Using a SATA connector from PSU vs. using Molex-SATA adapter?

chmcke01

March 31, 2011 3:24:01 PM

I have a modular PSU (OCZ Fatal1ty 550W 80 PLUS Certified Modular Power Supply) so I want to use as few cables as possible. That said, the way the SATA cables face is upside down of what I need it so I need to flip it over, which uses up too much cable to put my DVD drive and HDD on the same cable. I also have a Molex cable coming from my PSU to power a couple fans.

So, what I was thinking, is that I have two Molex to SATA power adapters so I could just use the one Molex cable from my PSU to power my fans, DVD drive, and HDD and completely remove the two SATA power cables. That would make cable management much easier.

Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that? I just don't know if it is somehow worse or less stable when using the Molex to SATA adapter. Thanks for any replies!

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Keystone4132

July 29, 2011 6:56:27 PM

chmcke01 said:

I have a modular PSU (OCZ Fatal1ty 550W 80 PLUS Certified Modular Power Supply) so I want to use as few cables as possible. That said, the way the SATA cables face is upside down of what I need it so I need to flip it over, which uses up too much cable to put my DVD drive and HDD on the same cable. I also have a Molex cable coming from my PSU to power a couple fans.

So, what I was thinking, is that I have two Molex to SATA power adapters so I could just use the one Molex cable from my PSU to power my fans, DVD drive, and HDD and completely remove the two SATA power cables. That would make cable management much easier.

Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that? I just don't know if it is somehow worse or less stable when using the Molex to SATA adapter. Thanks for any replies!

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I am in the midst of a new build and have the same question. I have a hot swap Lian Li case, so my HDD Sata power port mates with the cases sata port but has a molex on the other side of the cage to plug in the PSU cable. So, I want to connect 2, 140 fans and this HDD to a single molex cable (Corsair HX650w PSU/Samsung 1TB HDD) for cable management purposes. My two other fans are connected to the Asus P8P67 mobo directly. Any risk in this daisy chain?

Thanks

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Keystone4132

July 30, 2011 12:09:21 AM

compulsivebuilder said:

The big difference between the SATA power cables and the Molex adapted SATA power is that the Molex connectors only supply 12V and 5V, while the SATA power cables supply 12V, 5V, 3.3V (orange). As far as I know, hard drives and optical drives don't use 3.3V at the moment, so you should be fine.

However, although I understand your desire to use as few cables as possible, I think you can take it too far. If you try to put too many devices on a single cable, you can overload that cable. No, I don't think you are doing so, just warning that you need to consider it.

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Thanks for your comments. I have assembled with 2 fans and a hdd on a single molex power cable. Working thru bios setup for the build now, so far so good. Much appreciated.