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Convert ATX PSU to Bench Supply

Is it possible to use an ATX power supply unit or PSU from an old PC as a bench top power supply to power 5V
logic, but with some limitations.

The standard computer power supply unit (PSU) turns the incoming 110V or 220VAC (alternating current) into
various DC (direct current) output voltages suitable for powering the computer’s internal components and with a
little bit of imagination it is possible to convert ATX PSU to a bench power supply.

Most computer PSU’s range from about 150W up to 500W so there is plenty of
power. The original ATX standard connector used for powering the motherboard
was a single 20-pin Molex that has all the required +12VDC and +5VDC voltages
with huge output currents and short circuit protection as well as a Power-ON
wire that allows the PC’s software to turn “OFF” the PSU on shut down.

Firstly and more importantly before you start to convert ATX PSU, make sure
that the PSU is unplugged from the mains supply and discharged by letting it sit
unconnected for several minutes before you start. This is important! as it could result in a potentially dangerous
or even lethal situation due to the high voltages inside the PSU if you decide to dismantle it. Also make sure that
the metal box of the PSU is correctly earthed or grounded. You are responsible for your own safety!.

We can not just simply plug the PSU into the mains supply and expect to get the required 5 or 12 volts output. The
standard PC power supply unit has two safety mechanisms that prevent it from being switched “ON” without the
motherboard attached.
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 Number 1, the PSU requires a “Power-ON” zero voltage signal to start up similar to the “ON-OFF”
switch on the front of a PC.
Number 2, for the PSU to correctly regulate the +5V output voltage it needs to have some sort of
load attached, at least 5W to trick the PSU into thinking its attached to the motherboard

Unfortunately you can not just have the wires left open, luckily both of these issues are easily xed.

There are several different coloured wires attached to the 20-pin ATX connector providing several different
voltage outputs such as +3.3V, +5V, +12V, -12V, -5V as well as a number of black ground wires and a couple signal
wires as shown in the following image along with their colour-code and description.

20-pin Molex ATX Connector

 
Pin outs of the 20-pin connector with the colours of the wires used in a standard ATX PSU connector.

Pin Name Colour Description

1 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

2 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

3 COMMON   Black Ground

4 5V   Red +5 VDC

5 COMMON   Black Ground

6 5V   Red +5 VDC

7 COMMON   Black Ground

8 Pwr_Ok   Grey Power Ok (+5 VDC when power is Ok)

9 +5VSB   Purple +5 VDC Standby Voltage

10 12V   Yellow +12 VDC

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 11 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

12 -12V   Blue -12 VDC

13 COMMON   Black Ground

14 Pwr_ON   Green Power Supply On (active low)

15 COMMON   Black Ground

16 COMMON   Black Ground

17 COMMON   Black Ground

18 -5V   White -5 VDC

19 5V   Red +5 VDC

20 5V   Red +5 VDC

 
There are a number of ways to convert a standard computer ATX power supply unit into a usable bench top power
supply. You can keep the 20-pin Molex connector attached and connect directly into it or cut it off completely and
group together the individual wires keeping the same colours together, reds to reds, blacks to blacks etc.

I cut off the connector to have access to the individual wires and connected them into a screw connector strip to
give me a higher amperage output for both the +5V and +12V supplies. You can connect the same coloured wires
together using crimp connectors or posts, is the same thing. Some of the other individual coloured wires we need
to keep separate as detailed below.

To start up a stand alone PSU for either testing purposes or as a bench power supply, we need to short together pin
14 – Green (Power-ON) to one of the common black wires (ground) which is how the motherboard tells the power
supply to turn “ON”. Luckily, pin 15 – Black is next to it so I connected a switch between the Pwr_On signal (pin 14)
and Ground (pin 15). When pin 14 is momentarily or permanently connected to ground via a switch, the power
supply will turn-ON.

Next we need to provide a small load on the +5V (red wires) output to trick the PSU into thinking its attached to
the motherboard and to keep the power supply in the “ON” mode. To do this we have to connect a large resistor of
10 Ohms or less, with a standard power rating of 5W to 10W across the +5V output using just one set of the red
and black wires, pins 3 and 4 will do.

Remembering from Ohms Law that the power (P), developed in a resistor is given by the equation of: P = I2 × R or
P = V2 / R, where: P = power developed in the resistor in watts (W), I = current through the resistor in amps (A), R
= resistance of the resistor in ohms (ohm) and V = voltage across the resistor in volts (V). The voltage will be +5V
and the power required is 5W or above. Then any standard power resistor below 5 Ohms will do. Remember
though that this resistor will get HOT! so make sure its out of the way.

One other option we have is to use pin 8 – Grey (Pwr_Ok) as a visual indication that the PSU has started up
correctly and is ready to operate. The Pwr_Ok signal goes high (+5V) when the power supply has settled down
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a 220 Ohm current limiting resistor connected between pins 8 and pin 7, (ground) for this power ready light but
anything similar will do, its only indication.

Testing the Power Supply

Once assembled you should end up with something like this.

 
When you plug the PSU into the wall socket and turn the switch “ON” at the back of the power supply (if it has one),
only two voltages should be present at the connector. One is pin 14 the Pwr_ON green wire which will have +5V on
it. The second is pin 9 the +5V Standby (+5VSB) purple wire which should also have +5V on it.

This standby voltage, is used for the motherboard’s power control buttons, Wake on LAN feature, etc and typically
provides about 500mA of current, even when the main DC outputs are “OFF”, so it can be useful as a permanent
+5V supply for small power uses without the need to turn the PSU “fully-ON”.

Some newer ATX12V power supplies may have “voltage sense” wires that need to be connected to the actual
voltage wires for proper operation. In the main power cables you should now have three red wires (+5V) all
connected together and three black wires (0V) connected together as the others have been used for the switch and
LED. Also connect together the three orange wires to give a +3.3V output if you require it to power smaller devices
or micro-controller boards.

If you have only two orange wires, you may have a brown wire instead which must be connected with the orange’s,
the +3.3V for the unit to be able to power up. If you only have three red wires, another wire (sometimes pink) must
be connected to them. But check this rst.

If everything looks ok then we are good to go and the PSU should switch “ON” giving you a very cheap bench top
power supply. You can test the output voltages using a multimeter or connecting a 12V bulb into the different
sockets to see if the PSU works. The voltage combinations that can be outputted by the PSU are 24v (+12, -12), 17v
(+5, -12), 12v (+12, 0), 10v (+5, -5), 7v (+12, +5), 5v (+5, 0) which should be suf cient for most electronics circuits.

You could also connect a LM317 Adjustable Voltage Regulator, a 5k adjustable potentiometer, a 240 Ohm resistor
for biasing and a couple of smoothing capacitors across the +12V supply to give a separate adjustable output
voltage from about 2.0 to 12 volts but this is an additional feature.
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The 24-pin Molex ATX Connector
In newer desktop PC’s, version 2 ATX power supplies are used called ATX12V. The old 20-pin connector has been
replaced by a larger 24-pin Molex connector or even a 20+4pin connector. The four additional pins are: two
additional pins numbered 11 and 12 are +12v (yellow), and +3.3v (orange) and the two additional pins numbered
23 and 24 are +5v (red), and ground (black) respectively. The newer ATX12V pin outs and colours are given in the
following table for reference.

24-pin Molex ATX Connector

 
Pin outs of the 24-pin connector with their respective colours of the wires in the PSU cables.

Pin Name Colour Description

1 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

2 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

3 COM   Black Ground

4 5V   Red +5 VDC

5 COM   Black Ground

6 5V   Red +5 VDC

7 COM   Black Ground

8 Pwr_Ok   Grey Power Ok (+5 VDC when power is Ok)

9 +5VSB   Purple +5 VDC Standby Voltage

10 12V   Yellow +12 VDC

11 12V   Yellow +12 VDC

12 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

13 3.3V   Orange +3.3 VDC

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 14 -12V   Blue -12 VDC

15 COM   Black Ground

16 Pwr_ON   Green Power Supply On (active low)

17 COM   Black Ground

18 COM   Black Ground

19 COM   Black Ground

20 -5V   White -5 VDC

21 +5V   Red +5 VDC

22 +5V   Red +5 VDC

23 +5V   Red +5 VDC

24 COM   Black Ground

 
The newer type ATX12V PSU’s are a little more tricky to convert as they use a ‘soft’ power switch function and
require a much larger external load resistance. To get them to start-up, or switch-ON, the supply must be loaded to
at least 20W or 10% of the rated power for the larger 600W+ PSU’s. Anything below this the power supply may
run, but regulation will be very poor less than 50%.

Also some of the newer and larger wattage PSU’s require pin 14 – Green (Power-ON) to be connected permantly
to ground using a SPST switch. Obviously each type of PSU is different from different manufacturers, so you need
to nd what works for you.

Again the voltages that can be output by this unit are the same as before 24v (+12, -12), 17v (+5, -12), 12v (+12, 0),
10v (+5, -5), 7v (+12, +5), 5v (+5, 0). Note that some ATX12V power supplies with a 24-pin motherboard connector
may not have the -5V (pin 20) white lead. In this case use the older ATX power supplies with a 20-pin connector
above if you need the additional -5V supply.

An old PC power supply unit makes an excellent and cheap bench top power supply for the electronics constructor.
The power supply unit uses switching regulators to maintain a constant supply with good regulation and short
circuit protection cause the unit to shutdown and be re-powered immediately if something goes wrong.

The only downside with using an ATX PSU as a bench power supply is that the cooling fan’s rpm responds to the
amount of current being drawn from the PSU so can get a little noisy. Also the ATX PSU requires a certain amount
of fresh air to keep it cool inside which may not be possible when laid onto a bench.

All in all, converting an ATX PSU to a bench power supply is an easy project with many uses. Not bad for something
that would otherwise get thrown away but remember, unplug from the mains supply rst before you start any
modi cations as you are the only person responsible for your own safety!.

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170 Comments
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ravi ak
dear sir,

Looking to buy CV650 series power supply.

But I need pin voltage con guration (ATX Cable 24 pin).

Currently we are using BICKER BEA-750H(please check its compatible with CV650).

Posted on September 28th 2020 | 2:24 pm

 Reply

Eric Crossley
Can you use this method to make 36v?

Posted on September 09th 2020 | 4:02 am

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 Arnold
This actually worked with my cheap 500w PSU. Thanks.

Posted on September 02nd 2020 | 2:03 pm

 Reply

Saim Akbar
ok soo, i want to use thermeltek 500 watt psu with my cooler. can i use it by applying the following method..
would love to hear the answer
thanks .this PC Build Guide site,s owner recomended me this psu for the following purpose

Posted on August 21st 2020 | 3:38 pm

 Reply

Ayaz khan
Yes you can use it. Im using a 300w common psu in cooler with just green and black wires to turn
on supply. No resister required

Posted on September 22nd 2020 | 11:26 am

 Reply

Wayne Storr
Please ask this question to the person who recommended you the psu

Posted on August 21st 2020 | 4:37 pm

 Reply

Venkatarama N
Thank you for this nice post and is useful.
But how to switch off SMPS with out unplugging mains card every time?

Posted on August 15th 2020 | 11:01 am

 Reply

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 Muhammad Ashraf Rana
How i can 14 volt or 17 volts

Posted on July 16th 2020 | 3:39 am

 Reply

Bill
thanks, works well

Posted on June 15th 2020 | 1:23 pm

 Reply

Gautam Kr Mandal
I’ve made it one year back and it is working nicely. I’ve connected a digital volt amp meter and selector switch
for selecting voltage. For that unit i didn’t need that small power resistance between 5v and gnd.

But today I tried to make a second unit where I’m facing a problem. It is immediately stopping without power
resistance. I’ve connected a 5w, 22 ohm resistor which was available to me. It is working but not all the time.
Sometimes power is getting on but sometimes not. Moreover after completion, when packed everything, it is
not at all giving output after starting for a second. What’s the problem? Can anybody help?

Posted on June 14th 2020 | 8:54 pm

 Reply

Kevin Apiyo
am quite happy it is has worked for me and am impressed to learn this new thing today, i can now power a
number of things using this once damped and abandoned asset. still need to learn more kindly send to me
other connectors speci cations. thank you

Posted on June 14th 2020 | 3:08 pm

 Reply

Montgomery Yeates
Thanks for
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 Just did this with an old ATX PSU i had lying around.

Used a spare 10W bulb from a motorcycle indicator as load, mounted in a spare bulb socket on outside of
PSU. – Means i have running indication (it lights up) that i like, and it is easily replaceable.

To top it off mounted an on-off switch to green-black startup wires and voila, ready to go.

Posted on April 22nd 2020 | 3:40 pm

 Reply

niño
im having a problem with the charger unit of my airbike which is 29v. therefore i need at least 36V power
supply to charge. referring to your voltage out combinations, the maximum voltage you have mentioned is
only 24V, can i connect another wire/s to come up with my desired output voltage? or is it safe and will not
blow-up the psu? i would appreciate your help. thanks in advance.

Posted on April 10th 2020 | 5:01 pm

 Reply

Karl
OK, so I put a 10W 10 Ohm resistor across the +5 and GND, momentarily connect the green pin to ground
but the power supply will not stay on. It only stays on while the green pin is connected to ground. What am I
missing?

Posted on April 07th 2020 | 10:25 pm

 Reply

Saku
So I have to convert my 20/24 pin atx from Corsair VS550 to 14 pin atx for using my Lenovo motherboard. I
have 14 pin connector from that old Lenovo PC, but I need to connect right cables to right pins in my 20/24
pin atx. Is there any guide how to connect the 14 pin atx vires to 20/24 pin atx connector?
Sorry about bad English, but hope you understand and you can give me some information about this soon
Thanks!

Posted on March 25th 2020 | 11:45 am

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 Anthony
Is it possible to use a FTX power supply to make a lab bench? I pulled a working one out of an old (approx 10
year old) pc. Aside from size everything else should be the same, right? The Model is: PC8046

Posted on March 21st 2020 | 4:08 pm

 Reply

haji
hi
Long-term use of this method. Will Power Damage?

Posted on March 14th 2020 | 3:44 am

 Reply

Patrik
I just bought this adapter (24PIN-8PIN ATX). I´m a bit worry that the cable may be bad and that my new PSU
and GPU will get damaged.
Is there any circuit scheme for this cable? I have taken it to my collegue to measure it. And they need a
“scheme”. Im not that familiar with this kind of language, so if anyone can help? The adaptor is to t a standard
ATX to my DELL motherboard 06X1TJ. The motherboard has a 8PIN slot only. This adapter gives me 24PIN
to be able to plug in the PSU.

Posted on January 29th 2020 | 8:57 am

 Reply

Shri
I am trying to repair a 500 watt cooler master PSU. The unit starts when green wire is touched to black and
stops. If I make on of by touching speadily the power suplly fan rotates. The moment i conect it permanently,
the PSU doesn’t power on . 5 volt is ok. What may be the reason. Can Somebody help me?

Posted on January 23rd 2020 | 4:11 pm

 Reply

Seetha ram
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 Thanks
You

Posted on January 20th 2020 | 9:34 am

 Reply

Ambrose
Your recommendations for high wattage resistor between +5 and Ground (pin3 to pin4) are off base and a
waste. A modern ATX power supply only requires a few hundred milliamps load on the +5 line to operate
correctly. High wattage low resistance value resistors are expensive, use your power supply capacity
uncessarily. Your 5-watt draw comes out of the capacity of your power supply. They also run very HOT
creating a burn hazard and reduced conponent life.
I am currently working with both 750 watt and 1000 watt ATX power supplys from two different
manufacturers. I am using a 220 ohm 1/2 watt resistor between +5 and ground to activate the load-sense
circuit. (about 220 milliamp draw, about 1/10 watt disipation) These resistors run cool and the power supplys
operate without problem whether or not they are hooked to an external load.
Since both these power supplies have switches built in, I hooked the pin14-green wire permanently to ground
as another commenter suggested below.

Posted on January 05th 2020 | 4:01 am

 Reply

Don
Hi there,
Thanks for a great tutorial, I’m a 73 year old pensioner and don’t know to much about electronics, but I ‘be
always wanted to build a bench power supply with various out puts. Please help help with this question, to
achieve these various voltages must I twist the wires together and then solder it to a binding post and then do
I still have to use ground to achieve this, sorry for the dumb question but I really don’t want to damage the
power supply.

Also can I cut some of the wires off close to the pc board that I’m not going to use i.e the grounds surely I only
need two or three to achieve the result as per your tutorial.

Posted on January 02nd 2020 | 6:25 am

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