New ATX Power Supply on old Motherboard

Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


Thanks

J Mann

I'm having a little trouble fathoming what the 3 pin connector is that goes
to the board from the PS. My guess is that that the original Gateway PS is
propriatory and you may need an exact replacement going to that mb.
The 4 pin square connector on the new PS is the power feed for the cpu.
Four years ago that connector would not have been used as the mb designs
channeled current to the cpu through the regular 20 pin PS connector that
went to the mb. Today some of the newer PS's use 24 pin connectors. On your
board, for its age, you would not find a need for the 4 pin square
connector. However, you may be limited to an exact replacement on the
Gateway unless you can figure out what that 3 pin connector is necessary to
do and possibly find a way to adapt it.

If this were me doing this I would start by asking if it's worth the cost
to upgrade the machine for what my intentions are, as I hate throwing good
money after bad. If the PS is going and they wanted, let's say $70 for a
replacement, and money was tight I'd probably pay rather than rebuild if the
processor were say a P III 1.2 Ghz or faster. If it were less in speed I'm
dubious that I would put the money into it.
Understand this is all conjecture as I don't know your own individual
needs for this computer.


--
Jan Alter

or

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


Thanks

J Mann

At a wild guess some power supplie are 'universal' meaning they will
work AMD and Pentium CPU's.

Pentium CPU's require an extra 12V connector, obviously if the board
isn't capable of using a Pentium then the connector will not be there
as it won't be used, the wire will be just coiled up and left
dis-connected.

Davy

Pentium CPU's require an extra 12V connector, obviously if the board
isn't capable of using a Pentium then the connector will not be there
as it won't be used, the wire will be just coiled up and left
dis-connected.

More than a year ago many mb makers adopted the squarish 4 pin connector to
be used on AMD chips as well.


--
Jan Alter

or

"Davy" wrote in message
. ..
At a wild guess some power supplie are 'universal' meaning they will
work AMD and Pentium CPU's.

Pentium CPU's require an extra 12V connector, obviously if the board
isn't capable of using a Pentium then the connector will not be there
as it won't be used, the wire will be just coiled up and left
dis-connected.

Davy

I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin type.

The square 4 pin connector is used to supply the neccessary current to newer
CPU's (P4 or later model AMD chips). You can just coil this connector out of the
way somewhere as you're not gonna need it.

The 3 pin connector puzzles me.. I have seen a 6 pin auxilary connector (looks
like the old AT connector, simmlar purpose to the 4 pin plug), and 4 pin molex
(drive connector), but 3 pin is new. Are you sure it isn't just a fan connector
? Can you give us a model number for the PC or the mainboard ?

Regards,
Chris



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wrote:
Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

I don't know what a power signal connnector is.

The 3-pin connector is most likely there for PSU fan control. Some
Gateway motherboards have that connection anyway.

You can look up the motherboard specs on the Gateway site if you know
the part no.

Anonymouswrote:
Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power
supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that
goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin
type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


Thanks

J Mann

I would concur with most of the posters here, let me see if I can make
it simple.

The four pin connector you refer to, is a late model connection that
won't apply to your computer.

The three pin connector you refer to: Does this come from the power
supply itself on a separate wire? Is it a mini plug? Or, a similar
type plug your hard drive or ROM drives use. (the four pin one) If
it's a mini, it's likely you power supply is probably just checking
to see if any on board fans aren't working. This may be a Gateway
system to protect the processor. In that day, it was never heard of;
today, all high level power supplies have a similar plug. Some
motherboards have it built in. (mine does) Antec "True Power" units
all have it because they not only monitor your fans, they control the
speed of them depending on temperature.

Even so, Antec aside, this would still seem odd to the vast majority
of people that know old tech. Back in that day, it may simply be a
pass through connector for the on board fans. It's simple to check
it, see if the fans turn on. If they do and the computer boots,
don't worry about it.

You have to understand, you're talking very old component systems that
weren't used in the mainstream. It may be Gateway unique, but even if
it is, you should be able to get around it quite easily. It wasn't
rocket science then, anymore then it's rocket science now.

That said, I must agree with one poster:

How much do you want to dump into a dinasour? The answer is really
simple: What have you upgraded so far?

If that answer is nothing; and you look at how cheap mainstream
computers are now. (check this weeks Office Max ad) It's probably
time for a new one. You won't believe the difference and you'd never
go back.

Cheers

Anonymouswrote:
Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power
supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that
goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin
type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


Thanks

J Mann

I would concur with most of the posters here, let me see if I can make
it simple.

The four pin connector you refer to, is a late model connection that
won't apply to your computer.

The three pin connector you refer to: Does this come from the power
supply itself on a separate wire? Is it a mini plug? Or, a similar
type plug your hard drive or ROM drives use. (the four pin one) If
it's a mini, it's likely you power supply is probably just checking
to see if any on board fans aren't working. This may be a Gateway
system to protect the processor. In that day, it was never heard of;
today, all high level power supplies have a similar plug. Some
motherboards have it built in. (mine does) Antec "True Power" units
all have it because they not only monitor your fans, they control the
speed of them depending on temperature.

Even so, Antec aside, this would still seem odd to the vast majority
of people that know old tech. Back in that day, it may simply be a
pass through connector for the on board fans. It's simple to check
it, see if the fans turn on. If they do and the computer boots,
don't worry about it.

You have to understand, you're talking very old component systems that
weren't used in the mainstream. It may be Gateway unique, but even if
it is, you should be able to get around it quite easily. It wasn't
rocket science then, anymore then it's rocket science now.

That said, I must agree with one poster:

How much do you want to dump into a dinasour? The answer is really
simple: What have you upgraded so far?

If that answer is nothing; and you look at how cheap mainstream
computers are now. (check this weeks Office Max ad) It's probably
time for a new one. You won't believe the difference and you'd never
go back. Really!

Cheers

Anonymouswrote:
Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power
supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that
goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin
type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


Thanks

J Mann

I would concur with most of the posters here, let me see if I can make
it simple.

The four pin connector you refer to, is a late model connection that
won't apply to your computer.

The three pin connector you refer to: Does this come from the power
supply itself on a separate wire? Is it a mini plug? Or, a similar
type plug your hard drive or ROM drives use. (the four pin one) If
it's a mini, it's likely you power supply is probably just checking
to see if any on board fans aren't working. This may be a Gateway
system to protect the processor. In that day, it was never heard of;
today, all high level power supplies have a similar plug. Some
motherboards have it built in. (mine does) Antec "True Power" units
all have it because they not only monitor your fans, they control the
speed of them depending on temperature.

Even so, Antec aside, this would still seem odd to the vast majority
of people that know old tech. Back in that day, it may simply be a
pass through connector for the on board fans. It's simple to check
it, see if the fans turn on. If they do and the computer boots,
don't worry about it.

You have to understand, you're talking very old component systems that
weren't used in the mainstream. It may be Gateway unique, but even if
it is, you should be able to get around it quite easily. It wasn't
rocket science then, anymore then it's rocket science now.

That said, I must agree with one poster:

How much do you want to dump into a dinasour? The answer is really
simple: What have you upgraded so far?

If that answer is nothing; and you look at how cheap mainstream
computers are now. (check this weeks Office Max ad) It's probably
time for a new one. You won't believe the difference and you'll
never go back. Really!

Cheers

Anonymouswrote:
Hi,
I have roughly 3/4 year old PIII Gateway PC with a standard Power
supply (ATX).
I recently got myself a new silent power supply for this PC but the
motherboards power signal connector is different on this Power
supply
to what I have on my original power supply.
My current power supply has the standard 3 pin type connector that
goes
on the motherboard but the new Power supply has a square 4 pin
type.

So my questions a
Have I explained my self well or I need to give more details?
Have I bought wrong Power Supply?
Is there a way around this - like getting an adaptor or something?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


Thanks

J Mann

I would concur with most of the posters here, let me see if I can make
it simple.

The four pin connector you refer to, is a late model connection that
won't apply to your computer.

The three pin connector you refer to: Does this come from the power
supply itself on a separate wire? Is it a mini plug? Or, a similar
type plug your hard drive or ROM drives use. (the four pin one) If
it's a mini, it's likely you power supply is probably just checking
to see if any on board fans aren't working. This may be a Gateway
system to protect the processor. In that day, it was never heard of;
today, all high level power supplies have a similar plug. Some
motherboards have it built in. (mine does) Antec "True Power" units
all have it because they not only monitor your fans, they control the
speed of them depending on temperature.

Even so, Antec aside, this would still seem odd to the vast majority
of people that know old tech. Back in that day, it may simply be a
pass through connector for the on board fans. It's simple to check
it, see if the fans turn on. If they do and the computer boots,
don't worry about it.

You have to understand, you're talking very old component systems that
weren't used in the mainstream. It may be Gateway unique, but even if
it is, you should be able to get around it quite easily. It wasn't
rocket science then, anymore then it's rocket science now.

That said, I must agree with one poster:

How much do you want to dump into a dinasour? The answer is really
simple: What have you upgraded so far?

If that answer is nothing; and you look at how cheap mainstream
computers are now. (check this weeks Office Max ad) It's probably
time for a new one. (a paper route will pay for it) You won't
believe the difference and you'll never go back. Really!

Cheers