Modular vs Hard Wired

[NyteOwl]

Well from a purely technical viewpoint hardwired have some distinct advantages. They provide a continuous conductor minimizing line losses, and remove a mechanical point of failure - especially if the configuration will be changed often.

That said, the losses in a quality modular supply will likely be negligible. The mechanical drawback stands, but if you configre your system and then seldom if ever rearrange cabling then it's not really an issue. Modular supplies do have the obvious advantage of using only those lengths of cabling needed for a particular configuration reducing case clutter and easing cable management.

That said as well, my own recent selection is hardwired as I chose my PSU based on my past experiences with the brand (as well as reviews) and afaik they don't offer modular's in any case. Cable management was a bit annoying but worked out ok once I took a deep breath and had another cuppa.

[miggs78]

Originally Posted by Cptn Vortex

Just look are reviews like the Corsair HX1000 or Enermax Modu+ PSU's. They are obviously doing something right because those PSU's kick Butt. My Ultra is also a great stable PSU.

I have a Enermax Galaxy DXX 1KW, and man its been a solid power supply ever since I purchased it. I know some people want a a fully modular power supply with no cables hanging, I personally like the addition of the basic connectors that you eventually will use, like lots of high-watt modular psu now come with 24pin and 8pin power connectors, a set of 3 SATA connectors and molex connectors, 2x2 video card connectors, that is enough to either power 4 video cards, or 2 with 2 connections each, 2 out of 4 of my video card connectors are in fact 6+2pin, so you have an 8 pin connector right there.

I know PC Power and Cooling while ago did say, that non-modular power supplies are very efficient compared to modular ones, but modular power supplies are now taking over the market, and as Vortex said they kick butt, not all but lots of them do.

I just noticed a new PCP&C 860w PSU out (I think that was it).

[Jack Rabbit]

Originally Posted by MpG

... well, 2 feet of wire is pretty darn close to "0"...

The last time I looked it up, based on the normal gauge of PS wire, the usual length of the cable to the MB, and the rated current of the system the voltage drop could be as much as a full volt. With crappy guage wire used in crappy PSs it could be more. Also, voltage drop increases with current (due to skin effect, IIRC) so a 5v USB/SATA signal line with 100mA would drop almost nothing.

Another problem with modular PSs is mechanical failure of the plugs. This is one thing I am not really happy about the Enermax Libery units I have; you have to really jam them together and that can not be good for the solder joints that hold them together.

That said, I think the aesthetics make them a better choice. There is much less to mess with and I do not mind reworking the cables to fit the exact needs of the drives, etc., because I can just unplug it and use another if I screw it up or make a change.

[SugarJ]

Jack Rabbit, what is your 12V reading under load? Is it less than you'd expect because of the modular cables? My hardwired PSU shows at 12.7V according to HWmonitor.

[Dr_BenD_over]

IMO, every extra connector you have is where something else can go wrong. A soldered connection won't become intermitant due to corrosion. I've certianly had problems with that in the past living in a basement apt. in soggy NS.

[Jack Rabbit]

Originally Posted by SugarJ

Jack Rabbit, what is your 12V reading under load? Is it less than you'd expect because of the modular cables? My hardwired PSU shows at 12.7V according to HWmonitor.

HWmonitor shows 11.99V dropping to 11.93V with F@H GPU client and Prime95 running. However, this computer can not be drawing more than 125W as there is almost nothing in it nor is it OCed.

That said, I retract what I posted above. All the power hungry equipment in modern computers have 4, 5, 6, or more pairs of wire feeding them. Even with 20 gauge wire (which you will never see on a good PS) it would be almost impossible to get much more than 1% voltage drop with a really power hungry system.

[DK2]

18 gauge wire has a resistance of about 7 ohm/1000 ft or 7milli-ohms/ft and a maximum capacity of about 8 Amps.
I*R you'd lose about 0.056 volts per foot, maximum.

You’d never pull 8amps through a single wire, at least it shouldn’t, that’s why many
of the connectors, eg. 6pin PCIe uses 3 wires each for +V and Ground.

[Jack Rabbit]

I thought it was I^2*R?

[DK2]

Originally Posted by Jack Rabbit

I thought it was I^2*R?

thats Power. watts.

[MpG]

Originally Posted by SugarJ

My hardwired PSU shows at 12.7V according to HWmonitor.

I sure hope that's wrong, since it's out of ATX spec, not that you'd put too much stock in a software measurement.