SATA Power connector help

[HongKongPolice]

I noticed that the native SATA power cable coming from the PSU has an orange wire (3.3v) while the SATA power adapters (molex to SATA) don't.

So does it really matter which I use? I'm running my 3.3v rail @ 3.7v so I'm afraid of damaging the SATA drive if I use the native power connector. I ran it at 3.6v before with an SATA drive and it was fine, but 3.7v, I'm unsure about long term damage.

Thanks

 

[DougLite]

I'm guessing you're running the crazy high 3.3V for your RAM. The 3.3V line is only necessary for hot swap of SATA drives, so if you have a Hitachi or Western Digital SATA, just use the regular molexes, as I doubt you'll be hot plugging. Definitely don't use both power connectors at the same time. I wouldn't be too concerned about the 3.3V overvoltage though - the motor in a HDD runs on +12 and most of the IC stuff runs on +5.

 

[HongKongPolice]

Thanks
I've got the Maxtor DM10 native SATA drives, so it only has one SATA connector. The Molex to SATA adapter works though.

I'm guessing you're running the crazy high 3.3V for your RAM. The 3.3V line is only necessary for hot swap of SATA drives, so if you have a Hitachi or Western Digital SATA, just use the regular molexes, as I doubt you'll be hot plugging. Definitely don't use both power connectors at the same time. I wouldn't be too concerned about the 3.3V overvoltage though - the motor in a HDD runs on +12 and most of the IC stuff runs on +5.