DC Connectors

The below table shows pinouts and profiles for typical power supply DC harness connectors. The power supply requires an additional two-pin, power connector.

UL Listed or recognized component appliance wiring material rated min 85 °C, 300 VDC shall be used for all output wiring.

There are no specific requirements for output wire harness lengths, as these are largely a function of the intended end-use chassis, motherboard, and peripherals. Ideally, wires should be short to minimize electrical/airflow impedance and simplify manufacturing, yet they should be long enough to make all necessary connections without any wire tension (which can cause disconnections during shipping and handling). Minimum harness lengths for general-use power supplies are 150 mm for all wire harnesses. That is very short, and most power supplies need wire harness cables longer than 150mm, consider market conditions and chassis sizes for power supply market wire harness lengths. Measurements are made from the exit port of the power supply case to the wire side of the first connector on the harness.

Main Power Connector (Required)

Main Power Connector for motherboard with control and standby rail connections are required. Smaller board sizes can only use this connector.

Table 5-1: 4.2 mm Power Header Main Power Connector Part Numbers

The mating pilers are unique to this design, refer to figure below. Note connector color can be changed work with connector companies to see what they provide. Motherboard connector color is recommended to be white to show that power into the board is different color than power going out of the board (3 mm SATA Power Connector), which is recommended to be black.

This connector may be provided by other connector companies beyond what is listed above. Contact the preferred connector provider for details. Below is the key for this connector, from motherboard connector view. 18 AWG is recommended for all wires. Connector needs to support 8 amps per pin.

Figure 5-2: 4.2 mm Power Header 10 pin Main Power - Pin Locations

Figure 5-3: 4.2 mm Power Header 10 pin Main Power – Motherboard Connector, PC Board Layout with Dimensions

Table 5-2: Main Power Connector Pinout

This power connector is designed as the main board connector and for smaller to medium size boards this is the only connector that is needed. This connector can provide up to 216 to 288 watts of power using the assumption that each pin can provide 6–8 Amps. Board designers need to figure out total board power and if this single connector provides enough power for each board.

Pin 10 is used for both main 12V Power and the optional Voltage Sensing wire for the power supply to provide the correct voltage to the motherboard. Voltage Sensing Pin details in Section 4.2.3.

Extra Board Connector (Based on PSU Size)

If board power requirements are higher than what can be provided by the 10 pin Main Board Connector, the Extra Board Power connector can be used. This connector can provide an additional 216-288 watts of power to the motherboard to support multiple PCIe* connectors, multiple USB ports, or other expansion slots.

Two connectors can also be used if the 240VA Safety requirements are needed for the PSU.

Since the Extra Board Connector is optional on the motherboard and is expected to be needed only for higher power motherboards, this can be correlated to PSU size. Therefore this connector is only required on PSU that are greater than 450 Watts. It is optional on PSU that is equal to or less than 450 Watts.

Table 5-3: Extra Board Connector – Required vs. Optional

This connector has the same mechanical and electrical characteristics as the PCIe* 2x3 Auxillary Power Connector, detailed in Section 5.2.2.4.1.

Table 5-4: Extra Board Power Connector 6 Pin Connector Pinout

+12V CPU Power Connector (Required)

Connector: Molex* 0039012040 or equivalent.

Contact: Molex* 44476-1112 (HCS) or equivalent (Mating motherboard connector is Molex 39-29-9042 or equivalent).

Table 5-5: +12V Power 4 pin Connector Pinout

Table 5-6: +12V Power 8 pin Connector Pinout

PCI Express* (PCIe*) Add-in-Card Connectors (Recommended)

These are optional connectors for the power supply to support additional power needed by any PCI Express** Add-in Card (AIC). The most common PCIe* Add-in Card that uses these connectors are discrete graphics cards. The PCIe* CEM Specification defines different connectors based on the power used by the Add-in Card which can range from 75 watts up to 600 watts.

PCI Express* (PCIe*) 2x3 Auxiliary Power Connector (Recommended)

The 2x3 Power Connector is designed to provide 75 watts to the PCIe* Add-In-Cards and has the following requirements:

• Current Rating: 8.0 A/pin/position maximum to a 30 °C T-Rise above ambient temperature conditions at +12 VDC, all six contacts energized.
• Mated Connector Retention: 30.00 N minimum when plug pulled axially.

Cable Assembly Contact and Housing Details:

• Housing Material: Thermoplastic
• Pin Contact Base Material: Brass alloy or equivalent
• Pin Contact Plating: Sn alloy
• Flammability: UL94V-1 Minimum - Material certification or certificate of compliance is required with each lot to satisfy the Underwriters Laboratories follow-up service requirements.
• Lead Free Soldering: Connector must be compatible with lead free soldering process

Table 5-7: PCIe* 2x3 Auxiliary Power Connector Pin Assignment (75 Watts)

PCI Express* (PCIe*) 2x4 Auxiliary Power Connector (Recommended)

The 2x4 Auxiliary Power Connector consists of a PCB_​ Header, mounted on a PCIe* Add-in Card, and a mating 2x4 Cable Plug harness. The 2x4 PCB header is designed to accept both the mating 2x4 Cable Plug as well as the 2x3 cable plug, for backward-compatibility. The Add-in Card PCB Header is keyed to ensure that a 2x3 cable plug from a PSU will be properly aligned when it is mated with a 2x4 PCB Header. Two Sense pins in the 2x4 PCB header allow the PCIe* Add-in Cards to detect the power available from the cable. The 2x4 Cable Plug asserts (grounds) two sense pins to indicate that 150 watts are available to the PCIe* Add-in Card through this cable, while the 2x3 plug asserts only one sense pin, to signal that only 75 W may be drawn from the cable. The 2x4 Cable Plug has the following requirements:

• Current Rating: 7.0 A per pin/position maximum to a 30°C T-Rise above ambient temperature conditions at +12 VDC with all eight contacts energized
• Mated Connector Retention: 30.00 N minimum when plug pulled axially

Cable Assembly Contact and Housing Details:

• Housing Material: Thermoplastic; Note that this connector has unique mechanical keying to avoid wrongful insertion of cable plug meant for different types of connectors.
• Pin Contact Base Material: Brass alloy or equivalent
• Pin Contact Plating: Sn alloy
• Flammability: UL94V-1 Minimum - Material certification or certificate of compliance is required with each lot to satisfy the Underwriters Laboratories follow-up service requirements.
• Lead Free Soldering: Connector must be compatible with lead free soldering process

Table 5-8: PCIe* 2x4 Auxiliary Power Connector Pin Assignment (150 Watts)

Table 5-9: PCIe* 2x4 Auxiliary Power Connector Sense Pin Decoding by AIC

PCI Express* (PCIe*) 12VHPWR Auxiliary Power Connector (Optional for PSU ≤ 450 Watts, Required for PSU > 450 Watts)

The 12VHPWR Auxiliary Power connector is designed to deliver up to 600 watts directly to a PCIe* Add-in Cards. This power connector is not compatible with the existing 2x3 or 2x4 auxiliary power connectors. The 12VHPWR connector power pins have a 3.0 mm spacing while the contacts in a 2x3 and 2x4 connector are on a larger 4.2 mm pitch. The 12VHPWR auxiliary power connector includes twelve large contacts to carry the power and four smaller contacts beneath carrying the sideband signals.

The connector performance requirements are as follows:

• Power Pin Current Rating: (Excluding sideband contacts) 9.2 A per pin/position with a limit of a 30 °C T-Rise above ambient temperature conditions at +12 VDC with all twelve contacts energized. The connector body must display a label or embossed H+ character to indicate support of 9.2 A/pin or greater. Refer for the approximate positioning of the marker on the 12VHPWR Right Angle (R/A) PCB Header.
• Mated Connector Latch Retention: 45.00 N minimum when plug pulled axially.

Figure 5-4: 12VHPWR Cable Plug Connector

Figure 5-5: 12VHPWR Cable Assembly

The cable plug connector housing for the 12VHPWR connector has all dimensions shown in mm. Slight changes to this connector that does not affect mating with its associated plug may happen. This diagram reflects slight changes to the 12VHPWR connector from what was previously published in other documents. This new version of the connector provides extra support and protection to the sideband signals. Figure 5-4 and Figure 5-5 come courtesy of Amphenol. Which represents Amphenol part number - 10161719-124GLF. Contact other connector vendors for their part number of this same connector. Reference the latest PCI-SIG documentation for any updates concerning information about this connector.

12VHPWR Cable Plug Assembly Contact and Housing Details:

• Housing Material: Thermoplastic Glass Fiber Filled, UL94V-0
• Color: Black
• Pin Contact Material: Copper Alloy
• Power Pin Contact Plating: Tin plated on contact area
• Signal Pin Contact Plating: Tin plated on contact area
• All dimensions are in mm
• Connector must be compatible with lead-free soldering process.

Wire Details:

• Power/Ground Pin Wire Size: 16 AWG
• All 12 pins must be connected to the power supply using 16 AWG cable
• Sideband Signals Pin Wire Size: 28 AWG

Table 5-10: PCIe* 12VHPWR Auxiliary Power Connector Pin Assignment (600 Watts)

Peripheral Connectors (Optional)

Recommended for PSU designed for High End Desktop and Gaming systems that might need 12V power for Fans, LEDs, or Liquid Cooling pumps. Only populate pins 1 and 2.

Connector: AMP* 1-480424-0 or Molex* 15-24-4048 or equivalent.

Contacts: AMP* 61314-1 or equivalent.

Table 5-11: Peripheral Connector Pinout