The feeding of the components of a computer has been evolving little by little to improve the efficiency. Over the years power supplies (PSUs) have seen connectors change. Connectors such as SATA or PCIe power for graphics cards has changed. Now comes a new change that affects motherboards, developing the new ATX12VO solution.
The new ATX12VO standard is the biggest change to power supplies since 1995. Twenty-five years to get a big change developed in this case by Intel. It should be noted that its inclusion in the market will not be at once, it is initially intended for assemblers of preconfigured systems.
[amazon box="B07S9M32FG"]Intel ATX12VO Redesigns Computer Power
Everything within the field of computing needs to evolve. We have seen how graphics cards offer technologies impossible ten years ago or processors have dozens of cores. This new connector seeks to simplify the power supply of a computer, which on the other hand, was already playing.
Regarding ATX12VO, we must first emphasize that the final 'O' indicates 'only' (only). It gets its name from the fact that the 3.3V and 5V rails have been removed from the current motherboard power connectors. Only the 12V connector is left to power the motherboards, graphics, storage drives and other internal components.
We will go from having a 24-pin ATX connector to a new 10-pin connector, much simpler and more efficient. Also, through this new connector, the EPS connection that we usually find near the CPU, will become optional. We basically went from two connectors to a much simpler connector. Even the 5VSB (standby) rail used for USB peripherals will be fried asparagus and will be replaced by 12VSB, although the USBs continue to operate at 5V.
Innovation and simplification
The motherboard, through the appropriate electronics, will convert the 12V voltage to lower voltages. So the power from SSD, HDD, optical drives or LED strips, operating at 5V, will be powered directly from the motherboard. A SATA power supply will be implemented directly from the motherboard, which will be located near the communication SATA.
Leaving this change for computer builders only is because a compromise with the ATX or ATX12VO is required on various components. This is because motherboards need to conform to this new standard and it is usually a simple model too. For the retail market there are many models of motherboards and therefore making the hard change would be very difficult.
All this is with the idea of improving the efficiency of the system while saving costs. For home users, this savings will not be very expensive, but for assemblers there will be great savings. At the same time the number of cables required is reduced and air flow and management are improved.
