SFX may refer to any of the following:

  1. When referring to a power supply, SFX is a form factor similar to the ATX form factor, except it does not include the -5V rail. This rail was used by some ISA expansion cards, but today’s motherboards no longer feature the ISA expansion bus, or slot), so the -5V rail is not needed. SFX power supplies can be cheaper to manufacture due to not including this rail.

  2. Short for special effects, SFX is used in movies and television shows to describe visual effects that are generated using a computer. Special effects, or SFX, trick the human eye into seeing something that isn’t really there or creating a three-dimensional view, or 3D. When SFX is generated with a computer, it is more specifically called CGI, or computer generated imagery. SFX may also refer to sound effects, referring exclusively to the audio portion of media production.

  3. SFX as a term for an OpenURL link server, a resource used by online libraries. It is used by over 1500 libraries today, making it the most used and best known OpenURL link server in the online publishing community.

CGI, Computer abbreviations, Power terms