Adapter for 4-pin Molex connector to 15-pin SATA power

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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ktriebol
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:21 am
Location: Ogema, WI USA

Adapter for 4-pin Molex connector to 15-pin SATA power

Post by ktriebol » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:38 am

I am getting ready to build a new PC and already have some of the parts lined up. My power supply has three SATA power connectors, and that is enough for now, but I was thinking that somewhere down the road I may need one or two more. My first thought was that I could use an adapter that goes from a 4-pin Molex connector to two SATA power connectors, like this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IDE-4Pin-to-SAT ... 1c365e408e
I don't foresee using the 4-pin Molex connectors for any other purpose anyway, and this power supply comes with two of them. The problem is that when I look at the pinout of the Molex connector, I see +12v, com, and +5v. The SATA power connector is supposed to supply those voltages that I just mentioned, plus +3.3v. How can that adapter work correctly if there will not be a +3.3v source going to the SATA power connector?

lodestar
Posts: 1683
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:29 am
Location: UK

Re: Adapter for 4-pin Molex connector to 15-pin SATA power

Post by lodestar » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:57 am

The +3.3v line is part of the SATA technical standard but was never implemented by hard drive manufacturers. So the adapter will work fine.

ktriebol
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:21 am
Location: Ogema, WI USA

Re: Adapter for 4-pin Molex connector to 15-pin SATA power

Post by ktriebol » Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:07 pm

Thanks for the info, lodestar. I just finished searching around and pretty much found the same answer in this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/29177 ... ta-adapter

So, I guess I will go ahead with it and not be concerned about the 3.3v issue.

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