Check if the replacement cable works with your Modular PSU.
Check if the replacement cable works with your Modular PSU.
Hello everyone,
I'm currently dealing with a hardware problem and trying to troubleshoot as effectively as possible. While attempting to rule out the Power cable connected to my GPU, I encountered an important compatibility issue. My PSU is an Enermax 750W Revolution DF 80+ Gold, but I can't locate any replacement cables in case they're defective. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for a safe alternative from another brand that wouldn't cause any damage or short circuits.
The cable I need would be a PCIe 8 pin to 2x 6+2 Pin connector. I've heard Corsair models are quite compatible, but I can't confirm this without trying it out and risking a malfunction.
If this seems too cautious, please know I'm not an expert on this topic and didn't realize such issues before. Fortunately, I haven't had to replace a PCIe cable like this before, since previous ones were all-in-one without modular connectors.
As you can see, I'm feeling quite drained because I've been working on this for two weeks now. Every time I encounter something like this, it pops up unexpectedly, and I'm stuck waiting hours to find alternatives or workarounds.
Please help me with this, in hope it resolves my strange system problem.
Best regards,
Janos
So I was thinking if anyone nearby has any suggestions about choosing a cable that works safely from another brand without causing any issues with the device. The straightforward answer is that not all power supply units have identical pinouts. You should reach out to Enermax to check if they can provide a compatible cable kit, even if it costs a bit. If that's not possible, you could contact a custom cable sleeve company to make a tailored set for your PSU with the correct connections. Alternatively, you might browse Ebay listings for the same PSU and find cheaper options. I've heard Corsair cables are quite versatile, but I can't confirm that without trying it myself.
My limited investigation indicates that the PSU might be a licensed version of a CWT unit, which could be compatible with Corsair's Type 4 cables. The connectors at the PSU end seem to align with Corsair's typical design. As recommended, testing by connecting the end to the PSU and verifying the pinout against the original cables would help confirm compatibility. If it doesn't fit easily initially, it may have a different keying system and you should stop further attempts.
Link the cable from Corsair, use a multimeter, verify if the pinout matches
Okay, thank you for clarifying.. And sry for saying so, but dear gods, why can't PSU manufacturer's go by a certain standard, this is ridiculous, same as the Mobile Phone Charging cable adapter madness about 10 yrs ago. Also not having replacement cables available to order for a modular PSU... to me this seems pretty half-baked of a solution in the very end, as it always forces you to spent a lot of money for either a total new PSU or a whole new cable set. ~ I mean you can order SATA cables in every color, but you cannot get a certain PSU-GPU cable replacement cable just like that? I'm sorry, I'm frustrated after all these obstacles on my debug path since I started so apologies, if I sound too demanding here, it's just maybe much weirder for a non-expert to comprehend, I guess, so no offense meant.
However... except Ebay, the methods you mentioned seemed pretty costly and I need to watch the spendings, as I still need to either cover for new RAM on my device still or a new GPU, while I can't still exclude the PSU, as I cannot get a spare cable to check if it's only the silly wiring creating larger issues. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to get a cable replacement for this GPU power wire; this is how you underestimate the compatibility scale on the PSU cable market... ~
It's pretty simple of an answer here: An acquaintance of mine said it as I asked him for a brand with the best compatibility spectrum for its cable setups with mine. *shrugs* That's it, I am rly grabbing straws here, so verifying this intel was one intention to process it for me right now. In the aftermath I imagine he didn't say much about it, because maybe to him checking a wiring with a ... multimeter wouldn't be a huge new thing to do?
Mh. Thank you for the suggestions, I didn't expect this to be that deep in tech in fact.
The Reddit link I have visited before already, but let aside the small-fee-for-being-sure-price for the test device, I in first place don't have the self-understanding manner of using electric voltmeters on my own and do a valid evaluation that would lead to the right cable in the very end, you know.
Trivia:
This is kinda natural reality check on what I dare to do on my own, while not being delusional of being no expert for these depth of hardware. A lot of what I did with hardware more was right due to intuitive comprehension imagination for me so far. Still, to my understanding I am already much deeper into the field than I should be and I'm glad after 20yrs of managing to get through it, that nothing happened so far, while working with all the PCs' guts of ours.
Nobody else in our environment would do it, so I was forced to learn the necessary to plug together the hardware stuff with the parts you usually get your hands on, but while knowing one thing or two about what to do and what not, I am no educated electrician or an enthusiast for hardware in general for sure. Which made me naturally exclude this expert's tool solution for that moment, in high hopes I can find "a simple cable in the world wide web". Well... Normally this is even seems a thing too, but it seems I chose the wrong PSU brand for that one.
Main intention for the cable and alts...
As I wanted to get a spare cable in first place to switch it out real quick to check if the old one was broken or faulty, I think I need to do the workaround differently for diagnostics. Guess it's much easier to try to launch the PC with only one 8 Pin at a time attached to the GPU and see if one of the two 6+2 ones bug out on launch to see if one of the two wiring branches is off.
Lucky coincidence?
I also ordered an additional cable yrs ago for a different PC once from BeQuiet (
be quiet! Power Cable
CP-6610, 1x PCIe cable 6+2-pin, BC070) as the original setup the PC had (
Enermax Revolution DF 850W
) didn't have the necessary 6+2 x2 pins necessary to power a 3080 and higher. Mine (still) is a 2080 Super and only needs 8 pins + 6 pins to work, so kinda what's delivered in the package.
Yet anyways, the
point was
, that apparently the
cable seemed to work out without creating a short circuit
, which, to me now seems like a miracle, according to what you guys are telling me about the huge incompatibility gap between most brands on PSUs... So the question is:
is this only a delusional functionality and a ticking
time bomb?
I mean I plugged the BeQuiet cable into this thing in 2022 and it still is working daily so far. But after what I've learned,
I wonder if I can trust this peace within the rack?
I'm sorry for the text wall, but you surely got a
keen eye
meanwhile for the
important hooks
to jump to on these topics, so I hope it basically made clear where I'm coming from from a tech-POV and why I some things might seem like a farther leap to me than to you guys as experts. Thank you in any case.
Anyhow. If I got that right, I now have two options; Searching Ebay for a spare cable or getting the most promising side-brand (Corsair now still an option or no?) and checking the fitting pins ...
somehow with a multimeter?
If it didn't shut down right away, everything is okay. It's just a coincidence they probably came from the same OEM or design team.
There are fewer PSU OEMs compared to brands. Corsair has a limited selection, such as CWT, which supplies power supplies for many brands like MSI and others, though I'm not sure they sell directly. Seasonic operates under its own brand and serves as the OEM for companies like ASUS and Phanteks. Superflower also does this, with EVGA being the main US provider.
It's important to note that not every model from a brand or even a series maintains the same design. Many manufacturers work with various suppliers, meaning one PSU might have different manufacturers and cable connections. Seasonic even outsources some of its lower-end models to external companies. Corsair uses two primary pin layouts called Type 3 and Type 4, but other configurations exist depending on the specific PSU.
🤦‍♂️ For those with strong hardware understanding, this seems like an old, well-known truth to me, yet recently found strange. But I understand... supply and demand.
If PCIe cables were simpler to break nowadays, we’d see much more replacements and the problem would be more common, but it still remains a small market with poor pricing.
Still, regarding the Enermax one, I’ll eventually need an 8 to 16 pin version instead of the 8 to 14 pins I have now. So what I’ve read lately is that the best choice is definitely the BeQuiet cable—it didn’t ruin anything.