How to Replace a Power Supply

Sometimes when you upgrade your PC, you will find that current power supple isn’t powerful enough to support your new system. Always be safe rather than sorry, because if you get this wrong your system could short out. So you need to replace your power supply, here is how:

Steps

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    Get a large surface to lay our all your parts and a cup to put all the screws that you are going to be taking out in.
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    Unscrew and remove the side panel of your tower and locate the power supply.
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    Before you start messing around inside your PC case, make sure you are grounded so there is no static involved. Static can mess up your video card and motherboard.
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    Unscrew the screws (there will be around 4 of them) connecting the power supply to the back of the case and put them in the cup.
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    Remove the motherboard connections carefully. The power supple will defiantly be connected to the motherboard, and will probably be connected to at least 2 fans as well. Remove these plugs carefully. Be especially careful when removing it from the motherboard because sometimes the SATA port will just snap off in the process, and you really can’t fix that. If the SATA port does snap make sure you bend the prongs in different directions so they can’t touch each other. This is not the worst thing in the world; you most likely have 3 more of these ports to use.
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    Pull out the power supply. Again, be careful.
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    Slide in the new power supply and tighten up the 4 screws in the back.
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    Connect the PS to your MB (there are usually around 3 plugs you have to deal with, and pictures of the plugs are included with your power supply paperwork in most cases.)
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    Connect the PS to your main fan (the biggest one) and as many other ones as your connection supports.
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    Test your power supply if you have a tester. There is a device called a power supply tested that you can buy. It’s very inexpensive and it basically tests your PS so that you don’t go through the trouble of messing up your PC.
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    Put your computer's side back on, fasten the screws and try out your new power supply.

Article Info

Categories: Maintenance and Repair