What is "Modular" Power Supply?

I wouldn't say it was more common, modular is a nicer choice though, purely as it saves having lots of extra wires hanging around and getting in the way. Can also help with cooling too due to increased air flow.
 
Captive is the alternative, where cables can't be removed without a knife.

Modular seems to be popular. I've always used captive, and will continue doing so. High voltages through an area of resistance will heat up, it will oxidise and cause further heating. It's an extra point of failure introduced for cosmetic gain, I don't think that's ever worth it.
 
Yea, it is pretty much a cosmetic difference. I prefer modular though, it just looks tidier as theres no unused cables around, plus easier for expansion. Say you need loads of molex plugs or sata power cables, just plug more in rather than getting adapters. Most captive PSU's should be fine, but modular just gives more options :)
 
It's not just cosmetic gain, it's more practical and it helps with the airflow. I saw somebody a while back put something on their wires though... like a black fabric cover or something. What's this called?
 
Im considering switching to a modular psu, my current thermaltake toughpower is non modular therefore a lot of the cables have to be tucked away, with a modular unit i could use less cables, aside from the power cables and 6pin/8pin pcie cables, all i really need is a single molex for my fan controller and 3 sata power cables for hdd's and optical drive.
 
I stand by modular being cosmetic, and I don't even agree with it being an improvement. You have to plug cables in all the way across the back of the psu instead of them all coming out in one bundle, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

It's possible to push the spare cables out of the way in most cases. I've got 3 pci-e, two cpu power, a molex and an sata line all beside my psu. I've got the same case as setter, do the extra cables not fit happily either side of the psu? I'd probably use a 500W modular psu for a matx office system, but I'm not putting one in my main system.

I'm yet to see an argument in favour of introducing another point of failure. As wattages start to approach a kW it's a problem waiting to happen, all it takes is dodgy quality control or too much oxidation and you get a fire.
 
Superewza thats braiding
I use non-modular, and I dont have many cables spare to tuck away, if you get the right size (wattage) of PSU then chances are its not going to have many more cables than your system needs, its peoples insistence on having "headroom" with their PSUs and buying 1300W PSU's to power a single core single gfx card PC because its got TWO HDDs in or something equally as daft. I agree with allowing enough headroom to add a 2nd gfx card and a couple of HDDs, but too often people go OTT
 
Thanks, that was it.

And it doesn't even consume nearly as much power as you think. 400W is good enough for most people, it will run a high end CPU and a decent graphics card no sweat. I would have trouble recommending anything over 650W, if for no other reason than it's going to damage the planet and your wallet. HDDs only consume 10W, or 20W max. Environmental ones use about as much as your case fans.
 
how about the sweet spot for psu's- a 1.3kw won't draw anywhere near that amount of juice from the mains if it'r only running a modest dual core system.
Different psu's perform better dependant on how it's loaded. Matching a psu to your needs isn't difficult, you should be able to meet your current needs, factor in likely upgrades and still get a psu that is efficient for your needs.

The extra point of resistance doesn't bother me in the slightest with a quality psu. Think of how many high draw appliances you have plugged into the mains at home - the weak point generally isn't the pins- it's the cable connection the other side. Captive psu's still have the same weak spots as modular.
 
JonJ678 said:
. I've got the same case as setter, do the extra cables not fit happily either side of the psu? .
Click to expand...
Yep ive managed to get them tucked away either side, the cables are quite stiff though as this psu is still quite new, i do have an enermax liberty 620w modular unit in my second rig (also in an akasa eclipse) though due to the amount of components in it, 3 hard drives, 2 of which are in vantec vortex hdd coolers, and 2 optical drives im using a lot more of the cables on that psu.
 
There's nothing worse than having unused cables hanging about restricting air flow. I'd recommend the modular PSU.

I've heard some people saying that get a high pitched buzz from some of the Corsair PSUs? I've built loads with Corsair and not heard a peep!
 
An advantage to modular which didn't occur to me until I updated a friend's server recently: there's much less messing about when adding large numbers of hard drives. The old "captive" (nice, I never knew the name for non-modular :p) PSU could supply 4 sata drives, the others had to use a PCI-e to SATA adapter on the cable - leaving the already long PCI-e cable with an extra extension and clogging the place up.

With the new modular supply, no worries - just got a couple of spare sata modular cables from the supplier (OCZ, for free - so kudos to them) and away we went.

Personally I'd always go modular now - the reduction on wires which need to be hidden is worth it by itself, and IMO they're more future-resistant, you can't upgrade the power they deliver, but you can upgrade the connectors in many cases. I've also never heard of a modular PSU failing due to a connector failing, further to which I almost always have a spare modular slot available anyway, so I can't see it being likely to effect me.

I very much doubt that captive PSUs are dead though, in situations where reliability is paramount, I wouldn't take the risk (however small) of the extra point of potential failure - besides which in a business environment it's cost that counts, and for the sake of a little extra tidying it's a saving of £10-20 per machine.
 
Given that I'll always be on a budget of some sorts, I'd rather spend the extra on quality rather than modualrity. I don't mind bundling up spare cables.
That said, there are some great modular supplies out there but I've yet to feel compelled to use one for my own or a friends build. I think it depends on the kind of systems you build a bit.
 
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