History of Computer Power Supplies 

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.

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

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".

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

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

Apple logo at 2:47... Shots fired

2:48 Not mentioning any names...

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.

2:48 I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE! XD

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

0:26 That Aged well.

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

lol apple logo at 2:47 ... Subtle

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

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

That dig at apple was gorgeous.

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.

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

Ooh

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!

Linus: Quagmire Me: Giggity

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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! :)

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

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

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.

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.

0:31 That did not age well!

2017 psu problems: coil whine

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.

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

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

2:46 cough cough apple cough cough

really good techquicki subject after a long time.

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

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

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

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.

A challenge for Techquickie Explain how VRM's work.

0:24 aged mit very well. 😆

nice apple logo about the trapping section 🖒🖒🖒🖒

Linus always tech us how to be a great geek

a history of techquickie as fast as possible

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

what about SATA power :< ?

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.

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

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

upscaled 4k vs native 4k

thanks linus this is very informative

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.

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

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

I love this channel

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

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

I watched the entire video already.

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

Thank you Linus, very cool.

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

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

Very informative, thank you!

Many thanks for this video

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.

2:45 Apple! Do You Hear?

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

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.

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?

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)

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

Very informative, thank you

Damn apple got called out at 2:47.

That subtle Apple logo.

another great video as always dad

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

LOL That Apple logo though

Exploding samsung devices as fast as possible xD

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.

Actually i remeber the AT standard from when i was a teenager. It had 2 connectors which where only able in one arrangement to be plugged into the board. Back then i've seen a couple of boards as well as PSUs and they all where pretty much standardized. The most notable difference to ATX was the removal of power switches (beside the 20+4 pin connector) which led to supply standby 5v for the onboard soft switches and features like power on modem or power on ethernet.

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

Who is watching it in 2019?

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Very interesting...thank you.

Amazing!! Thank you!!

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...

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.

I love the Apple logo when talking about consumer trapping

Hey linus, i always wondered why dont they make the 24pin a right angle connector on motherboards? seems like it would make that cable much cleaner

I have had the same Antec 650w PSU for a decade now. super stable.

Any video on the history of power supplies that also focuses on the electronics and circuits of it?