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Why do PSUs still come with Molex connectors?


Anth

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This is a general question about all PSUs, but I figured I would get a good (and probably the right) answer from this forum asking Corsair about your PSUs.

 

Why is it, now in 2015, do all brand new manufactured PSUs still come with molex cables? And with non modular PSUs usually the same amount of molex as there are SATA power cables?

 

Basically since around 2006 IDE and their molex powered devices are zero. And everything now is now SATA power.

 

Motherboards have no IDE connectors on them no more, and any DVD drives and hard drives you buy all come with SATA power connectors and no more Molex support. And yet any PSU you buy comes with a ton of Molex connectors and usually then as a result not enough SATA power connectors.

 

This means you need to buy Molex to SATA power adapters. Two weeks ago there was quite a bad fire in my PC and the thing that caused it was my Molex to SATA power adapter. This has scared me quite badly as I use these in every PC I own as I am forced to. On googling it seems these things are an immense fire hazard as this has happened to many people in the past too. And thus its constantly recommended not to ever use Molex to SATA adapters and only ever use the PSU connectors.

 

So this has annoyed me as its the PSU creators who are forcing this.

 

Could Corsair not just say, right its 2015, thats it no more molex connectors on any non-modular PSU we make and be the trend setter. As you get the feeling if you do it. All the others will follow suite.

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Because there are still new devices that use Molex sockets. Many legacy devices get moved from older rigs to newer ones and still will need a Molex cable to get power from. My current rig has a MOBO, a sound card, and an internal card reader that get power from a Molex cable. The MOBO and card reader were purchased new a couple of years ago when I built the machine. The sound card I got around a year ago.
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Many legacy devices get moved from older rigs to newer ones and still will need a Molex cable to get power from.

 

So really as you are wanting to use old stuff on a brand new model PSU you should be one needing to buy SATA to molex adapters so you can use the current SATA power connectors on older Molex devices. Not everyone else being forced to buy Molex to SATA.

 

Plus if you want to use old stuff, you could get an older model PSU that supports it.

 

My thoughts are it is rare for someone to buy a premium Corsair PSU (which is an expensive and premium bit of kit) and want to use it with IDE hard drives and DVD drives and the like from 2006 and before.

 

People that buy a corsair PSU (that for many models will knock them back quite a bit, they will be wanting bleeding edge technology and want SATA devices such as SSD drives, SATA3 3-4GB hard drives, and blu-ray drives. And thus sata power for them.

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I agree molex connectors needs to go but the market is saturated with devices that still use em so changing is a big expense ...

 

Which devices still use them though?

 

Graphics cards allow Molex to PCIe power adapters, but everywhere I have read is warnings saying don't use them, buy a new PSU with PCIe power connectors. And DVD Drives and Hard drives stopped using them in 2006 when the switch over from IDE to SATA occured.

 

PCI1x cards sometimes have these powers but they usually offer a similar model powered by SATA power. And the likely reason they include the Molex is because PSU makers are keeping them on the PSU.

 

Case fans offer Molex to PC case fan adapters, but you can plug them into the motherboard headers. Or just bung in the box with the PSU SATA Power to Case fan adapters.

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I disagree.

You really should not use Molex to SATA adapters. Buy a PSU with enough power and connectors to power now and the near future..

If you are serious about building a nice clean PC, you should buy a modular PSU. That way the only cables connected are the ones needed.

If I did not have a modular PSU, my case wiring would still be a mess.

I am glad I have the Molex wires, and you are wrong about "since 2006".

I build my PC a few months ago with Corsair's Link Lighting Node and Corsair's Airflow Fans for my memory modules and they both take Molex power connectors. Last year (2014), the Corsair Commander was Molex powered. The new Corsair Mini is SATA powered. I saved thousands of pictures and thousands of songs on my old PC's. I have a USB powered IDE adapter that is powered by Molex that allowed me to copy all my music and pictures from the old IDE drives to new SATA Drives and to my NAS.

Molex is still needed.

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So really as you are wanting to use old stuff on a brand new model PSU you should be one needing to buy SATA to molex adapters so you can use the current SATA power connectors on older Molex devices. Not everyone else being forced to buy Molex to SATA.

 

Plus if you want to use old stuff, you could get an older model PSU that supports it.

 

My thoughts are it is rare for someone to buy a premium Corsair PSU (which is an expensive and premium bit of kit) and want to use it with IDE hard drives and DVD drives and the like from 2006 and before.

 

People that buy a corsair PSU (that for many models will knock them back quite a bit, they will be wanting bleeding edge technology and want SATA devices such as SSD drives, SATA3 3-4GB hard drives, and blu-ray drives. And thus sata power for them.

 

You are laboring under the delusion that legacy HDDs and ODDs are the only devices that get power via Molex. Many new add-on cards for additional SATA and USB connections, RAID cards, sound cards, Fan controllers, etc. are still coming out that use Molex power connections. As Protocol48 pointed out, if you pony up for a modular PSU, you can get rid of the Molex cables.

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Regardless I think its unanimous,,molexs need to cease to be used

their bulky,hard to connect,unreliable and way past any useful purpose...

 

Seriously? It's anything but unanimous. Molex connectors can carry more current than SATA power connectors. I don't find them any harder to connect than SATA power connectors and they are more durable and secure.

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Seriously? It's anything but unanimous. Molex connectors can carry more current than SATA power connectors. I don't find them any harder to connect than SATA power connectors and they are more durable and secure.

 

I much prefer Molex to SATA power. I really dislike SATA power as they keep popping out all the time. But to say again a good 95% of devices use SATA power these days.

 

And that 5% using Molex, if PSU makers stopped shoving Molex connectors still onto PSUs those makers would easily switch to SATA power too.

 

People have said to buy modular PSUs. But the thing is many articles I have read suggest buying non modular are a better buy as they are more stable due to the connectors being hardwired into the PSU itself.

 

The other thing is the PC that caused a fire, it was a modular PSU. It was an Antec Trupower PSU that cost £80. The thing is it actually is modular except it comes with a Molex cable with four connectors hard wired in. So I used this to connect my last device as my SATA power cable had three connectors I had four devices on my PC. so I figured I was not going to waste connecting another SATA cable when I can use a Molex to SATA power adapter for that last device - big mistake.

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  • Corsair Employee

People have said to buy modular PSUs. But the thing is many articles I have read suggest buying non modular are a better buy as they are more stable due to the connectors being hardwired into the PSU itself.

 

Stop reading those articles. Sounds like a lot of ignorance.

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