not sure if this is normal

[cheese321]

I recently bought a Thermaltake Pure Power 500w Power Supply. I was checking out the connectors and noticed that the main connector 24 pin, there were only 23 pins in there. One of the pins were empty and didn't have any wire in it. Is this a defective power supply or is it normal?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052

[Cricket]

That's normal.

Cricket

[TwoRails]

Ya, you can even see the "missing" pin in Newegg's photo of the connector end.

[cheese321]

thanks, but why not just name it 23 pin connector instead?

Also, if you can answer these questions about the power supply, that would be very helpful for my first build.

I know that the 24(20) pin Main Connector: goes on the motherboard.

1. Where does the +12V Rails go?

2. I only use a Seagate Barracuda HDD and a Lite-On DVD Drive as SATA for my build. For the 5-pin SATA connectors, which I have 4 of those (2 on 1 wire, and 2 on another wire), should i just the 2 sata connectors on the same wire or should I use one wire for DVD and 1 for HDD?

3. How do i place the PSU? Fan facing down or up?

4. Since I plan to only use the keyboard and a mouse as a peripheral, do I still need to use the 4-pin Peripheral Power Connectors? My PSU has 8 of them. If so, how many do I use and where do I connect them?

5. I bought an Evga 7600GT PCI Express X16 videocard. I heard that it doesn't require a Power Connector, but since I will connect the DVI connector from the monitor to my videocard, will I need to connect the 6-pin PCI Express Connector?

6. My last question regarding the power supply is, if I were to add some LED lights controlled by an On/Off switch on my case, would I need to use a connector from my PSU to connect to the switch, or use a connector and place it on the motherboard? Which connector would I use?

These are all the connectors for my PSU:

4-pin Peripheral Power Connector - 8 of them
4-pin Floppy Drive Connector - 2 of them
4-pin +12V Power Connector - 1 of them
5-pin SATA Connector - 4 of them
6-pin PCI Express Connector - 1 of them
24-pin Main Connector - 1 of them

I know some of these questions may seem really dumb and obvious, but this is my first build. Thanks in advance.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by cheese321 thanks, but why not just name it 23 pin connector instead?

Because some power supplies actually have a pin in that spot...they'll put an extra ground wire there but it's not really necessary.

Originally Posted by cheese321 Also, if you can answer these questions about the power supply, that would be very helpful for my first build. I know that the 24(20) pin Main Connector: goes on the motherboard. 1. Where does the +12V Rails go?

The rails? They aren't really physical parts, they're circuits that just happen to be 12 volts. Older power supplies had one 12v rail...newer power supplies have more than one. Or are you asking about the square 4 pin 12v connector? That one plugs into another connector on the motherboard somewhere (check your motherboard manual for location).

Originally Posted by cheese321 2. I only use a Seagate Barracuda HDD and a Lite-On DVD Drive as SATA for my build. For the 5-pin SATA connectors, which I have 4 of those (2 on 1 wire, and 2 on another wire), should i just the 2 sata connectors on the same wire or should I use one wire for DVD and 1 for HDD?

Since you have 2 SATA lines I would put the hard drive on one line and the optical drive on the other line. I prefer to have my main hard drive on it's own power connection with nothing else sharing the line.

Originally Posted by cheese321 3. How do i place the PSU? Fan facing down or up?

Depends on the case you're using. If the PSU mounts in the rear top of the case, the fan faces down. If the PSU mounts in the bottom rear of the case then the fan should face up...but if the PSU is placed in it's own confined space it might not matter which way the fan faces.

Originally Posted by cheese321 4. Since I plan to only use the keyboard and a mouse as a peripheral, do I still need to use the 4-pin Peripheral Power Connectors? My PSU has 8 of them. If so, how many do I use and where do I connect them?

I'm guessing you mean the 4 pin molex connectors. In older computers with IDE hard drives and ATAPI optical drives you would connect a 4 pin molex power connector to these drives. But nowadays you would only use them for the case fans.

Originally Posted by cheese321 5. I bought an Evga 7600GT PCI Express X16 videocard. I heard that it doesn't require a Power Connector, but since I will connect the DVI connector from the monitor to my videocard, will I need to connect the 6-pin PCI Express Connector?

If the video card doesn't have that 6-pin power port you won't have to connect it (because there won't be any place to plug it in).

Originally Posted by cheese321 6. My last question regarding the power supply is, if I were to add some LED lights controlled by an On/Off switch on my case, would I need to use a connector from my PSU to connect to the switch, or use a connector and place it on the motherboard? Which connector would I use?

If you're just adding LED lights I imagine you just connect a 4 pin molex to the switch...but you may need to install resistors to bring the voltage or amps down or you may burn the LED out. But I'm just guessing since I've never added a LED to any of my computers.

Cricket

[cheese321]

Originally Posted by Cricket .I'm guessing you mean the 4 pin molex connectors. In older computers with IDE hard drives and ATAPI optical drives you would connect a 4 pin molex power connector to these drives. But nowadays you would only use them for the case fans.

I bought a Gigabyte G-P35 DS3L mobo. So that means I don't need to use the 4-pin molex power connectors at all then right? Does it mean that the keyboard and the mouse are already receiving power from the motherboard through the 24-pin and the +12V connectors?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by cheese321 I bought a Gigabyte G-P35 DS3L mobo. So that means I don't need to use the 4-pin molex power connectors at all then right?

I'm not sure...don't you have case fans that need power to run?

Originally Posted by cheese321 Does it mean that the keyboard and the mouse are already receiving power from the motherboard through the 24-pin and the +12V connectors?

Yes, the keyboard and mouse are getting their power from the motherboard...unless you're using wireless models.

Cricket

[cheese321]

I have a coolermaster centurion 5 case. So I guess I'll use the molex for the case fans. Do I also use the molex for the Front I/O or that only connects to the mobo? thanks