Minimizing cords to create air flow

[The Dowlz]

I'm trying to minimize cords to create better airflow in my Anten 900 case. I'm running separate moxel peripheral wires and sata cords to everything in the unit (5 fans, 2 hard drives, optical etc.) I'm doing this because I've read threads stating not to "daisy chain" power to your units as it overloads the rails on the PSU.

My PSU is 630w Raidmax Volcano. Seems silly to have so many wires and its blocking my airflow. Can I chain up some of the fans and hard drives on the same power cords?

Same goes for my Radeon HD 5850 GPU. It requires two 2x6 PCI-E, can I use one wire that splits into two PCI-E plugs?

 

[delluser1]

My PSU is 630w Raidmax Volcano.

You should look into getting a better quality power supply

Can I chain up some of the fans and hard drives on the same power cords?

Yes

Same goes for my Radeon HD 5850 GPU.It requires two 2x6 PCI-E, can I use one wire that splits into two PCI-E plugs?

I wouldn't, but it might work

 

[shovenose]

get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
use only the cables you need

 

[The Dowlz]

The 5850 is running off one 2x6 PCI-E cord splitter. It's stable while OC'd to the max in CCC. I posted this somewhere else and some said its OK to do this, others said its not. Does anybody know?

Can i chain three or four 120mm fans and a hard drive on the same 4 pin peripheral moxel power cord?

 

[shovenose]

Yes u can do that. Its fine.

 

[saaiello]

You are pushing that PSU to the max and its not exactly the best PSU you have a combined 34 Amps on the 12 volt which is well under the reccomended 42 Amps the 5850 requires. 3 x 120 mm fans at 1AMP a peice and a hard drive pulling another 2 to 5 amps might be pushing your luck with that unit. Pushing a PSU to far is not a good idea and could result in frying some componente when it blows I would not recommend putting any more strain on that unit.

Their is a reason that unit isn't sold anymore because it can barely handle 500 watts when pushed to hard runs really hot and is very unreliable.

 

[The Dowlz]

Actually, this PSU has two 12v rails @ 18a which equals 36a.


Saaiello, you're missing the point of the thread. My question was, can I chain units together or do I need to plug them into their own outlet on the PSU.

 

[saaiello]

Actually, this PSU has two 12v rails @ 18a which equals 36a.


Saaiello, you're missing the point of the thread. My question was, can I chain units together or do I need to plug them into their own outlet on the PSU.

Ummmm no. You have two rails one is 18 Amps and the other is 16 Amps equals 34 Amps and that is peak power not continuous so its probable more like 30 and its probably not even a true dual rail either. You are really pushing that 12 volt rail a little hard but hey I cant tel you what to do I can only suggest what you should do.



Output +3.3V@30A, +5V@45A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@16A, -12V@1.0A, +5VSB@2.5A.

This is the output of a Antec quality PSU that is rated for 60 watts less

Output +3.3V@24A,+5V@24A,+12V@48A,-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@2.5A

See the difference computers these days use 12 volt for almost everything where as back in the old days the CPU and other on board stuff was run from the 5 and 3,3 volt rails all those amps on your 5 and 3.3 volt rails are worthless to newer computers.

you're missing the point of the thread. My question was, can I chain units together or do I need to plug them into their own outlet on the PSU.

Your missing the point of what me and delluser are telling you is that your PSU can not handle what you are doing with it. Yea sure you can do what you are asking no problem but your PSU wont last too long and could have catastrophic failure. Your running a $300+ GPU and whatever other goodies you have and you want to go half @$$ on the PSU and cables not a good Idea IMO its bad enough you had to use an adapter to power your GPU and now you want to daisy chain fans and hard drives you are asking for trouble.

Take me and Dellusers advice please. I would hate to see a great card like the 5850 fried because of some bad wireing and a less than par PSU.

Good Luck

 

[delluser1]

The 5850 is running off one 2x6 PCI-E cord splitter. It's stable while OC'd to the max in CCC. I posted this somewhere else and some said its OK to do this, others said its not. Does anybody know?

A few years back Dell did this with an 8800 GTX and thier 375w psu.
Some people complained that it didn't work, others had no problem.
I said I wouldn't due to the low quality of your power supply.

 

[The Dowlz]

So you're saying if I get a new PSU then its ok to to chain a few fans and a hard drives together. Or should they each be plugged in separately.

I'm not looking for advice on my PSU, just a general question about chaining units together to have less cords.

 

[delluser1]

There are usually 3 or 4 connectors on a molex or sata strand, meaning you can connect 3 or 4 hard drives or optical drives on that same strand.
Fans are low powered and can be daisy chained so that you can hook several up to just one of those connectors [molex].

It's a public forum and you're asking about making connections to a low quality psu, you'll just have to accept that you will get people's opinions regarding the psu.