VOGONS


First post, by vetz

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Connected an older DELL motherboard (late 1990's) to one of my ATX PSU's from around 2004. When I turned on the power on the back it emmitted a high pitched noise and refused to start the computer up.

I noticed that one of the pins in the ATX connector was missing and I went online to discover that DELL previously made proprietary PSUs and ATX connectors that would look like standard ATX, but with the wiring beeing different.

This "safety" feature probably saved my PSU and motherboard, so I am thankful!

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Reply 1 of 5, by Standard Def Steve

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A few years ago I incorrectly installed a 486-66 in my PS/Valuepoint system, and something--either the motherboard or the PSU--just screamed. Scared the bejesus out of me. Luckily enough, the system booted right up after I correctly installed the CPU.

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Reply 2 of 5, by NJRoadfan

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Can't be worse than the alternative. The day I started working at the computer store, the first job was a motherboard replacement. I was sternly told to not plug in the machine when done. I later found out another new tech who replaced the board the day before (that I removed) inserted one of the AT power connectors off by a pin. Flipping on the power caused a component on the motherboard to shoot off the board and hit the ceiling!

Reply 3 of 5, by Stojke

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One of my CRT monitors emits a hight pitched noise when not connected to the computer, actually when not having any image sent to it. I have to disconnect it from the power input.

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Reply 4 of 5, by AdamP

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Standard Def Steve wrote:

A few years ago I incorrectly installed a 486-66 in my PS/Valuepoint system, and something--either the motherboard or the PSU--just screamed. Scared the bejesus out of me. Luckily enough, the system booted right up after I correctly installed the CPU.

The same thing happened to me once when I forgot to plug in the power connector to my Nvidia Geforce 8800GT. 😉

Reply 5 of 5, by JaNoZ

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I believe the psu cannot start right due to an overcurrent on some of the output powers and keeps restarting high frequently, causing the coils to scream due to re-starts up and overcurrenting.

If you had a power supply big enough to provide startup currents your motherboard traces would act up like fuses and light bulb wiring. 😀
Always check the internal power supply wiring where it is placed or measure up before powering straigh to the mobo. std atx pinouts are on the internet. 😀