Cable management

CaptainRAVE · 8 May 2017 at 15:08

So I have this ancient PSU. I thought I would be able to buy a cablemod type kit, but they seem to be PSU specific? I thought the cables would be generic? Any ideas?

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RealPower_M850/

paradigm · 8 May 2017 at 15:20

Plenty of "extension" cables available in different colours and mixes of colours. I've been using a few sets recently for builds so I could re-use old PSUs without going down the route of sleeving them myself.

Granted this means having enough "hide away" space behind the motherboard tray/under the PSU shroud to hid the existing cabling, but I managed in both my NZXT H440 and my Raijintek Asterion.

CaptainRAVE · 8 May 2017 at 15:28

Considering the PSU is modular I thought I would be able to just fit in different cables with the same connectors?

paradigm · 8 May 2017 at 15:45

The problem there is that not all manufacturers of PSUs use the same connector types (at the PSU end), and even when they do, they don't necessarily use the same pinout.

You might get lucky, you might not.

Aberfala · 8 May 2017 at 15:45

CaptainRAVE said:
Considering the PSU is modular I thought I would be able to just fit in different cables with the same connectors?

You can but as you mentioned previously they are PSU specific due to variation between manufacturers in how the ports are wired.

CaptainRAVE · 8 May 2017 at 15:47

So I guess you take your chances then. I might wait and see how it goes. Can always swap a few cables.

demonix · 8 May 2017 at 17:39

paradigm said:
The problem there is that not all manufacturers of PSUs use the same connector types (at the PSU end), and even when they do, they don't necessarily use the same pinout.

You might get lucky, you might not.

And if you aren't lucky, you could end up like this guy who mistakenly used the wrong cable for his modular PSU to power an NZXT Hue+ and it killed two computers.

CaptainRAVE · 8 May 2017 at 18:32

Legend · 9 May 2017 at 14:01

As above, DO NOT use PSU cables that aren't 100% compatible with your PSU, and certainly don't plug extensions directly in to it! It is quite possible you will cause serious damage by doing this. Extensions are exactly what they say, extensions for your EXISTING PSU cables, and they are perfectly safe to use for that. The Cablemod range includes both extensions and replacement PSU sets, but if going for the latter you would obviously need to ensure you were getting the correct set for your PSU. If you are using extensions it doesn't matter what brand you go with, they will all do the same thing, and you can even make these yourself... although it's a very time consuming process and by the time you buy all the tools required, it's no cheaper than buying pre-made. It's only really going to be worth going the DIY route if you intend on making more in the future.