Preventing the power supply (PSU) from blowing the motherboard or vice versa

motherboardpower supply

Problems with power supply and motherboard compatibility appear to be common.

Are there any computer components that could be placed somewhere
between the PSU and wall outlet to minimize the chance that the
power supply will blow the motherboard and vice versa? For example, would a surge protector, redundant power supply, or uninterrupted power supply be of any use here?

Suppose you disconnect your machine's motherboard from its current PSU and then connect it to a new PSU that supplies a lot more power. What can you do to make sure that your motherboard doesn't get damaged by the new PSU or fail to power on?

Best Answer

Suppose you disconnect your machine's motherboard from its current PSU and then connect it to a new PSU that supplies a lot more power.

That's not how electricity works. The nominal power is the maximum amount of power PSU is able to deliver. It's not the PSU that delivers constant amount of power, it's other components that draw power from it.

At any time your hardware will receive as much power as much is required, unless it's more than PSU's nominal power, in which case something will fail. Connecting your MoBo to a new PSU with higher nominal power won't cause computer to draw more power.

The best way of preventing PSU-related failures is not being cheap and buying a sound PSU.

  • High quality PSUs have better failure protection mechanisms.
  • They provide more stable voltage, thus making your MoBo last longer. (Damaged capacitors are probably the most common cause of MoBo failures and they are caused by unstable voltages on PSU)
  • They are quieter.
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