[SOLVED] does the PSU communicate with the MB?

[Yarden]

Regardless of the milion 12V/5V/etc cables that are coming out of the PSU to supply power to every device,
is any wire used to transfer data? for example information of the PSU? like power consumption on each port / how much current is drained on the 12V / etc..?

what exactly are in those 20+4 pins that are connected to the MB? are they all power only?
I know that 1 leg is used to send back information to the PSU that the PC is turned on/off -> so the PSU will know to go to sleep or wake up..

what else interesting is there?
Can I somehow fetch information about current / power consumption thats being drained?
Hopefully softwarely in windows but BIOS or hardwarely is also good for me.

thanks

 

[Ralston18]

I am not aware of any wires used to "tranmit data".

Start with the following link:

https://www.lifewire.com/atx-power-supply-pinout-tables-2624590

For more specific pin-by-pin information google "psu pinout guide images"

The search should result in numerous colored diagrams in various formats that indicate the purpose of each cable.

Example:

https://makezine.com/projects/computer-power-supply-to-bench-power-supply-adapter/

Most computer components list the necessary voltage and wattage requirements. There are online calculators to assist in totaling up the power requirements of any given computer based on the installed components.

 

[LinuxDevice]

Regardless of the milion 12V/5V/etc cables that are coming out of the PSU to supply power to every device,
is any wire used to transfer data? for example information of the PSU? like power consumption on each port / how much current is drained on the 12V / etc..?

what exactly are in those 20+4 pins that are connected to the MB? are they all power only?
I know that 1 leg is used to send back information to the PSU that the PC is turned on/off -> so the PSU will know to go to sleep or wake up..

what else interesting is there?
Can I somehow fetch information about current / power consumption thats being drained?
Hopefully softwarely in windows but BIOS or hardwarely is also good for me.

thanks

It is entirely power related. Some of the newer "digital" supplies have a USB cable connection if they are to be used to provide data, but those are fairly uncommon.

 

[Vic 40]

Only if you buy something like a Corsair RMi would you really have that data from the psu, this could be looked at with Corsairs Icue and would be read via a usb cable to the motherboard.

Other thing you could do for some info is use hwinfo, a software too that reads sensors,

download hwinfo64,
install and open it,
check "sensors-only",
click "run".

 

[jonnyguru]

Regardless of the milion 12V/5V/etc cables that are coming out of the PSU to supply power to every device,
is any wire used to transfer data? for example information of the PSU? like power consumption on each port / how much current is drained on the 12V / etc..?

No.

what exactly are in those 20+4 pins that are connected to the MB? are they all power only?
I know that 1 leg is used to send back information to the PSU that the PC is turned on/off -> so the PSU will know to go to sleep or wake up..

ATX PSUs are "always on" with a constantly live "+5VSB" rail. The power good signal is how the motherboard talks to the PSU.

what else interesting is there?
Can I somehow fetch information about current / power consumption thats being drained?
Hopefully softwarely in windows but BIOS or hardwarely is also good for me.

Not withh 99% of the PSUs on the market. No.

It is entirely power related. Some of the newer "digital" supplies have a USB cable connection if they are to be used to provide data, but those are fairly uncommon.

If you consider 2012 when the first Corsair AXi PSUs as "newer", ok.

OP: There are a number of PSUs on the market from Corsair and Thermaltake that communicate with the motherboard via USB. The information provided to the motherboard often includes voltages, power consumption, PSU temperature, fan speed, etc.

I believe NZXT and Cooler Master may have similar products, but IIRC they're one off "experiments".

 

[LinuxDevice]

...
OP: There are a number of PSUs on the market from Corsair and Thermaltake that communicate with the motherboard via USB. The information provided to the motherboard often includes voltages, power consumption, PSU temperature, fan speed, etc.
...

The important thing here is that the USB options are not part of the 20+4 of the original question. The 20+4 does not contain any data lanes. This requires extra hardware.