Power Cable Mods

[TheStu]

I have an idea for a mod that I want to try out, but I don't want to fry a video card in the process so I come to you fine people.

If the PSU has a single 12V rail, is there any reason why the PCIe power adapter couldn't be adapted into 2 wires, 1 12V and 1 ground, but with 6 prongs still.

Same question would apply for the 4/8 pin connector on the mobo.

I saw something like what I am thinking on someone's mod, where they just had 2 bare copper wires leading to the 4pin ATX connector, one for 12V and 1 for ground. But that was for a mod contest, so who knows how good it is for long term use.

 

[Liquid_Static]

That wire is gonna get hot very fast...

 

[TheStu]

That wire is gonna get hot very fast...

Lower gauge wire, that should help, or even keep the three coming off the PSU, but just bind them together at the connector...

I'm just looking at the fact that my GPU has dual power connectors, and it would look sweet if the number of individual cables could be cut down.

 

[Smasherbasher]

Why not just make or have made an extension with all double wires? I see this routinely on power supplies that have 1 wire for 2x 8 pin connectors. It's just an extra branch.

What I prefer to do if making a fresh cable or an extension is I will tap into the main wire and solder in a clean Y branch instead of trying to crimp into the connectors. Looks way cleaner and has less chance of causing problems. The cables look like this:

 

[TheStu]

Why not just make or have made an extension with all double wires? I see this routinely on power supplies that have 1 wire for 2x 8 pin connectors. It's just an extra branch.

What I prefer to do if making a fresh cable or an extension is I will tap into the main wire and solder in a clean Y branch instead of trying to crimp into the connectors. Looks way cleaner and has less chance of causing problems. The cables look like this:

That can work too, just run one wire until the last inch or so, and then fork it at the connector. I have a spare PSU and I found a GPU that I don't care about turning into slag, so I'll be experimenting with this in the near future (basically once I remember where the heck I put my soldering iron!).