Can I put ATX power supply in a AT case?

[junglebass]

well a friend asked me to fix his comp, he said his PS is busted. So i go and get a 300W ATX PS and open up his case and bam, he got the 250W AT ****....

So anyways can i put the ATX in there? How would i got about connecting the power switch?

[BipolarBill]

Welcome to SysOpt!

The PSU should fit. The problems are two:

1. The power connector to the motherboard may not work. Some AT boards are hybrids and have both AT and ATX-style connectors. Most don't. You had better check that.

2. If the board doesn't have an ATX connector, how can you turn it on? You already have noticed this problem. The case must have connectors to the motherboard for the LEDs and switches on the front panel. If it doesn't, you're sunk.

You have two choices:

1. Find an AT PSU.

2. Upgrade everything (case/mobo/CPU/memory) for ATX duty.

The first looks cheaper! ;)

[Bovon]

I agree with number one Sir Bill... I just got a 300 watt AT Fortron for my daughter for $1.00 + S & H at eBay.

Also, a second welcome to SysOpt, and can't you return the ATX psu and exchange it for an AT?... AT power supplies are cheaper than ATX these days.

[Ol'Tunzafun]

If the board you have IS one of those boards like the TX97 or VA-503 that will accept either power supply then the only problem will be the power switch. If this is the case then I would assume that it is presently mounted in an AT case.
The switch on an AT case is a 110v double action switch which theoretically could work were you to switch it on and off again right away but I would strongly advise against it as someone will inevitably switch it on and leave it on, the results of which cannot be good. What can go wrong will go wrong.
Another option would be to use the reset switch as it is the same type of low voltage, spring loaded, "momentary on" swich as the ATX power switch, but then you would not have a reset switch.
Beyond that you could buy one of these switches from Radio Shack or salvage one of these switches from a discarded case and do a little modding.
I am not presenting this as a viable solution. It is merely a heads-up on the possible problem at hand. :t

[junglebass]

thanx for the advises and welcomes :)

luckely that crappy board had ATX support and i changes the reset button to the power button on the MB like Ol'Tunzafun suggested.
the system is now alive, hehe
oh ya this fixed the W98 shutdown hangups too :)

[BipolarBill]

Neat trick! I'll have to try and forget that one because I HATE working on AT PCs. :(

[davidamarkley]

Originally posted by BipolarBill
Neat trick! I'll have to try and forget that one because I HATE working on AT PCs. :(

ditto, man...

I have a ATX-to-AT power connector that had a couple special wires to go to the orig power switch. That way you could just upgrade the PSU and still be able to use the old power switch with the new PSU. I keep one with me just in case a customer has a blown AT PSU and needs a replacement without a new comp. It's HERE (http://www.cyberguys.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?UID=2002111515180281&T1=113+0268&GEN6=00&GEN9=5CG01&HKW=5CG01&UREQA=1&UREQB=2&UREQC=3&UREQD=4):
http://www.cyberguys.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?UID=2002111515180281&T1=113+0268&GEN6=00&GEN9=5CG01&HKW=5CG01&UREQA=1&UREQB=2&UREQC=3&UREQD=4

Hope this helps!

David

[ukulele]

I just did that this weekend for my neighbor. I used the reset switch for the power switch. The reset switch is really just legacy gear from the days of DOS anyway. The old pcchips m598mrl board sure liked the new $15.00 SunPower 425 watt PSU he got from Ebay. Who says at power supplies are cheaper?