Guide: PSU SATA Power Cable Mod/Sleeving

Pictorial guide on modifying your PC power supply SATA power cable (follow web link for full details: http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapower/index.html.)

Note, the page still requires further updates and enhancements. I figured it was best to get something up rather than nothing ;)

I didn’t like the locations of the SATA power connectors on my ThermalTake ToughPower 750W PSU cables so I modified them to be more appropriately located and spaced. This is nothing new, but as I experimented with various SATA power connectors and took pictures along the way to assist another forum member, I ended up with sufficient material (and experience?) to put together a simple guide.

The objective was to relocate the existing SATA power connectors to the end of the cable, spaced apart accordingly with the power connectors of my mounted hard disks. The distance between connectors is never appropriate for me. For instance, with three drives in a row, I want three connectors about an inch apart, not 3-6 inches! I also want the cable to be long because I am routing all cables and wires in and around the motherboard etc.

Before:
http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4167.25a.jpg

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4181.25a.jpg

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4182.25a.jpg

After:
http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...(13).a.crp.jpg
(Please excuse the dodgy picture, but the camera was away so I had to use my mobile phone.)
The overall length of the cable is the same. Note the black heatshrink where the original connectors used to be.

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4257.25a.jpg

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...a.crp.w576.jpg

The full guide can be found here: http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapower/index.html

Happy modding!

Great job Gam ;)

Like your other work to :D

Thanks mate. :D
And thanks for the previous encouragement too. ;) Sometimes that's all it takes to get motivated. I've got more guides/info to come, I just need the time and energy as quite a bit of effort goes into these things (surprisingly or not.)

Great tips and loads of pics. Bookmarked!:p: :D

I can't wait for the Cable management mod, do that one next!:D

@Shift, cheers. I'd like to write up the Cable Management mod (part of the whole 'mods to "Main"/Chieftec mods' I've been doing), but it could be a little while yet ;). There are some basic pics of the work done in the 'sneak peek' page (scroll the pics to the right a few (5?) and you will see the MB tray cutouts and a shot of the cable routing behind. It needs enhancement though and a little more work to get it perfect :rolleyes:. There is also some stuff in a thread here, but mostly side panel window related.

Kudos GAM, thanks for the guide. Will definitely help down the road. :toast:

Sticky? Post seems to have gone off the radar, can't find it in forum listings. :confused:

great mod....seems fun enough to DIY

FINALLY-I've needed/wanted to do this for a while, great job on a great mod how-to :D

@TheJollyFellow, I'm glad it's helped. :) This is what Xtreme Systems and this guide is all about, and what makes me keen to contribute... being able to help others. Don't hesitate to ask any questions as I'd be more than happy to help (not that this is very hard, but if you've got an unusual connector or such, I might have one that I'm willing to sacrifice ;) etc.). Same goes for suggestions to the site/content I've provided. I can be lazy, so suggestions are often all that's required. ;)

@Moderators, thanks guys/gals, I just realised this has been 'stickied'. This is my first and it makes me feel proud. :D

Great guide, does anybody know where in the UK you buy that nylon type braid/sleeving

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IAmATeaf

Great guide, does anybody know where in the UK you buy that nylon type braid/sleeving

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I'd like to know where to find this stuff in the USA. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cracker

I'd like to know where to find this stuff in the USA. :)

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A 'google' and I came up with this: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ndex&cPath=135

and... NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NE&N=0&Ntk=all

[edit: Vantec Sleeving Kit is one of the main ones, but there are others, so perform a search for 'Sleeving Kit']

Check your local performance pc style businesses.

GAM's idea was great!
I did my mod too, but without sleeving due to the short distance...

Here's the pic:
Before

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/4...400359.jpg?v=0

close-up
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/249/4...e05e18.jpg?v=0

After

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/209/4...3a839e.jpg?v=0

Close-up
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/241/4...e0c499.jpg?v=0

Tho no sleeving, but the twist looks cool too. :)

GAM, any more mods to further enhance the cabling or cooling?
Looking forward man...

Cheers!

Good on ya' mate. Yeah twists look fine. On my HTPC machine I didn't bother sleeving it either, just left the wires flat and exposed.

There's some good cable management stuff, requires some cutting, in the following worklogs (warning, heaps of pics!!!)
WORKLOG: GAM's HTPC - Simple Modding Make-Over
WORKLOG: GAM'S 'Main' PC - Chieftec BX-01 (56K WARNING!)

Good luck!

http://people.overclockers.ru/kim55/record4
Good!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GAM

Good on ya' mate. Yeah twists look fine. On my HTPC machine I didn't bother sleeving it either, just left the wires flat and exposed.

There's some good cable management stuff, requires some cutting, in the following worklogs (warning, heaps of pics!!!)
WORKLOG: GAM's HTPC - Simple Modding Make-Over
WORKLOG: GAM'S 'Main' PC - Chieftec BX-01 (56K WARNING!)

Good luck!

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Yo GAM,

From the Mod of ur cheftec I have a few question here mate.
1. I saw the sponge-like black stuff in the casing. Is it sponge by the way?
2. And is it suppose to reduce noise from the casing?
3. Will this sponge trap heat within the casing itself?

I can see you put in loads of work in the cool casing...:clap: How I wish have a workshop like yours... :D

COOL that it is a Sticky now ;)

proves your efforts are NOT futile :D

@redmondmok, that's 'Noise Isolation' foam material with adhesive backing. It's readily available from performance pc shops. Here's a link to an Australian supplier for reference. There are other brands too. You could also go to you local electronics shop to source sound dampening materials etc. It may trap a little more heat but I doubt it makes much difference in a well cooled/ventilated case. The important thing here is reducing noise.
You'll have your chance to build up a tool collection over time. It has taken me 35yrs ;), maybe 25yrs from my first hammer and screwdriver :p:


@Nosfer@tu, yeah, thanks. It was your original suggestion that encouraged me to put the guide together ;). It is a popular guide internationally, getting hits from all over the place (places I don't frequent or even know ;)) No real surprise I guess, as it is a nice easy mod with satisfying returns.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GAM

@redmondmok, that's 'Noise Isolation' foam material with adhesive backing. It's readily available from performance pc shops. Here's a link to an Australian supplier for reference. There are other brands too. You could also go to you local electronics shop to source sound dampening materials etc. It may trap a little more heat but I doubt it makes much difference in a well cooled/ventilated case. The important thing here is reducing noise.
You'll have your chance to build up a tool collection over time. It has taken me 35yrs ;), maybe 25yrs from my first hammer and screwdriver :p:


@Nosfer@tu, yeah, thanks. It was your original suggestion that encouraged me to put the guide together ;). It is a popular guide internationally, getting hits from all over the place (places I don't frequent or even know ;)) No real surprise I guess, as it is a nice easy mod with satisfying returns.

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Your efforts dude, Your honor :D
And it take A LONG time to do guides like that :D

Very cool guide, thanks for doing this mate! I'm taking a slightly different approach on my new build. I am making my own cables for my modular supply from scratch. I have all the parts arriving in the mail today actually. This way, if I ever want to sell the PUS or send it off for warranty, the original cables are all intact as if they've never been used. :)

@MicroFly, good one mate. I had in mind doing the same thing, but could not be bothered in the end. I also found it hard to find the plastic PSU connectors. These vary a little from one PSU to another i.e., square vs. round connections in different locations on the plastic 6-pin connector.

Good luck with it though, and make sure you post your achievements. ;)

Hmmm... good idea :) I don't have multiple hdds so eh, I just use molexes but this is something I could consider for future stuff.

ok alittle question @ those that seem to know what there doing i have the antec nine hundred and the asus P5N-E mobo currently in build stage now my predicament is that the 4 pin p4 conector is in the very top corner of the case when orientated corectly and my p4 power conector does'nt reach that far is it safe for me to extend this wire to reach and allow for cable routing.

i wana save 100+ bucks on a new psu if posible

I'd do it. ;)

thanks

@ gam or however else would extend that p4 conector how would you go about doing it i have more than one in the house i also have the apropriate wire

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fps4life

@ gam or however else would extend that p4 conector how would you go about doing it i have more than one in the house i also have the apropriate wire

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Cut, strip, add, entwine, solder, shrinkwrap. ;)
In this instance, you really must solder the joins.

If you wanted to be really 'shmick' about it, you could cut new wires to length and crimp on new male/female pins at each end and insert into your exisitng plastic connectors i.e., make your own cable. Er... if you did that though, make sure you note down the pinouts before hand!!!

thjanks gam i was abit worried about power drop in the new section of wire or because of the extended length. i think i will test on my spare psu and old mobo b4 i add it to my new build thanks again.

if you hadn't already noticed im new to this modding thing

No worries mate. I'm not an expert on electrical matters, but I don't believe you will notice any significant voltage drop over that short distance. I'm assuming you're extending the length in the vicinity of 500mm or less (+existing length).

If you're really concerned, or just interested, stick a multimeter on it before and after your extension and before you get too far into the mod. You can always revert the cable back to its original length.

Someone else might want chime in and clarify, but as mentioned, I'd do it ;)

Don't forget that this will void you warranty!

Good luck.

yeah not to worried about the warenty more interested in getting power to my new asus p5n-e motherboard in my antec nine hundred

Hey, if you didn't want to mod the cable, someone just pointed this site out to me, and lo and behold... http://www.mycableshop.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=0404MF

sweet thanks im gona hit up my local electronics store tomorow you never know i might get lucky and rind a some 4 pin male and female plugs

Wow that's awesome =D I'm going to need to do that to my case. I have a question though. I see that there were only 3 SATA power connectors on any one given strand (my PSU does as well). If I were to take another SATA connector off of another strand and added it so that there are 4 of them (4 HDDs) would that be bad because of the increased load?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elusid

Wow that's awesome =D I'm going to need to do that to my case. I have a question though. I see that there were only 3 SATA power connectors on any one given strand (my PSU does as well). If I were to take another SATA connector off of another strand and added it so that there are 4 of them (4 HDDs) would that be bad because of the increased load?

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Anyone know about this? I am interesed in the answer also

for fps4life . You can do a whole lot with that antec 900 case. Wire extentions can be done with ease as long as U use the right tools .
a few inches to 1 foot won't increase your resistance provided you made clean solder joints.I also run 4 satas without effort . I'm running a raidmax 630a. Wattage is adequate amperage Is great .
www.Bebo.com/RADICALpcs

noice!! I'll be doing thiss to my sata cables tomorrow! I'll post up some pics.

wow doing that would be a real PITA but it would make your case look really really nice! i rather just buy a psu that comes sleeved!

Awesome guide mate. Used this to redo SATA cable for the build in my sig that I'm working on. Thanks!

hare, were you paint those wires up in that pic there? What ever it is, it looks really nice :up:

hi m8's

based on the pics *correct me if im wrong*
gathered all the molex+sata headers into 1 single line?
will dat sole line be capable of powering 1x6pin PCIE + 2 sata headers?
is there any risk of damaging it due to lack of power supplied to the components?
tqs :)

:shrug:good work on the loom yellow looks great . Have you thought of reverse mounting the hard drives and hiding the wires all together

thought to reverse mount HD's and hide wires all together ?

www.Bebo.com/radicalpcs:shrug:

Thats really good. Im going to try that on a client build sometime. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cracker

I'd like to know where to find this stuff in the USA. :)

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I know this thread is epically old, but in case anybody reads all the way through and is trying to find good quality sleeving and heatshrink, I recommend buying from Markertek. You can get 100 foot spools of PET TechFlex for ~$20 and cheap heatshrink in about any size and shrink ratio you can imagine.

my sata power cable mod

Nice guide mate!

Ok, this may seem a rather stupid/odd question... but how much sleeving do you use to sleeve a power supply and all its cables?
I've done a bit of sleeving on my PSU and think I am going to re-sleeve it. I didn't want to sleeve each cable seperately, but I dont like the way it looks sleeved the way it is at present. So I was thinking of re-sleeving each wire individually. The way it seems most are doing it now. :rolleyes:

How much sleeving is used? I did some basic measurements, and either I am really tired and just not adding right, or my numbers are way off.

To sleeve each wire individually, how much sleeving is needed?
I have access to 3mm (1/8"), 6mm (1/4"), 12mm (1/2") and 18mm (3/4") sleeving.
From what I can tell, a single wire sleeve will be the 3mm (1/8").
The sata cable sleeve I'm unsure of, but can tell I will more than likely use 12mm (1/2") heatshrink and 12mm (1/2") sleeving for those. Doesn't look like the next smaller size will fit. :shrug:
Unless someone knows of the right size?

Thanks for any input.

very good， I will mod mine too, this weekend .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tanlay

my sata power cable mod

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which case ? looks like sliverstone's .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IFMU

Ok, this may seem a rather stupid/odd question... but how much sleeving do you use to sleeve a power supply and all its cables?
I've done a bit of sleeving on my PSU and think I am going to re-sleeve it. I didn't want to sleeve each cable seperately, but I dont like the way it looks sleeved the way it is at present. So I was thinking of re-sleeving each wire individually. The way it seems most are doing it now. :rolleyes:

How much sleeving is used? I did some basic measurements, and either I am really tired and just not adding right, or my numbers are way off.

To sleeve each wire individually, how much sleeving is needed?
I have access to 3mm (1/8"), 6mm (1/4"), 12mm (1/2") and 18mm (3/4") sleeving.
From what I can tell, a single wire sleeve will be the 3mm (1/8").
The sata cable sleeve I'm unsure of, but can tell I will more than likely use 12mm (1/2") heatshrink and 12mm (1/2") sleeving for those. Doesn't look like the next smaller size will fit. :shrug:
Unless someone knows of the right size?

Thanks for any input.

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Take a look at MDPC. They have some amazing stuff there. And they have sleeving specifically for Sata cables.

http://en.mdpc-x.com/

If you check here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=202639

you'll see that a lot of people are using it. Supposed to be the best. I have not bought any yet but I will be soon.

In terms of the amount needed, measure the length of one wire, multiply by the number of wires you are going to do and then add about 20% for off cuts and oops moments.

Hope this helps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anniemay

Take a look at MDPC. They have some amazing stuff there. And they have sleeving specifically for Sata cables.

http://en.mdpc-x.com/

If you check here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=202639

you'll see that a lot of people are using it. Supposed to be the best. I have not bought any yet but I will be soon.

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I had not seen that, thank you very much!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anniemay

In terms of the amount needed, measure the length of one wire, multiply by the number of wires you are going to do and then add about 20% for off cuts and oops moments.

Hope this helps.

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that's what i kinda thought, but wasn't to sure exactly, was wanting to get someone else to state it so i could find out for sure or not.
thanks for the input!

No problem. Good luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GAM

Pictorial guide on modifying your PC power supply SATA power cable (follow web link for full details: http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapower/index.html.)

Note, the page still requires further updates and enhancements. I figured it was best to get something up rather than nothing ;)

I didn’t like the locations of the SATA power connectors on my ThermalTake ToughPower 750W PSU cables so I modified them to be more appropriately located and spaced. This is nothing new, but as I experimented with various SATA power connectors and took pictures along the way to assist another forum member, I ended up with sufficient material (and experience?) to put together a simple guide.

The objective was to relocate the existing SATA power connectors to the end of the cable, spaced apart accordingly with the power connectors of my mounted hard disks. The distance between connectors is never appropriate for me. For instance, with three drives in a row, I want three connectors about an inch apart, not 3-6 inches! I also want the cable to be long because I am routing all cables and wires in and around the motherboard etc.

Before:
http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4167.25a.jpg

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4181.25a.jpg

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4182.25a.jpg

After:
http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...(13).a.crp.jpg
(Please excuse the dodgy picture, but the camera was away so I had to use my mobile phone.)
The overall length of the cable is the same. Note the black heatshrink where the original connectors used to be.

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...MG4257.25a.jpg

http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapow...a.crp.w576.jpg

The full guide can be found here: http://www.gam.net.au/pcmods/satapower/index.html

Happy modding!

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You may consider also integrating the SATA cables, which will look like this: SATA II High Speed Cable with Latch x 4 (Sleeved) or Premium Single Braid Sleeved 5-in-1 SATA Extension Cable (Black/Red) or modDIY Premium Single Braid Power Supply Modular SATA x 4 Cable (6-Pin)

It'll achieve a much better and cleaner cable management look.