Does a SATA HDD need molex power as well as SATA?

mishima · 21 Feb 2007 at 20:00

Hi there,

Just wondering Does a SATA HDD need molex power as well as SATA (flat power plug from PSU)?

Thanks

squiffy · 21 Feb 2007 at 20:01

Street · 21 Feb 2007 at 21:13

I somehow managed to plug both in on my Raptor a year or so back and ran it like that for about two weeks before I noticed, didn't seem to do any harm.

Saxon · 21 Feb 2007 at 22:27

mishima said:
Hi there,

Just wondering Does a SATA HDD need molex power as well as SATA (flat power plug from PSU)?

Thanks

Plugging both in can damage the drive. Use the Molex if you don't plan on hot-swapping drives.

mishima · 22 Feb 2007 at 00:04

Street said:
I somehow managed to plug both in on my Raptor a year or so back and ran it like that for about two weeks before I noticed, didn't seem to do any harm.

Same here, was doing that all through January until I have just upgraded a few things. Wondered if it as needed or not ever since I installed that drive. thanks for the advise guys, only using SATA power now

mosfet · 22 Feb 2007 at 22:38

Saxon said:
Plugging both in can damage the drive. Use the Molex if you don't plan on hot-swapping drives.

Provided that both the legacy 4-pin and SATA power connectors are both provided by the same rails it won't make a difference. It'll only be a problem if you short two different rails.

Tute · 23 Feb 2007 at 15:13

I actually picked up a WD SecureConnect SATA cable, it sits over the SATA connector and power, and draws both off the SATA port.

Before anyone gets excited though, it also needs the molex plugged in, it just uses the SATA power for "extra stability". :confused:

mosfet · 24 Feb 2007 at 01:16

AFAIK the WD Secure Connector just uses the extra power pins to make the cable more secure - no power is transfered. The other end of the cable simply plugs into the motherboard, which provides no power to SATA ports.

All the power is drawn from the 4 pin legacy connection.

Tute · 24 Feb 2007 at 12:22

mosfet said:
AFAIK the WD Secure Connector just uses the extra power pins to make the cable more secure - no power is transfered. The other end of the cable simply plugs into the motherboard, which provides no power to SATA ports.

All the power is drawn from the 4 pin legacy connection.

Western Digital Site said:
Important compatibility note: When using the WD SecureConnect cable, you must use the legacy power adapter because the SecureConnect cable utilizes the SATA power port to provide additional stability.

About as clear as mud tbh.