-T2S]

0:24 aged mit very well. 😆

[@thebreatho]

I miss the power outlet for the monitor in older PSUs, it was quite convenient

[@JoshuaRando]

Should I mention the Apple logo just as everyone else has for the likes?

[@John-doe955]

Joshua Rando yes.

[@ezra1369]

Definitely

[@QuantumBraced]

Forgot to mention Flex ATX. It's another ATX derivative, even smaller than SFX and flatter, recently gaining popularity in ultrasmall form factor builds.

[@RezaSeedin]

LOVe the apple logo hint in the background !!! :D

[@scottthompson9633]

Linus, do a video on the differences of single +12V rail and 2 +12V rails/multi +12Vrails. If I remember right I think the single +12V rail is the best, from what I remember back when building my rig.

[@ZachAss11]

I don't know how you made a video about the history of PSUs interesting, but you did. Good job man

[@stevenclark2188]

Let's not forget the period where Dell had PSU's made with incompatible pinouts on the ATX connector just for them.

[@matteoleccese7390]

Graphics cards are getting more and more power efficient. Mmmmmm 🤣

[@giga-chicken]

I overdid it with my PSU. I ebay - sourced an unused open-box 750 Watt 80+ Platinum for my home server, plugged it up, and was very pleased by the noise level. Then I hooked up the system to the UPS and queried the UPS and the UPS said "ya, you're drawin' 47 Watts at the wall dude". Well... at least its efficient.

[@KozenaDrzka]

2:07 Giggity

[@erko4]

Still remember my ace raw 520W.. burning love for that one..

[@noureldinhesham5635]

nice apple logo about the trapping section 🖒🖒🖒🖒

[@DrumRoody]

Anyone else remember back in the day when you could power a CRT from a power supply using IEC out? Why don't they have IEC outs anymore?

[@ironic2468]

2:46 cough cough apple cough cough

[@robertwofford5324]

Ty for bringing up the old 20 pin pcs connector. I rememver when the connector vegan to shift in this direction some psus had 20 and others had 20 with a 4 pin addapter to support the newer pcbs at that time. I had to run out and buy a replacment one time because my old psu was a 20 pin

[@bolosantosi5398]

How are you here and at PAX, at the same time?

[@swerve248]

Linus is illuminati confirmed

[@bolosantosi5398]

+Ajinkya Pathania I know, I was just playing

[@FreshLlamanade]

+Ajinkya Pathania you must be fun at parties

[@ParalipsiSebring]

+I'm Batman weaving spiders come not here

[@siebwiep1489]

2:46 love the subtle Apple callout

[@EnergyUAE]

upscaled 4k vs native 4k

[@paianis]

Obviously native 4k is better.

[@TullaMiaLaGambit]

Such old Linus video. Love the sunburn. The content us good. Thank you

[@johanhakim4508]

Last time I was early, There was still a 301 views club

[@Girl_In_Bread]

haha

[@aleckaplan16]

+Spoder News dicks out

[@gdm413229]

Future power supplies should learn a lesson from the AT power supplies with their long-throw hard on/off toggle switches. Old rigs from 1984-1996 lacked the 5V standby rail and the toggle switch is before the bridge rectifier, consuming no power while turned off. My idea for future power buttons is a mix of old and new, with the short-throw acting like any ATX power button, used for waking the machine up and commanding the OS to shut down. This new hybrid power button design features a long-throw toggle switch located before the bridge rectifier on the PSU's circuit schematic. When you shut down your machine with the hybrid power button, the toggle switch is automatically toggled off to eliminate standby power consumption.

[@akhilesh7313]

Title missing "as fast as possible" 😂😂

[@peterjansen4826]

A challenge for Techquickie Explain how VRM's work.

[@liams923]

Like the Apple logo when u we're talking about Apple

[@tamoghno]

really good techquicki subject after a long time.

[@TheFPSPower]

To the tech quickie video editor: Please stop showing illustrations of what he's talking about BEFORE he talks about it, its basically adding subtitles that are ahead of the video, it does not work well.

[@RetroPillowcase]

Sounds like a you problem

[@davidmcguire6043]

I remember having and using at school old ibm beige boxes that ran dos and had a hard on off switch and a printer with a long ream of perforated folded paper with tear away edges.

[@cushshonvlogs420]

when will apple move to ATX?.... #NEVER

[@stickman2012]

I got me a mini-ITX build with an SFX. I'm still blown away by how tiny it is.

[@anonanon69]

I watched the entire video already.

[@zar_un]

+SpiralArc Linus uploads videos 7 days earlier on Vessel. So it's not impossible

[@CutoutClips]

I didn't even realize I was that early until I read this comment :P

[@aujla7564]

+SpiralArc he uploaded it to pornhub earlier

[@xkmto]

logic does fail though, evidently.

[@harshbarj]

AT power supplies did in fact have a standard. The most common was the ones that used the P8/P9 connector. Most AT boards you bought on the market would used this standard. Only some OEM systems decided to used a different connector. Much like in the early days of ATX, companies like DELL would use ATX like power supplies that were not really ATX.

[@KingStivan]

what about SATA power :< ?

[@JollyJoel]

Oh god, this brought back so many nightmares back in the day.

[@connorclouse1699]

Why was the apple logo in the background for a bit 2:47

[@andrewb1870]

Listen to what he's saying

[@RedDaLord]

subliminal advertising!!!1!

[@teagan_p_999]

Cause Apple is proprietary-land.

[@Breakfast221]

Apple is guilty of doing exactly what he was saying.

[@WAQWBrentwood]

+Redda Actually it's a subliminal "diss" - pointing up Apple's love of proprietary hardware.

[@willgoogletakethisname3963]

WHERE'S THE FACE REVEAL YOU'VE PASSED 1M SUBS (Kappa)

[@Alex-oz9eh]

wat

[@noanoxan]

the fuck are you on about?

[@willgoogletakethisname3963]

Can we get any more people who can't/didn't see the read more button? Let's find out.

[@avroken]

KappaPride

[@ghoulbuster1]

RUINED KappaRoss

[@Silvain1]

2:45 Apple! Do You Hear?

[@sethatkins3731]

xD

[@Gilxbass]

Linus always tech us how to be a great geek

[@ravenknight117]

That subtle Apple logo.

[@cardsfanbj]

"With high end graphics cards getting more and more power efficient these days" So, that was a lie...

[@mjc0961]

2:47 - Hahahaha, be careful Linus, you have some shit behind you all of a sudden XD (that editing was brilliant, props who to whoever did that)

[@TCGView]

Tech Quickie Video idea! The evolution of multicore processors...in case there isn't already a video on it.

[@drewbikowicz8711]

LOL That Apple logo though

[@camomatt]

PSU Tiers fast as possible would be a good followup. You CAN go and get the brand name unit that has enough wattage, but it's not always the best choice. There's a reason why some units are more expensive than others, and it's not just the modularity/aesthetic/efficiency. This is coming from someone who tried overclocking a G3258 on a Corsair CX500 and less than a week later, the PSU was dying and took the SSD with it. Never again going with a low tier PSU for even somewhat intensive loads.

[@tls5870]

I have no interest or use for this information, but yet I watch this and other similar Linus videos all the time. What is wrong with me?

[@llamasrose3721]

2:51 I love the apple shadow in the background.

[@infernaldaedra]

Damn apple got called out at 2:47.

[@James-lp5]

I've gone through a few Antec power supplies in the past. The power supply would just simply die or almost cause the ATX plug to get stuck in the board because it would fry a little...

[@Arek_R.]

Exploding samsung devices as fast as possible xD

[@bloxcodes6576]

"GPUS use most power in pcs" Someone with a iGPU: Haha, I have no such weaknesses

[@maharibharoon4889]

Who is watching it in 2019?

[@dmfraser1444]

Now I use an Intel NUC computer that is a third the size of an ATX power supply and it runs from a wall wart that looks like about a 30W power supply. I would look but I would have to unplug it, reboot, find this web site again. You know the drill. The bigger NUCs with more cores use a 65W power brick. Mine is the thinner one and is not even as big as the early 5" hard drives. It is so small I have to use an external gigabit USB router which is almost as big as the entire computer to get all the USB ports I want. I guess this it getting close to the end of the road for the TL494 chip they used in all the previous PC power supplies.

[@rev_dude]

2:21 that guy is putting a cpu cooler where the psu goes....BOI! and also crap cable management.

[@DingoLeDingue]

no he is not, he is installing it on the motherboard laying in front of him (you can see the ram slots). Though the cable management is indeed crap

[@rev_dude]

Oh..upon further inspection, you are right. But y would u need 2 motherboards...

[@ultraintent7864]

Rev_dude stock photo man

[@chaython]

Hey Linus, USB Power Delivery supports up to 100 watts, so why can't we have a new power-supply with slimmer cabling/connectors? That ATX 24 often makes slimmer cases hard to close...

[@Phunker1]

What you said about AT supplies was pretty much all BS. Meh.

[@DxDeksor]

Yeah, I've AT PCs and : - All of them have the same pinout - All of the PSUs are the same size I've never seen an AT PSU with a different form factor. Not that they don't exist but if they do, they must be very rare

[@alexatkin]

Exactly, AT IS a standard, just as ATX is another. Heck, ATX PSUs aren't as simple as made out here as there are many generations/revisions when it comes to how the voltage lines are designed to be loaded. During the early Athlon years there were problems with PSUs dying because Intel had moved the CPU regulators onto the 12V line and ATX was revised around that, but Athlon still relied on the 5V. It wasn't always immediately obvious which version of PSU you were buying so you could end up overloading the 5V lines, which at the time most PSUs had poor or no overload protection so would just fry.

[@losttownstreet3409]

In the early AT world where soldering skills pretty much standard: older motherboards had sockets and emtpy location where you could upgrade your SRAM, DRAM, .... Now you had a 6-10 Layer motherboard with 0204 Chips. SOP's are now the bigger Chips. With AT the design was one PSU and not many regulators on the Motherboard. Now you didn't use one big flyback but many buck and boost converters on the motherbords and in the processors itself. Try now to build a low grade motherboard and you are getting in a lot of power delivery problems you had to solve. Back in the AT-world you connect the right rail from the PSU.

[@Rattacko]

There needs to be a new standard, the connectors are so big considering how much power they give. USB-C gives up to 150W of power, which is equivelant to an 8-pin which is much larger in physical size compared to type-c

[@CocoaNutTF2]

Oh, look. Free markets don't need government regulation for standards to exist.

[@sparky663]

top kek m9

[@atlas8827]

You fucking muppet.

[@CocoaNutTF2]

***** So someone with the flag of Brazil has come to explain to me how great government-controlled markets are. This is unbelievably hilarious.

[@bipbong2906]

Harambe will relive

[@atlas8827]

***** Oh sweetheart, the brazillian government is bad, but it definitely beats having no government at all.

[@esunetdude]

Too bad he didn't mention that the term "rail" actually referred to the big mainframes from back in the day. They quite literally had heavy metal rails mounted with insulators to provide all the power to the plethora of boards that made those things tick. Engineers had to be careful not to lay their arms across the rails when they powered on. And watch out if you accidentally shorted the rail to ground. So the term stuck to the PSUs as they shrunk in size.

[@hkoizumi3134]

I have been building PC for over 20 years now and for those that just got into or thinking about building PC still complain about the hardware parts, you have no idea what it was like when I was a kid lol.

[@TRC98]

ATX is basically a lesson in the beauty of a free market