All Power Cables the same?

[Epicus]

So it just came to my attention that when I was hooking up my PC at my new place that I had several power cables. Though all power cables for ATX power supplies and CRT/LCD monitors all look the same, I was dumbfounded when I saw that this cable that came with my new PSU said 125V 10A on it. Now I think I've been swapping in and out old power cables that I've had from the beginning of time from all my old PCs, and I looked at the one I had been using, and it says 300V imprinted on the side...

What's the deal? And what's the risk? I don't know too much when it comes to this kind of thing... is there a difference, and could this be the reason why a lot of the new PC's that I've built have been shutting off randomly? Am I supplying too high of a voltage to my PSU? Is there no regulator for this kind of thing anymore on the PSU's? Haha, I can't believe it really...

 

[cjl]

The power cable doesn't have anything to do with the voltage supplied. That is determined by the circuit you plug it into. In the US, that's almost always 120V AC. The number on the power cable determines the maximum safe voltage for that power cable. Therefore, in the US, any cable rated to 120V or higher will work fine.

Now, you do have to worry about the current printed on the cable. 10A will be enough for up to about an 850W PSU, 15A is enough for any device that plugs into a standard outlet. Don't try to use a skinny little cable on a high powered device. This wouldn't cause random shutting down though.