Evening all Having never done it before I have decided that I want to make all my cables for as many as possible. I hate having them too long! These to include, mobo power connectors, molex cables, pci-e, sata power, fan extensions both 3&4pin. I've been looking on shakmods and can see most of the pins, plugs and tools. What I have no idea about is wire sizes, can someone help with what size they all are or a guide which will help me out. Also in regards to psu connectors, are they all the same for different brands? I have a silverstone 850w. On the list on shakmods I can't find a 24 pin for example. Any help to point me in the right direction would be great. Thanks.
For the PSU cables you're looking for 24/0.2 specification wire which is roughly the equivalent of 18AWG that the majority of PSUs use. Although some PSUs use 16AWG specification wire it's not really necessary unless you're connecting a lot of devices to the 4 pin Molex type connector. The thickness of the insulation can help with the 'training' of cables especially if sleeved. The thicker insulation generally holds its shape but can be difficult for tighter bends whereas thinner insulation doesn't hold its shape as well but will do tighter bends. For fan wire I'd recommend 7/0.2 specification which I think is the metric equivalent of either 22 or 24 AWG (can't remember off the top of my head). Typically many of the PSU connectors are the same as those fitted to the component end of the cables but not always. Shakmods does stock the vast majority in use. Sometimes you find that although the PSU end of the cables uses connectors that are also used on the component end they don't necessarily match e.g. you might find the the 8 pin PCI-E connector is used on the GPU cable end but the PSU end uses the 8 pin CPU connector. Connectors are generally cheap enough to buy a few to experiment until you match the ones your PSU uses. I'd strongly recommend buying a Thermatake Dr Power II PSU tester as it's the only one (as far as I know) that will check all the PSU cables. Most other PSU testers don't check the 8 pin PCI-E cables.
Thank you mate that is a huge help to me. I think I'll take my psu out and check that the connectors are the same. I've found diagrams for specs but they don't go close enough to work out if they are. I didn't realise a tester was available for that sort of money so I will be snapping that up. I assume that after I've completed each cable it will tell me if I've got some wires the wrong way round?
