Modular PSU cables cross compatible?

Hello

I have a ThermalTake toughpower 1200w PSU atm, and I'm fearing it might be fried. So I'm thinking of getting a new one, but I wonder if the modular cables follow a standard. I I'm a cable-management whore changing all the cables would take a lot of effort.

If they are not cross-compatible I'd have to get another toughpower, so that I can keep my current cables.

I tried searching but didn't find any info about this (though I might just suck at searching).

Anyway, anyone know if there's a standard for this? Is it likely that my toughpower modular cables will fit with another brands PSU?

There are no standard modular cables. In addition, modular cables can be completely different even if they're part of the same brand, model, or series. Especially in the case of the Toughpower brand which covers numerous and different PSUs of different make and models. So in other words, if you don't want to redo your cables, you can either A) find another Toughpower 1200W or B) spend hours searching for a Thermaltake PSU that'll have compatible cables.

Danny Bui said:

There are no standard modular cables. In addition, modular cables can be completely different even if they're part of the same brand, model, or series. Especially in the case of the Toughpower brand which covers numerous and different PSUs of different make and models. So in other words, if you don't want to redo your cables, you can either A) find another Toughpower 1200W or B) spend hours searching for a Thermaltake PSU that'll have compatible cables.

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+1

People have fried their components by trying to use modular cables from other brands / models. You would have to buy the same exact model to be sure. There should be a big warning sticker across the connections on any modular psu when you get it. I'm sure it warns you somewhere in the instructions but people don't take the time to read those because they think they know better. Unfortunately people still try this and then get upset and sometimes even blame the PSU for their problems when there is smoke rolling out of their case.

Alright, thanks for the fast answer.

Though, I've been swapping modular cables between my toughpower 850w and 1200w for a year. No problems there.

I still don't get why it wouldn't work? If it's the same cable, made by the same material, and the outputs on the other PSU is identical.

Most of my modular cables (12v rails etc) have extendors, and these are standardized, so if these work on all, why wouldn't the rest? Maybe I'm missing a point here.

and the outputs on the other PSU is identical.

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Therein lies the problem. There is no standard for the connector between the PSU end of the modular cable and the PSU. In particular just because two PSUs use the same physical connector* does NOT gaurantee the connector will have the same pinout.

If you REALLY want to keep your cables in place with a different PSU you could use a multimeter and a pin extractor and rewire them to have the correct pinout for the new PSU but I suspect that is too much effort for most people.

* Usually a molex mini-fit or equivilent.

Alright. I suppose that makes sense.

So as long as the pinout is identical, it'll work. Thanks for clearing it up.

I held on to a set of modular cables from an ABS Tagan BZ series for quite a while before I realized they were totally worthless now that I no longer have the PSU. Made some nifty decorations with them though!

There's a reason why there's a huge warning on Corsair power supplies to not use the HX cables with AX power supplies, and to not use AX650/750/850 cables with the AX1200, and vice versa.

Tsumi said:

There's a reason why there's a huge warning on Corsair power supplies to not use the HX cables with AX power supplies, and to not use AX650/750/850 cables with the AX1200, and vice versa.

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And that reason is that corsair are a rebrander not a manufacturer. So when they rebrand units from different manufacturers they end up with different pinouts.