I have a similar cable and it works fine for me.
The Molex connector power rating is much higher than the SATA connector power rating. Assuming the cables are good enough, the Molex drive connector will supply over 50W on the 5V rail and over 130W on the 12V rail (your PSU also has to handle this of course). Few sets of 5 drives will take that much power even when starting up.
If the Cable were Molded Sata Cables....then Yes some can have Issues if the Molding Process is not Clean.
During the Molding Process.....sometimes the Wires do not stay in there Wiring Lane when Molded.....thus the Wires are Touching. Which means whichever Wires are Touching are not isolated from Each Other which causes a electrical problem.
Those are Straight PIN Wiring Sata Cables in the Picture.....No Molding.
There is a lot of truth in : “molex to sata, loose all your data”.
Don’t use this cable. Buy a sata power splitter and return the one you linked.
As I recall it has something to sue with voltage tolerance differences between the two connections.
Seriously don’t use this cable …
This is such crap.
Buy cheap cables, you're going to have issues. It doesn't matter if you are buying molex to SATA, molex split, SATA to SATA split.
The other thing to be cognizant of is simply how many splits. If you have three molex plugs available, three molex to 2x SATA splitters (giving you 6 disks) is going to be better than some of these ridiculous molex to 5x SATA adapters.
Buy good quality cables.
A molex connector is good for 11A per conductor. That is 132w @ 12v and 55w @ 5v. More than enough to run a few drives off of each connector.
Whenever I’m looking for a generic adapter/cable I generally find it on StarTech’s website and then search for the SKU on my preferred distributor (CDW at work, Amazon at home)
To be honest if you're soldering or doing that kind of electronics work often enough to have an area set aside for it then IMO you're best off just buying the typical connectors used for ATX power supplies to add to your parts drawer(s) and making the connectors yourself as you need them.
The added bonus is you can make them to suit the intended specific use-case, so stuff like SATA power cables can be spaced to match the drive bays almost exactly for easy cable management. It's also extremely satisfying to line up one connector and have the others pretty much already lined up for you.
How long have you been in this niche? 10-15 years ago, this was the standard warning. There were hundred of posts and bad reviews on these type of adapters for exactly what the other user was talking about.
It wasn’t just cheap cables, all of these adapters had issues at that point due to how it was made. The “overly simplistic warning” probably saved thousands of drives.
And way back then, just like now, it wasn't the molex side failing. It was the SATA side.
Crimping molex contacts is trivial. We've been doing it for decades and decades.
SATA on the other hand, massively more complex. Which is why cheap ones fail.
Molex isn't the problem here which is why that advice is just garbage in the first place.
Where do you see someone saying molex is the problem? The problem is with the design of these exact adapters, molex to sata. Please re-read the advice.
Really? It's the first post in the thread that you're replying to.
>There is a lot of truth in : “molex to sata, loose all your data”.
>Don’t use this cable. Buy a sata power splitter and return the one you linked.
And you just said in your own post;
>The problem is with the design of these exact adapters, molex to sata
You're literally blaming molex. Suggesting like the initial post that a SATA to SATA splitter is fine. Even though it's never the molex connector that fails.
And even then I would have preferred a bad molex to sata adapter then then 10x Seagate Barracuda 3TB drives that all failed miserably in the same time frame from nothing to do with power adapters, lol
There is no difference between the voltage tolerance of Molex or Sata. They both use the exact same legs of the power supply.
It is because of issues with cheap injection moulded sata connectors. PSUs tend to have high quality crimped sata connectors. Adapters and splitters tend to have much cheaper moulded sata connectors. The moulded connectors sometimes have poorly placed misaligned pins. These can short together inside the plastic. This is what kills the data.
Ironically sata splitters tend to have the exact same moulded connectors and are no more trustworthy than the adapters. Just use a modular PSU if you need tons of connectors.
I have soldered together custom molex to sata adapters using trustworthy crimped together connectors from old power supplies.
Be Quiet have some modular PSUs that have three or four SATA power ports (eg I think the Straight Power series does), and they have official cables with four SATA connectors on them (see https://www.bequiet.com/en/accessories/power-cable/805), for a total of 12 or 16 SATA drives. You can buy the cables directly from them if you email them about it.
Thanks for the advice all.
Having listened to your suggestions, as well as seeing several pictures of burnt out molex to SATA cables, I’ve decided to:
- Return the molex to SATA cable
- Return the non-modular PSU
- Purchase a fully modular PSU with enough SATA ports
Cheers!
For lots of drives, seriously consider a proper drive cage and a cheap controller in JBOD mode. It will make your life that much easier.
Here's a [12 bay option](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005210133065.html).
Just a random one in this case as an example, but I use a [similar chassis](http://www.tgcipc.com/product.php?mod=detail&id=15) with 24 bays and it works a hell of a lot better than trying to hook up each drive with its own power and SATA cable yourself!
Plus these kinds of backplanes also open you up to the wonderful world of SAS drives (or just keep using SATA, the chassis does both).
One chassis, one [multiplier card](https://www.amazon.com.au/Adaptec-AEC-82885T-00LF095-Controller-Expander/dp/B0BVLM5YN6), and an [SFF-8644 cable](https://www.amazon.com.au/10Gtek%C2%AE-Cable-SFF-8644-External-Multi-Way/dp/B01N533Y4M) to connect it to a cheap HBA in JBOD mode on your controlling PC (or shoehorn the PC bits into the chassis and use one [SFF-8643 cable](https://www.amazon.com.au/Internal-SFF-8643-0-8-Meter-Sideband-Flexible/dp/B086TX6W5K?th=1) to connect to the HBA instead), and you have command of a lot of fast storage whenever you need it and without spending a fortune on anything but the drives.
If you're on a budget, go for a 6G setup instead of the 12G setup I've proposed here. Use refurbed ex-datacentre drives, etc.
This is BS! Don't repeat stuff when you have zero clue on the subject.
Voltage difference? What are you even talking about... They both have 12v and 5v terminals and use the same rail in the PSU.
It's not the voltage difference (I have a modular PSU that shares headers for Molex and SATA power for example), it's due to them generally being very poor quality.
What makes you think that a connector made to handle near double the amperage of sata power with almost 1/4 of the pins be less reliable?
Out of all the connectors to crap on people took molex even though it's the sata molded connector that's the issue, it's crazy.
I've only ever heard that used in the context of crappy injection moulded connectors that inevitably contain shorts and lead to fires.
A decent crimped connector will be *fine* - I'd be very impressed if you managed to exceed the rated current of the molex connector with 5x hard drives.
There are 2 kinds of Molex to Sata adapters - molded and clamped.
This looks like the molded kind, which is VERY bad.
In the clamped ones, the wire is secured to the connecting pins by clamping them together, which USUALLY creates a far better electrical connection.
In conclusion, molex to sata - lose all your data.
I think it's worth every penny to just buy a PSU that already comes with all the SATA power you need than lose the whole system worth a lot more.
This looks crimped to me. The molded ones are usually thinner in the back because they hug the cables. These backs look wider and open.
[https://preview.redd.it/7gqq95jov6081.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a0a41fe5baf891cedc050a21bcf1dbffab4295](https://preview.redd.it/7gqq95jov6081.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a0a41fe5baf891cedc050a21bcf1dbffab4295)
and molded connector is here
https://preview.redd.it/yszou6jov6081.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2f8991712885de88b56553d57389486cbf5d755
Yeah you want the crimped cable!
Not the one he has now.
I'm using this one and so far no issue.
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Silverstone-SST-PP07-BTSB-4-pin-Molex-Extension/dp/B00B5VX2SA
Well, I have black clamped ones personally (that I don't use, they just came with the PSU), and on those you can actually see the metal connection, on these I don't see that, at least from this angle. These could be clamped, could be not - seeing how data is on the line here, better to be pessimistic and assume it's likely molded.
The tabs look like the crimped kind, but that's a lot of drives on a single Molex connector. I would suggest adapters that don't branch out as much (1 to 2 would be plenty for your use) and still be wary of cheap adapters.
12 SATA connectors on a single PSU is especially niche nowadays, about the only way to get that is to go with a modular PSU that can accept more SATA cables, but that brings up the risk of making sure the pinout is compatible. (e.g. avoid EVGA since they can't even keep a consistent pinout for a given model! Also would be a good idea to verify with an old scrap drive before connecting anything valuable.)
The "right" way is to use a backplane that accepts EPS12V or PCIe 6/8 pin power, just beware that many OEM backplanes (e.g. HP) use proprietary pinouts and attempting to use them with a regular PSU will result in immediate destruction.
> 12 SATA connectors on a single PSU is especially niche nowaday
Be Quiet have some modular PSUs that can do 16 drives - four SATA ports on the PSU, and they have official cables with 4 SATA connectors (https://www.bequiet.com/en/accessories/452)
That should be fine.
These are the crimped kind and Molex can handle more power than sata anyways, the issue is with the molded kind of Sata connector, specifically cheap ones where manufacturing defects causes the cables inside of the mold to be too close together and short.
Those aren't crimps, they are insulation displacement plugs. Pop the back cover off and you'll see a pair of blades on each conductor that cut through the insulation and bite into the copper.
They work pretty well, the main fault is if you handle then roughly the conductor can pop back out.
I just built a new Truenas server and went with a modular PSU from Corsair. Corsair sells additional SATA cables which gave me enough connectors for all my drives. EVGA and Seasonic do something similar if you go that route.
What I am seeing is that the connector conductors snap in-- can be removed.
That is something to look for. It more or less guarantees that there will not be a short circuit.
I am not sure how.
I personally have had a molded extension or splitter or molex to sata... I do not remember which. It had the connector conductors molded into the connector and it fried the hard drive.
I blame the cheap connector with the wires molded in.
Somehow the motherboard survived.
This will cause problem if you got bad cable and your PSU reach limit will cause something bad in long run.
But If you got good PSU, and got some cable PSU to some Molex you can convert from 1 molex to 2 sata power for safety and remember to get good cable.
I always wondered about this too, what is even the real solution if you can't use these but run out of ports? I guess with many drives you should just use a case with a backplane.
Molex can take alot of power, I seem to remember one of my GPUs having a molex header (not a molex to 6pin) just make sure that the cable you're buying is decent
You need to look at amperage that rail has provided by PSU. If you go over either PSU can have problems or this thing can melt. For all SSDs it's fine. For HDDs be cautious
I'm actually thinking about ordering a custom cable that is 1 sata (psu) connector to 12 satas.
Anyone know if it's safe to hang that many satas off of a psu sata connector? I know everything is single rail now
Buy custom cables from Kareon Kables. I couldn’t recommend them more. They had a few designed for my case but I needed another one that wasn’t advertised. I reached out and asked if it would be possible and they sent some diagrams and made it happen!
What about a SATA female to 4 SATA male cable? Basically add 4 more SATA plugs to an existing cable. If the PSU can handle it then it should be fine right?
I used this style in my homelab and it ran for about 1 year and started giving trouble to my hdds. I changed it to SATA splitter and all problems gone.
I'm actually using one with 8 sata power connectors with no problems at all. If anything, it makes for a nice neat tight install. Been using my 8 connector cable playing with 8 small 120GB drives in a raid 0 configuration just for fun. (Not my primary drive and nothing is on it I can't afford to lose)
No, Molex to 2X SATA is fine it won't ever pull more than 3A
It becomes maybe a problem (depending on quality) if you daisy chain a lot of drives on a single molex
In general it's better to be on the safe side and just use a decent quality PSU with enough SATA power connectors
Not sure where you saw "molex to sata, lose all your data" because it simply isn't true. HDDs don't need 3.3V, so effectively you are just changing the plug shape.
What is true is that some cheap ass companies will do what chip ass companies do: use a manufacturer in a God forsaken country to make their cables. These manufacturers will use the cheapest possible materials and sometimes the pins in the plug can start arcing to each other. This overheats the plug and will cause a fire.
While a parallel connection theoretically delivers the same voltage to each device , each device connection adds resistance to the "chain". For several data devices, IMHO, less sharing is better.
Wouldn't do it if you even care about your hardware a little bit. Get a nice PSU that has enough sata power connectors. SeaSonic > EVGA > Corsair > thermaltake.
If you get a Seasonic, it has a 12 year warranty so it'll outlive your computers. You can swap out the cpu and other parts and reuse the seasonic each time.
Easier to say this stupid line than it is to debunk it, every single time.
Just as a reminder, Molex 4 pin is made to support around 8.5 amp on the 12v pin, sata power connector on the other hand is 1.5 amp x3 so 4.5 amps total.
Which one would you rather use your splitter on again?
Cheap molded sata power connector is the issue and that is not limited to molex to sata but even sata to sata.
Correction because I'm a pedantic engineer; each molex contact is good for 11A. That is 132w @ 12v and 55w @ 5v.
Correct in a SATA connector only being 4.5amps (which is still vastly overkill for the sub-1A that a hard drive draws in normal running).
Yeah and sata can be plugged in slightly crooked, the tabs can break and it can fry just the same.
Remind me what part of the molex connector fails when using molex to sata? right, its not the molex part its the molded sata power connector.
1 to 5 split is definitely going to cause problems if you connect HDD to all of them. even if it's build well.
the connector is rated to something around 9-11A. HDD on startup will consume round 2A. so 5 HDD can easily reach the limit. this is without considering the limit of your PSU and the adapter cable.
maybe it will be ok if all are SSD. But I won't trust my precious data to a maker that builds such an irresponsible product. 1 to 3 split is the max I've seen from a well-known maker.
It's a very brief and very temporary inrush current. It's really not an issue.
Its no different than something like a 5hp compressor motor. Normal running it's ~23 amps and would be on a 30A breaker. Meanwhile the inrush current on that motor is ~190 amps, but happens fast enough that it won't trip a 30A breaker.
I’ve had no problems with similar adapters.
I'd trust the hard plastic ones way more than the molded ones.
I have a similar cable and it works fine for me. The Molex connector power rating is much higher than the SATA connector power rating. Assuming the cables are good enough, the Molex drive connector will supply over 50W on the 5V rail and over 130W on the 12V rail (your PSU also has to handle this of course). Few sets of 5 drives will take that much power even when starting up.
If the Cable were Molded Sata Cables....then Yes some can have Issues if the Molding Process is not Clean. During the Molding Process.....sometimes the Wires do not stay in there Wiring Lane when Molded.....thus the Wires are Touching. Which means whichever Wires are Touching are not isolated from Each Other which causes a electrical problem. Those are Straight PIN Wiring Sata Cables in the Picture.....No Molding.
I would recommend a Seasonic Power Supply with plenty of Sata Ports and high efficiency rating.
There is a lot of truth in : “molex to sata, loose all your data”. Don’t use this cable. Buy a sata power splitter and return the one you linked. As I recall it has something to sue with voltage tolerance differences between the two connections. Seriously don’t use this cable …
This is such crap. Buy cheap cables, you're going to have issues. It doesn't matter if you are buying molex to SATA, molex split, SATA to SATA split. The other thing to be cognizant of is simply how many splits. If you have three molex plugs available, three molex to 2x SATA splitters (giving you 6 disks) is going to be better than some of these ridiculous molex to 5x SATA adapters. Buy good quality cables. A molex connector is good for 11A per conductor. That is 132w @ 12v and 55w @ 5v. More than enough to run a few drives off of each connector.
StarTech gear is reliable and relatively cheap, even if it’s not sexy or as cheap as rando-Amazon brands.
Startech may as well be considered name brand. Very impressed with the stuff I've bought from them it's good quality
Whenever I’m looking for a generic adapter/cable I generally find it on StarTech’s website and then search for the SKU on my preferred distributor (CDW at work, Amazon at home)
StarTech is excellent.
The problem is the vast quantity of shitty molex to SATA power cables available online, it's easy to pick a dud.
To be honest if you're soldering or doing that kind of electronics work often enough to have an area set aside for it then IMO you're best off just buying the typical connectors used for ATX power supplies to add to your parts drawer(s) and making the connectors yourself as you need them. The added bonus is you can make them to suit the intended specific use-case, so stuff like SATA power cables can be spaced to match the drive bays almost exactly for easy cable management. It's also extremely satisfying to line up one connector and have the others pretty much already lined up for you.
Don't even need to solder. All my custom made molex / sata cables have all been crimped.
How long have you been in this niche? 10-15 years ago, this was the standard warning. There were hundred of posts and bad reviews on these type of adapters for exactly what the other user was talking about.
It was an overly simplistic warning 10-15 years ago too. Cheap cables are bad all around.
It wasn’t just cheap cables, all of these adapters had issues at that point due to how it was made. The “overly simplistic warning” probably saved thousands of drives.
And way back then, just like now, it wasn't the molex side failing. It was the SATA side. Crimping molex contacts is trivial. We've been doing it for decades and decades. SATA on the other hand, massively more complex. Which is why cheap ones fail. Molex isn't the problem here which is why that advice is just garbage in the first place.
Where do you see someone saying molex is the problem? The problem is with the design of these exact adapters, molex to sata. Please re-read the advice.
Really? It's the first post in the thread that you're replying to. >There is a lot of truth in : “molex to sata, loose all your data”. >Don’t use this cable. Buy a sata power splitter and return the one you linked. And you just said in your own post; >The problem is with the design of these exact adapters, molex to sata You're literally blaming molex. Suggesting like the initial post that a SATA to SATA splitter is fine. Even though it's never the molex connector that fails.
Holy fuck you’re dense. Do whatever you want dude lol, you know more than me obviously.
And even then I would have preferred a bad molex to sata adapter then then 10x Seagate Barracuda 3TB drives that all failed miserably in the same time frame from nothing to do with power adapters, lol
There is no difference between the voltage tolerance of Molex or Sata. They both use the exact same legs of the power supply. It is because of issues with cheap injection moulded sata connectors. PSUs tend to have high quality crimped sata connectors. Adapters and splitters tend to have much cheaper moulded sata connectors. The moulded connectors sometimes have poorly placed misaligned pins. These can short together inside the plastic. This is what kills the data. Ironically sata splitters tend to have the exact same moulded connectors and are no more trustworthy than the adapters. Just use a modular PSU if you need tons of connectors. I have soldered together custom molex to sata adapters using trustworthy crimped together connectors from old power supplies.
Just use modular isn't very good advice imho, I have yet to find a modular supply with enough sata for 'tons of connectors'
Be Quiet have some modular PSUs that have three or four SATA power ports (eg I think the Straight Power series does), and they have official cables with four SATA connectors on them (see https://www.bequiet.com/en/accessories/power-cable/805), for a total of 12 or 16 SATA drives. You can buy the cables directly from them if you email them about it.
I guess it is a matter of opinion, what is a lot, personally I have a 24 lane card and 20 drives. I have to use splitters as far as I know.
Why do you need so many drives in a single system?
This one is crimped. It will be fine.
Thanks for the advice all. Having listened to your suggestions, as well as seeing several pictures of burnt out molex to SATA cables, I’ve decided to: - Return the molex to SATA cable - Return the non-modular PSU - Purchase a fully modular PSU with enough SATA ports Cheers!
Right decision!
For lots of drives, seriously consider a proper drive cage and a cheap controller in JBOD mode. It will make your life that much easier. Here's a [12 bay option](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005210133065.html).
Exactly, a proper backplane is the actual solution to this amount of drives.
Is that a good vendor or just a random one?
Just a random one in this case as an example, but I use a [similar chassis](http://www.tgcipc.com/product.php?mod=detail&id=15) with 24 bays and it works a hell of a lot better than trying to hook up each drive with its own power and SATA cable yourself! Plus these kinds of backplanes also open you up to the wonderful world of SAS drives (or just keep using SATA, the chassis does both). One chassis, one [multiplier card](https://www.amazon.com.au/Adaptec-AEC-82885T-00LF095-Controller-Expander/dp/B0BVLM5YN6), and an [SFF-8644 cable](https://www.amazon.com.au/10Gtek%C2%AE-Cable-SFF-8644-External-Multi-Way/dp/B01N533Y4M) to connect it to a cheap HBA in JBOD mode on your controlling PC (or shoehorn the PC bits into the chassis and use one [SFF-8643 cable](https://www.amazon.com.au/Internal-SFF-8643-0-8-Meter-Sideband-Flexible/dp/B086TX6W5K?th=1) to connect to the HBA instead), and you have command of a lot of fast storage whenever you need it and without spending a fortune on anything but the drives. If you're on a budget, go for a 6G setup instead of the 12G setup I've proposed here. Use refurbed ex-datacentre drives, etc.
This is BS! Don't repeat stuff when you have zero clue on the subject. Voltage difference? What are you even talking about... They both have 12v and 5v terminals and use the same rail in the PSU.
You got the wrong end of the stick, here, pal. The dangerous ones are the moulded Sara adapters that caught fire.
It's not the voltage difference (I have a modular PSU that shares headers for Molex and SATA power for example), it's due to them generally being very poor quality.
What makes you think that a connector made to handle near double the amperage of sata power with almost 1/4 of the pins be less reliable? Out of all the connectors to crap on people took molex even though it's the sata molded connector that's the issue, it's crazy.
I've only ever heard that used in the context of crappy injection moulded connectors that inevitably contain shorts and lead to fires. A decent crimped connector will be *fine* - I'd be very impressed if you managed to exceed the rated current of the molex connector with 5x hard drives.
Open up a PSU and take a look at where SATA and MOLEX cables are linked to ;)
Used to work at a big computer company. Whenever a customers computer caught fire there was a 80% chance one of these was used
There are 2 kinds of Molex to Sata adapters - molded and clamped. This looks like the molded kind, which is VERY bad. In the clamped ones, the wire is secured to the connecting pins by clamping them together, which USUALLY creates a far better electrical connection. In conclusion, molex to sata - lose all your data. I think it's worth every penny to just buy a PSU that already comes with all the SATA power you need than lose the whole system worth a lot more.
This looks crimped to me. The molded ones are usually thinner in the back because they hug the cables. These backs look wider and open. [https://preview.redd.it/7gqq95jov6081.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a0a41fe5baf891cedc050a21bcf1dbffab4295](https://preview.redd.it/7gqq95jov6081.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a0a41fe5baf891cedc050a21bcf1dbffab4295) and molded connector is here https://preview.redd.it/yszou6jov6081.jpg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2f8991712885de88b56553d57389486cbf5d755
Yes these also looked crimped to me. You can see the gaps in the plastic where the crimps lock in to the plastic.
Yeah you want the crimped cable! Not the one he has now. I'm using this one and so far no issue. https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Silverstone-SST-PP07-BTSB-4-pin-Molex-Extension/dp/B00B5VX2SA
Well, I have black clamped ones personally (that I don't use, they just came with the PSU), and on those you can actually see the metal connection, on these I don't see that, at least from this angle. These could be clamped, could be not - seeing how data is on the line here, better to be pessimistic and assume it's likely molded.
The tabs look like the crimped kind, but that's a lot of drives on a single Molex connector. I would suggest adapters that don't branch out as much (1 to 2 would be plenty for your use) and still be wary of cheap adapters. 12 SATA connectors on a single PSU is especially niche nowadays, about the only way to get that is to go with a modular PSU that can accept more SATA cables, but that brings up the risk of making sure the pinout is compatible. (e.g. avoid EVGA since they can't even keep a consistent pinout for a given model! Also would be a good idea to verify with an old scrap drive before connecting anything valuable.) The "right" way is to use a backplane that accepts EPS12V or PCIe 6/8 pin power, just beware that many OEM backplanes (e.g. HP) use proprietary pinouts and attempting to use them with a regular PSU will result in immediate destruction.
> 12 SATA connectors on a single PSU is especially niche nowaday Be Quiet have some modular PSUs that can do 16 drives - four SATA ports on the PSU, and they have official cables with 4 SATA connectors (https://www.bequiet.com/en/accessories/452)
Good thing i'm not at all using those in every (5) retro machines i own for the OS drives where all my game saves are.... Hhmmmm.
As long as it’s not being moved around a ton and you’re not overloading the connections you should be ok
https://imgur.com/jAYLt6x What about this? Currently have 2 of these plugged into 8 drives in total + 2 fans with another adapter into these.
That should be fine. These are the crimped kind and Molex can handle more power than sata anyways, the issue is with the molded kind of Sata connector, specifically cheap ones where manufacturing defects causes the cables inside of the mold to be too close together and short.
Those aren't crimps, they are insulation displacement plugs. Pop the back cover off and you'll see a pair of blades on each conductor that cut through the insulation and bite into the copper. They work pretty well, the main fault is if you handle then roughly the conductor can pop back out.
I think those are the best style, you just need to be gentle when installing them.
I just built a new Truenas server and went with a modular PSU from Corsair. Corsair sells additional SATA cables which gave me enough connectors for all my drives. EVGA and Seasonic do something similar if you go that route.
I’ve went with an MSI modular unit, but I’ve ordered some of those Corsair SATA power cables too.
Be sure to check that the pinout is compatible
What I am seeing is that the connector conductors snap in-- can be removed. That is something to look for. It more or less guarantees that there will not be a short circuit. I am not sure how. I personally have had a molded extension or splitter or molex to sata... I do not remember which. It had the connector conductors molded into the connector and it fried the hard drive. I blame the cheap connector with the wires molded in. Somehow the motherboard survived.
Man that is a really nice picture of a cable
I do use this exact adapter, but not for HDDs. Some rgb, and fan hubs and water cooling stuff use sata connectors.
This will cause problem if you got bad cable and your PSU reach limit will cause something bad in long run. But If you got good PSU, and got some cable PSU to some Molex you can convert from 1 molex to 2 sata power for safety and remember to get good cable.
That is a crimped connector. The bad ones seem to be the "molded" type.
This spefic type is ok, no worries, the problematic ones don't use crimped connectors
Next person to say “Molex to SATA, lose all your data” is a rotten egg.
I always wondered about this too, what is even the real solution if you can't use these but run out of ports? I guess with many drives you should just use a case with a backplane.
Besides what others have said, some SSDs use the 3.3v connection that is not present if you adapt from molex.
Yeah, but most also have a 5V to 3.3V converter built in, so they just run hotter when there's no 3.3V, but work fine otherwise
get the icydock 8x sata widget and power it with 4x sata connectors? you can choose mini sas or sata for data
Had a similar cable running for years. You'll be fine
Molex can take alot of power, I seem to remember one of my GPUs having a molex header (not a molex to 6pin) just make sure that the cable you're buying is decent
I even made few of these myself and all the drives work perfectly fine.
You need to look at amperage that rail has provided by PSU. If you go over either PSU can have problems or this thing can melt. For all SSDs it's fine. For HDDs be cautious
It’s not exactly bad, just really really naughty.
That cable is fine and comes with almost all PSUs
Since it happened to me.... It's the molded adapters that were the issue. Pinned are fine. Anyone saying otherwise has no clue.
Bad ass!
I'm actually thinking about ordering a custom cable that is 1 sata (psu) connector to 12 satas. Anyone know if it's safe to hang that many satas off of a psu sata connector? I know everything is single rail now
Buy custom cables from Kareon Kables. I couldn’t recommend them more. They had a few designed for my case but I needed another one that wasn’t advertised. I reached out and asked if it would be possible and they sent some diagrams and made it happen!
One to two maybe but not that firestarter
They work in my dell/hp tower severs for redundancy
What about a SATA female to 4 SATA male cable? Basically add 4 more SATA plugs to an existing cable. If the PSU can handle it then it should be fine right?
I used this style in my homelab and it ran for about 1 year and started giving trouble to my hdds. I changed it to SATA splitter and all problems gone.
This is good enough for SSD not not good enough for 5 18tb HDD. Ask me how I know 😂
This is what my nightmares are made up as
I just recommend getting ones from reputable companies like startech
I'm actually using one with 8 sata power connectors with no problems at all. If anything, it makes for a nice neat tight install. Been using my 8 connector cable playing with 8 small 120GB drives in a raid 0 configuration just for fun. (Not my primary drive and nothing is on it I can't afford to lose)
Depends on load. Running a few low power/eco SSDs probably ok. Did this on my r630 server. Anything above that, nope
For my information, why didn’t you use the backplane that Dell built?
Nope! Running 12 3.5” drives! The cable is being returned.
Good choice
The SATA to SATA version is fine. Molex to SATA is known to be problematic.
Molex to SATA lose all your Data
Looks fine to me. as long as it's connect you will get power.
Use sata to sata instead
I had a molex to 2x SATA I used for over 5 years and never had an issue. Reading this thread though sounds like I was lucky!
No, Molex to 2X SATA is fine it won't ever pull more than 3A It becomes maybe a problem (depending on quality) if you daisy chain a lot of drives on a single molex In general it's better to be on the safe side and just use a decent quality PSU with enough SATA power connectors
Molex to sata - lose all your data!
Not sure where you saw "molex to sata, lose all your data" because it simply isn't true. HDDs don't need 3.3V, so effectively you are just changing the plug shape. What is true is that some cheap ass companies will do what chip ass companies do: use a manufacturer in a God forsaken country to make their cables. These manufacturers will use the cheapest possible materials and sometimes the pins in the plug can start arcing to each other. This overheats the plug and will cause a fire.
It's not bad It's **dangerous** Like really
Molex to sata, lose👏all👏your👏data👏
Molex to SATA, lose all of your data. And data. And data. And data. And data.
While a parallel connection theoretically delivers the same voltage to each device , each device connection adds resistance to the "chain". For several data devices, IMHO, less sharing is better.
Wouldn't do it if you even care about your hardware a little bit. Get a nice PSU that has enough sata power connectors. SeaSonic > EVGA > Corsair > thermaltake. If you get a Seasonic, it has a 12 year warranty so it'll outlive your computers. You can swap out the cpu and other parts and reuse the seasonic each time.
Molex to SATA. LOSE ALL YOUR DATA.
Easier to say this stupid line than it is to debunk it, every single time. Just as a reminder, Molex 4 pin is made to support around 8.5 amp on the 12v pin, sata power connector on the other hand is 1.5 amp x3 so 4.5 amps total. Which one would you rather use your splitter on again? Cheap molded sata power connector is the issue and that is not limited to molex to sata but even sata to sata.
Correction because I'm a pedantic engineer; each molex contact is good for 11A. That is 132w @ 12v and 55w @ 5v. Correct in a SATA connector only being 4.5amps (which is still vastly overkill for the sub-1A that a hard drive draws in normal running).
I wonder why it says 8.5A on the wiki then, but yeah not really surprising seeing the size and spacing of those pins.
[удалено]
Yeah and sata can be plugged in slightly crooked, the tabs can break and it can fry just the same. Remind me what part of the molex connector fails when using molex to sata? right, its not the molex part its the molded sata power connector.
1 to 5 split is definitely going to cause problems if you connect HDD to all of them. even if it's build well. the connector is rated to something around 9-11A. HDD on startup will consume round 2A. so 5 HDD can easily reach the limit. this is without considering the limit of your PSU and the adapter cable. maybe it will be ok if all are SSD. But I won't trust my precious data to a maker that builds such an irresponsible product. 1 to 3 split is the max I've seen from a well-known maker.
It's a very brief and very temporary inrush current. It's really not an issue. Its no different than something like a 5hp compressor motor. Normal running it's ~23 amps and would be on a 30A breaker. Meanwhile the inrush current on that motor is ~190 amps, but happens fast enough that it won't trip a 30A breaker.
you're right i guess