"ross" ) writes:
Hi there , I don't really know much about computers but decided to
change the noisy psu on my PC which is about three years old with a
low noise psu from maplins . The problem I have is that although the
noisy psu is an atx psu and the psu I've bought is described as an atx
psu ( sounds straightforward so far ) on inspection some of the
motherboard connector wires are different colours or, the same coloured
wires are in different pin positions on the connector . The guy I spoke
to at maplins said manufacturers sometimes use different colour coding
and it won't make any difference , I'm not sure I'm convinced , and
don't want to toast my motherboard . Any advice would be appreciated

If you have a connector that is fairly standard, and you change the
pinout, you risk getting in trouble when someone connects up that
power supply to their motherboard assuming that common connector is
indeed using the common pinout.

Most people won't notice the color coding, but will make sure
the connector is what they need.

Thus, changes are pretty high that the coloring of the wiring won't
mean a thing, but the power supply is using the standard connector
pinout. If they didn't want to be standard, they'd use a different
connector.

If you want to be sure, then put a load on the power supply, a hard
drive for instance because you can be even more certain that the drive
connectors are standard, and then start up the power supply. Use a voltmeter
to make sure the voltages are what they should be on the pins they should
be.

Michael