Why does Seasonic do this?

RedWagnum

Gawd
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Messages
607
Why does Seasonic (and other manufacturers) put capacitors or chokes on the ATX, PCIe, and CPU cables? Do the capacitors actually do anything noticeable? I'm just completing my new build in a Thermaltake Core X2 case with a Seasonic Prime 650 Platinum PSU and it has the capacitors on the cables ruining what would otherwise be perfectly functional flat flex force cables. Because the PSU sits about 2" below the motherboard in this case the main cables need to be bent 180° to feed down to the PSU. With these capacitors in the end of the cables it is very difficult to do this, especially with the 8pin CPU cable.

Does anyone know of any replacement cables that are compatible with this PSU without the caps, IOW just plain flex force cables? I looked at Cablemods but I am not a fan of the "spaghetti" style cables and the cost for just the three main cables in custom length is more than half what I paid for the PSU.
 
the what? You mean these things? I dont see anything on the PSU cables...

Ferrite-Bead-Tiny-Cylinder-in-Power-Cords-Cable.-Why.png


https://www.hardocp.com/article/2017/09/19/seasonic_prime_650_platinum_review/2

150454301442q7i5obio_2_9_l.jpg


EDIT: nevermind, i see what you mean

Additionally, at the heat shrink, on certain cables you will see a small bulge. This bulge is due to the addition of FPCAP solid capacitors in these cables.
 
guess it has to do with extra ripple suppression... how much extra? probably negligible

Exactly that. More ripple filtering.
All major companies (Corsair, EVGA, Superflower etc ) do the same in order to achieve the very low ripple values the we read at the recent PSU reviews.
So, far, the only platform that can achieve similarily low ripple values without the use of in-cable-caps, is the platform that Seasonic uses for their PRIME TITANIUM line of PSUs.
 
Exactly that. More ripple filtering.
All major companies (Corsair, EVGA, Superflower etc ) do the same in order to achieve the very low ripple values the we read at the recent PSU reviews.
So, far, the only platform that can achieve similarily low ripple values without the use of in-cable-caps, is the platform that Seasonic uses for their PRIME TITANIUM line of PSUs.
FACK! Should have done a little more research. The 650 Titanium was only about $20 more than the 650 Platinum. If I had realized the difference in the cables I would have gone with the Titanium. Looks like the Titanium still has the cap on the 24pin ATX cable though. Oh well, life goes on...
 
FACK! Should have done a little more research. The 650 Titanium was only about $20 more than the 650 Platinum. If I had realized the difference in the cables I would have gone with the Titanium. Looks like the Titanium still has the cap on the 24pin ATX cable though. Oh well, life goes on...

Hello RedWagnum,

Like all the others replies said, FOCUS Plus but also PRIME Platinum and Gold (but also PRIME 1000 Titanium) got inline capacitors in cables in order to keep ripple to the lower value possible.
For all the others PRIME Titanium in 650, 750 and 850W, they don't have inline capacitors. You can refer to the review made by HardOCP for example.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
 
Yep. The [H]orde is a great bunch of peeps including several factory representatives. Don't see that at many sites!
 
Hi All,

Just to add something, we have the new PRIME Ultra coming and guess what? No inline capacitors on these power supplies. They will replace actual PRIME.

Thanks.
Best Regards,
 
WIll the Ultra move back to a relable ball bearing fan like the X-series or is it still using that fancy-name DIES TOO FAST junk sleeve bearing fan the Prime moved to?
 
WIll the Ultra move back to a relable ball bearing fan like the X-series or is it still using that fancy-name DIES TOO FAST junk sleeve bearing fan the Prime moved to?

Hello QuintLeo,

Thank you for your valuable comment about our PRIME Ultra Series.
PRIME Ultra will come with a FDB fan from the same manufacturer (Hong Hua). If you have any comment about it, please let us know.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
 
Why does Seasonic (and other manufacturers) put capacitors or chokes on the ATX, PCIe, and CPU cables? Do the capacitors actually do anything noticeable? I'm just completing my new build in a Thermaltake Core X2 case with a Seasonic Prime 650 Platinum PSU and it has the capacitors on the cables ruining what would otherwise be perfectly functional flat flex force cables. Because the PSU sits about 2" below the motherboard in this case the main cables need to be bent 180° to feed down to the PSU. With these capacitors in the end of the cables it is very difficult to do this, especially with the 8pin CPU cable.

Does anyone know of any replacement cables that are compatible with this PSU without the caps, IOW just plain flex force cables? I looked at Cablemods but I am not a fan of the "spaghetti" style cables and the cost for just the three main cables in custom length is more than half what I paid for the PSU.

When I had to replace my cables I called Seasonic and they told me to order from their cable vendor BTOS Integration Inc. Ugh I wish they just sold their cables on their own site. Would've saved me the trouble of having to call them. But it was really easy to order from this site. So i guess it's fine. Cables are working great now!
 
When I had to replace my cables I called Seasonic and they told me to order from their cable vendor BTOS Integration Inc. Ugh I wish they just sold their cables on their own site. Would've saved me the trouble of having to call them. But it was really easy to order from this site. So i guess it's fine. Cables are working great now!

Hello Captiv789,

Thank you for your message.
We are sorry for where to find our cables in North America. We would like to take care of this directly but right now, it's not possible with our website (but we are working on a solution) so we rely on our partner BTOS which is doing a great job so far for us. Just in case people want to know where to get some:

BTOS Integration, Inc.
332 Paseo Tesoro
Walnut, CA 91789
http://www.btosinte.com

Thank you.
Best Regards,
 
well its because its the type of PSU i think usually the cheaper PSU have them because they are moved from the case making it smaller to the cables.
 
Make your own cables. that way you also get perfect lenght without having to tuck anything away
 
Make your own cables. that way you also get perfect lenght without having to tuck anything away
I did that before, about 15+ years ago, specifically for SATA and 4 pin Molex power cables. Still have the tools and materials to do that. Problem is that what I need now is shorter 24 pin ATX, 8 pin CPU, and 8 + 6 pin GPU cables without the capacitors and I'm too old and lazy to do it. :) I'd have to spend too much time having to source the Flex-Force wire. And just the thought of having to crimp nearly 100 connectors makes my hands hurt.

I hate getting old... :(
 
I did that before, about 15+ years ago, specifically for SATA and 4 pin Molex power cables. Still have the tools and materials to do that. Problem is that what I need now is shorter 24 pin ATX, 8 pin CPU, and 8 + 6 pin GPU cables without the capacitors and I'm too old and lazy to do it. :) I'd have to spend too much time having to source the Flex-Force wire. And just the thought of having to crimp nearly 100 connectors makes my hands hurt.

I hate getting old... :(

Yeah it sucks
 
Hello Captiv789,

Thank you for your message.
We are sorry for where to find our cables in North America. We would like to take care of this directly but right now, it's not possible with our website (but we are working on a solution) so we rely on our partner BTOS which is doing a great job so far for us. Just in case people want to know where to get some:

BTOS Integration, Inc.
332 Paseo Tesoro
Walnut, CA 91789
http://www.btosinte.com

Thank you.
Best Regards,

Looks like BTOS forgot to pay the bill. Getting a GoDaddy page at that link

BTW, are the cables with and without the capacitors keyed differently? I have several generations of Seasonic modular supplies and the spare cables might end up in the same drawer.
 
Hello,

They are currently close for 2-3 weeks due to personal reason so in order to avoid to have too many back order, website has been shutdown. They will come back online asap. So for some cables compatible with your Seasonic, you can still check Cablemod.com for example.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
 
Hello,

They are currently close for 2-3 weeks due to personal reason so in order to avoid to have too many back order, website has been shutdown. They will come back online asap. So for some cables compatible with your Seasonic, you can still check Cablemod.com for example.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
Youch! The full kits cost almost as much as a new PS. Looks like good stuff but not exactly the right price range for straight up replacement. I'm not needing any myself right now so no worries

Also, are the cables with and without the capacitors keyed differently?
 
Hello,

Yes Cablemod is clearly more high end for cables (sleeved, high quality materials, etc..) so the price is not the same as the cables we provide and could find on BTOS. Unfortunately, these are the only 2 ways for now to get our cables or compatible ones.
Else, cables with inline capacitors (FOCUS Plus for example) are exactly the same as others cables like for PRIME Ultra. Same cable set but we added a capacitor for the ripple as it's not handle directly inside the PSU. Any question about compatibility between PSU, please contact us anytime.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
 
Hey, I just ran across this thread, and I am the cable sleever at Mod-One. I do a lot of Seasonic cables (short ones no less), without capacitors... of course no custom sleever really does because it would be too difficult/costly and look like garbage (i.e. Cablemod's heat shrink nightmare in the middle of the cables lol). Also, if the form factor is small enough, I actually recommend doing an unsleeved shorty cable from the PSU, to a 24 pin extension... that way the cables look super clean going to the mobo, as short sleeved 24 pin cables can be difficult to keep tame because the wires cross each other and they are stiff when sleeved).At any rate, feel free to message me if you have any questions or would like to see some more of my work... Here is an example of two 30 cm Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 24 pin cables I completed recently.
 

Attachments

  • seasonic twins.jpg
    seasonic twins.jpg
    340.3 KB · Views: 12
Back
Top