Is there a difference between these two ways of connecting a sata drive?

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boogieman6969

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Jan 30, 2018
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Hi there, I'm going to be purchasing the asus maximus x code quite soon, and I was just looking at the motherboard manual. Under section 2.1.6, there are two images showing the ways to connect a sata drive. My question is, are there any performance differences between the two? And do the wires come with the psu or the motherboard?

(PSU I have is a hx750i)

Thanks

 
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The power cable comes from the PSU. PSU's have several kinds of power connectors to be able to work with various drives. The larger 4 pin Molex connector was the old standard for hard drives before SATA drives came out. Some of the early SATA drives were fitted with 4 pin Molex power connectors because SATA connectors on PSU's were rare back then. Now they all come with the thinner SATA power connector.

The SATA data cable is entirely separate and goes from the drive to the motherboard. They are typically supplied with the motherboard. Usually there are two cables supplied with the motherboard. Sometimes one of them has a 90 degree angled connector at one end but functionally they are exactly the same. If you need more than two, you'll...
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jgustin7b

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Nov 17, 2017
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The one on the left (at least on the online version is a SATA power cable (bigger) with the SATA data cable (smaller). On the right pic, the data cable is still there but the sata power cable is swapped with a 4 pin molex cable
 
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boogieman6969

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Jan 30, 2018
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so are they essentially the same thing? will it impact performance if I use the data cable with the 4 pin molex cable over the big sata power cable?
 
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DRagor

DRagor

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Jan 23, 2017
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Difference is dictated by drive - whether it has SATA power connection or MOLEX power connection (have not seen a drive that has both). There is no performance difference - however usually drives that have MOLEX connection are older and therefore more likely to be slower/smaller.
Power cables, both types, come with PSU. Data cables come with motherboard (depending on model, two or more). In rare situation you need more you can buy them separately without problem.
 
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unclebun

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Mar 28, 2014
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The power cable comes from the PSU. PSU's have several kinds of power connectors to be able to work with various drives. The larger 4 pin Molex connector was the old standard for hard drives before SATA drives came out. Some of the early SATA drives were fitted with 4 pin Molex power connectors because SATA connectors on PSU's were rare back then. Now they all come with the thinner SATA power connector.

The SATA data cable is entirely separate and goes from the drive to the motherboard. They are typically supplied with the motherboard. Usually there are two cables supplied with the motherboard. Sometimes one of them has a 90 degree angled connector at one end but functionally they are exactly the same. If you need more than two, you'll have to purchase them separately.
 
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