Corsair SF750 AWG size

im4gine3 · 4 Oct 2020 at 19:25

As title says, whats AWG wire size is used for the Corsair SF720 PSU? (ATX, EPS, SATA basically all)

I'm thinking of making my own cables for this PSU as the cables supplied are too long.

Also if i remember this PSU contains a Sensor cable. Is that really needed?

pastymuncher · 4 Oct 2020 at 19:52

Taken from Tom's Hardware review of the SF750:-

Cables & Connectors
Modular Cables
Description Cable Count Connector Count (Total) Gauge In Cable Capacitors
ATX connector 20+4 pin (300mm) 1 1 16-18AWG No
4+4 pin EPS12V (400mm) 2 2 16AWG No
6+2 pin PCIe (400mm+100mm) 2 4 16AWG No
SATA (100mm+120mm+120mm120mm) 2 8 18AWG No
4 pin Molex (100mm+120mm+120mm) 1 3 18AWG No
AC Power Cord (1380mm) - C13 coupler 1 1 16AWG -

im4gine3 · 4 Oct 2020 at 20:43

thanks for this... given each one is 16-18awg, i guess the following item is ideal for all as a replacement:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mdpc-x-15-awg-black-wire-1m-cm-071-md.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mdpc-x-17-awg-black-wire-1m-cm-06z-md.html

pastymuncher · 5 Oct 2020 at 10:28

Those would be fine although it's going to work out more expensive than buying longer lengths. I buy all of my wire from here.

im4gine3 · 6 Oct 2020 at 11:51

cool thanks for this.. and how about the sensor wire? I heard some models require that cable in order to function properly, while others don't... and also depends on whether you are making cable extensions (to which a sensor wire is not required), whereas if you were to make direct cables, you do

im4gine3 · 13 Mar 2021 at 12:36

Curious, does the EPS/ATX/PCIe cables have to be 16awg? Would there be complications if i used 18awg for these cable sets? and if so, what complications would they be? From what i've heard, they are practically identical, just the 16awg is thicker and harder to bend than the 18. Anything else i need to be cautious of?

mattyfez · 14 Mar 2021 at 11:28

im4gine3 said:
Curious, does the EPS/ATX/PCIe cables have to be 16awg? Would there be complications if i used 18awg for these cable sets? and if so, what complications would they be? From what i've heard, they are practically identical, just the 16awg is thicker and harder to bend than the 18. Anything else i need to be cautious of?

Thicker cable can carry more load before becoming hot/melting.

im4gine3 · 14 Mar 2021 at 12:22

mattyfez said:
Thicker cable can carry more load before becoming hot/melting.

Thanks for the clearup.. so i guess its best to use 16awg on those 3, and any molex's/sata connections are fine with 18

Mr Evil · 14 Mar 2021 at 12:30

im4gine3 said:
Curious, does the EPS/ATX/PCIe cables have to be 16awg?..

They don't have to be. The ATX spec itself recommends 18AWG.

mattyfez · 14 Mar 2021 at 15:03

ATX standard was written long before the days of graphics cards that could pull 300w+ though and needed direct feeds from the PSU?

Mr Evil · 14 Mar 2021 at 15:46

mattyfez said:
ATX standard was written long before the days of graphics cards that could pull 300w+ though and needed direct feeds from the PSU?

It was first written a long time ago, but it's updated regularly to cope with things like 300W GPUs. The 18AWG recommendation is from Desktop Platform Form Factors Power Supply Design Guide June 2018.

To put some numbers to it, a 300W GPU, assuming it had a 90% efficient VRM and used only 12V, would pull 28A total. Two PCIe cables have a total of 6 12V wires, so less than 5A per wire. That's well within what an 18AWG wire can handle without melting.

im4gine3 · 14 Mar 2021 at 16:18

I emailed a company (which according to them cables the 8pack systems at OCUK) regarding AWG sizes and what's best recommended for Corsair PSU. They said 18awg is fine and have cabled PSU handling more than 2kw of power. Kinda saves me some money as i had cabled a few using 18awg and just wasn't sure if i had to purchase more silicon wire at 16awg as i thought i bought the incorrect wire