Does a Molex connector provide as much power as Sata Power connector

[TenPc]

Does the molex connector provide the same or less or more power than the Sata cable connector?

My Sata Rack(s) allows for a Sata hdd but the connector for the tray (to PSU) is Molex, First time I used it (them), the motherboard(s) overloaded (assumedly) for two desktops computers. One had a 680 watt PSU and the other had 850 watt PSU. I"m thinking that the molex did not provide adequate power for the 1TB hdd as well as the rack itself.

The Hdd: +5V 0.72A, +12V 0.52A, Barracuda 1TB, 7200.12

I inserted the hdd prior to power up just in case it did not support hot-swap feature.

The PC with 680 watt PSU (CoolerMaster) had Windows 7 x32 (4gb ram DDR2 800mhz) no longer powers up, the motherboard light does not go on.

The 860 watt PSU (CoolerMaster) had Windows 7 x64 (8gb ram DDR2 800mhz) and at power on, there is an initial "try to start" but then shuts itself off.

I've disconnected all connectors apart from the PSU and still no action happening. I tried the cmos batterry removal and insertion to "reset" the bios but still no go. Both these computers I've been using for more than 2 years previously with no problems.

I've puth them both into my storeroom until I decide how to resolve this issue.

Any thoughts?

 

[Novuake]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#Power_connectors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molex_connector

Technically Molex can carry much more power than the SATA power connector.

Molex has 2 power pins (one 5V and on 12V pin), each can deliver 11Amps for a total of 22Amps. The other 2 pins are ground wires...

SATA power connectors has a total of 15 pins of which 9 are power pins (3 x 3.3V, 3 x 5V, 3 x 12V). Each pin can carry 1.5Amps for a total of 13.5Amps. BUT as there is as yet no use for the 3.3V pins the effective power available to drives is only 9Amps.

As you can see both of these specification has ample Amperage for your drive(The Hdd: +5V 0.72A, +12V 0.52A, Barracuda 1TB, 7200.12).

The rack itself will not use power in itself, it just extends the circuit to the HDD leaving the power unchanged...

Sooo to get to your problem... So you are saying the HDD is not getting power? Does it spin up at all? You have not stated the problem clearly...

 

[TenPc]

It's not the hdd, per se, the motherboards on which I had the racks no longer function.

Thanks for the information, though, I think that the racks were either faulty to begin with or that the motherboards could not handle the extra load... I had 3 hdd in the x64 and 2 hdd in the x32, the motherboards were not exactly high end, just managed with ddr2 533 (although I was using ddr2 800mhz ram).

Hopefully the hdd's still work, they had all my music and movies, and back up of data. I've not yet tested the integrity of the hdd's, I'm hoping to get similar motherboards as replacements so that I don't have the compatibility problem. Also, they were registered versions OEM are usually single licence only so I doubt that I can install the OS again on a new hdd.

The Windows 7 x32 was an Asus (P5WD2) with a 2gb Geforce video card, any P5 series would be compatible.

The x64 was a Gigabyte (X48-D5S) with a Radeon 5450 1gb Video card. Not sure whether "any" Gigbyte motherboard would be compatible, though.

They are both in my storage room, awaiting a decision. I just have to go witrhout a Windows 7 x64 and Windows 7x32 for a while. I've got a Samsung netbook with Windows 7 x32 pre-installed but I use that for other things and don't want to afflict it with "games".

I got lots of other computers, about 10 of them (hence TenPc) but my knowledge is still only 10 per cent (hence TenPc) even after more than 20 years of PC experience...

Overall, my doubts were with the racks themselves and perhaps the motherboard ability to handdle extra loads which also bring a query as to whether motherboards can really handle the later model Sata hot-swap external ports.....!

 

[Novuake]

It's not the hdd, per se, the motherboards on which I had the racks no longer function.

Thanks for the information, though, I think that the racks were either faulty to begin with or that the motherboards could not handle the extra load... I had 3 hdd in the x64 and 2 hdd in the x32, the motherboards were not exactly high end, just managed with ddr2 533 (although I was using ddr2 800mhz ram).

Hopefully the hdd's still work, they had all my music and movies, and back up of data. I've not yet tested the integrity of the hdd's, I'm hoping to get similar motherboards as replacements so that I don't have the compatibility problem. Also, they were registered versions OEM are usually single licence only so I doubt that I can install the OS again on a new hdd.

The Windows 7 x32 was an Asus (P5WD2) with a 2gb Geforce video card, any P5 series would be compatible.

The x64 was a Gigabyte (X48-D5S) with a Radeon 5450 1gb Video card. Not sure whether "any" Gigbyte motherboard would be compatible, though.

They are both in my storage room, awaiting a decision. I just have to go witrhout a Windows 7 x64 and Windows 7x32 for a while. I've got a Samsung netbook with Windows 7 x32 pre-installed but I use that for other things and don't want to afflict it with "games".

I got lots of other computers, about 10 of them (hence TenPc) but my knowledge is still only 10 per cent (hence TenPc) even after more than 20 years of PC experience...

Overall, my doubts were with the racks themselves and perhaps the motherboard ability to handdle extra loads which also bring a query as to whether motherboards can really handle the later model Sata hot-swap external ports.....!

1. Hard drives are a 100% "recycleble". They are not dependent on x64 or x86(32 bit) at all. You could install any OS on them and it would not matter.

2. ANY board would be compatible with ANY SATA HDD as long as they have adequite port(mSATA, or internal SATA). I would say the rack si probably faulty, probably just a power problem.

3. There is no way a motherboard can not handle any number of drives, but this only applies if you are using one intern SATA port per drive..

Is this rack external or internal?
Are you pulling this rack through mSATA? The rack should have its own SATA controller if you have it externally through mSATA, this controller can also be a problem.

 

[TenPc]

Actually, I just did a recheck with the X64 PC of the PC Health and the temps were way over 80 Degrees. It seems (hahaha hmmm) that the CPU fan was not properly seated over the cpu and the heat was not being dissipated. The thermal paste was the correct amount so I replaced the 12v 0.3a fan with a 12 v 0.6a fan that seems to seat better and even though it is lower in heat sink (half the height), it does seeem to fit better. It could be that the powering of the rack might have exerted the cpu to a higher temp so the fail-safe guards would kick in and shut down the PC.

I supppose the same problem with the X32 bit PC would also be an over-heating CPU. I have got huge (6 inch) system fans but may have to include a few others nearer the CPU.

It is easier to blame new hardware than ones own inability to check ones own work. I had another PC that would not show video display and after trying 9 video cards, realised the motherboard was seated too low in the case. I had to reseat the motherboard with longer seating lifts. so the fitting of the Video card was more in line with the PCI-E slot as it did not fit (previouosly) into the slot properly even though the card did "click" into place, the other end was sitting slightly higher out of the slot and the contacts were not being correctly fitted into the slot.

The rack fits into the 5 inch bay and the tray pulls out of the rack. The instructions infer hot-swapping so they may work after all. I still got them in the bays just not connected (they fill that gap).

Thanks for your input, a bit of feedback gives one incentive to just go check when all other alternatives seem to be the wrong course of action. The hard drives are all working correctly.

 

[Novuake]

Thought as much... Well glad you got it fixed...