The Computer power supply is plugged into a household outlet and converts the standard household power to power that your computer can use(DC power(less powerful)). Without the power supply your computer is just a pile of metal and wires. The power supply supplies power to every device in your computer.

A bad power supply can cause problems due to not being able to supply enough power to all the components of your computer if those components are upgraded and require more power but the power supply is not. The power supply can cause problems that seem to be being cuased by other parts of the computer. This can all be avoided by upgrading your PC's power supply. You can determine which power supply is for you by researching and finding out what voltage the components in your computer require and makeing sure the power supply you want to buy meets those requirements.

Contained within the power supply is the main fan which controlls the air flow throught the interior of the PC. The power supply determines your computer's capabilities of adding other drives and upgrading other components such as the motherboard.

One place that I found where they are developed is at Thomas Electronics in Denver, CO. I have found a link to a standard computer power supply that is being sold on Tigerdirect.com - link.

To install a power supply you must first open up the computer case. Align the power supply inside the case so that the fan is pointing towards the interior of the case. Make sure the box is straight and fasten it to the computer by screwing it in to the side of the case. Next, you must make sure the switch on the back of the power supply is set to the correct voltage level for your country (aparently it is 110/115v for North America). Plug the leads from the power supply into the motherboard and any other devices that require power. Lastly, fasten the PC case back on, turn your computer on, and your ready to go.

Some things that you need to connect the power supply to are the mother board, CD/DVD drive, hard drives, and cooling fans. All computer power supplies regulate 3 voltage rails: the 3.3v rail, the 5v rail, and the 12v rail. Different components draw from different voltage rails depending on how new they are.

"A new technology called SLI has recently surfaced in the computer industry. This revolutionary concept allows a user to combine the processing power and memory of two video cards, allowing for insane performance. If you plan on using dual video cards in your 1337 gaming rig, you need to make sure the power supply you purchase is SLI Certified if you have Nvidia video cards, or ATI CrossFire Ready if you are running ATI. This will ensure that the power supply is capable of feeding not one, but two hungry video cards, and will help reduce the possibility of instability."