[SOLVED] Is this a 6pin power connector for an SSD on the motherboard?

[psychedelic_Ed]

Hi All,

Question. I am looking to update this small office computer with an SSD. It currently has a regular HD and an DVD rom. I'd like to keep both the HDD and DVD Rom functioning, but if it comes down to it I can always use the power from the DVD rom to keep the HD and SSD working.

THat being said, upon opening the case, I noticed there were no extra power cables coming from the power source or piggybacking another power cable. I looked up the instructions online and found this diagram of the mobo:
Link: Dell Inspiron 3650 Mobo

Purple = where power is currently being taken from motherboard to power HD and DVD Rom. Its one cable with one piggyback.
Yellow = Not in use in my set up currently. Is this an additional power port for additional SSDs/HDs? I would think it is since there are two free SATA ports at the moment (#3 and #4) and they would need power. I've just never ran across power like this for hard drives - coming from the mobo instead of the power supply.

They are labeled similarly on the diagram, but they look ever so slightly different. Can anyone confirm if this is the correct assumption and what cable I need? I went to microcenter, but the guy said "oh thats a Dell thing, we don't have those kinds of cables" =/
Would this cable from amazon suffice? Link: Cable

Thanks!

 

[kerberos_20]

your assumption is correct, most of OEM PCs have PSU with 12v rail only, and mainboard will turn that 12v into 3.3/5V if needed (for devices), this design uses less power than normal PSU with all voltage rails running all time
i see some cables on ebay/amazon in stock
search for GP2JM there, that should give u many hits with aprox 10$ price
some cables can be also found under X9FV3 which is hdd caddy but some cables have for hdd bay in name, either way both search names would give u replacement 6 pin to 2x sata power cables

 

[g-unit1111]

That particular cable is to power SATA-based peripherals (such as a CLL liquid cooler) through a 6-pin PCI-E port on your power supply. If you want a power cable that's suitable to power a SATA-based SSD then you want something like this:

Your motherboard has 4 SATA data ports and your power supply should have at least one or SATA power cables integrated into it. If you need more you will need a 4-pin to SATA cable connector.

 

[kerberos_20]

That particular cable is to power SATA-based peripherals (such as a CLL liquid cooler) through a 6-pin PCI-E port on your power supply. If you want a power cable that's suitable to power a SATA-based SSD then you want something like this:

Your motherboard has 4 SATA data ports and your power supply should have at least one or SATA power cables integrated into it. If you need more you will need a 4-pin to SATA cable connector.

his PSU has 0 sata/molex/pci-e connectors , his mainboard offer those (no pci-e power tho)

 

[psychedelic_Ed]

Thanks both for the insights.

That is correct. I have 0 extra cables. It all makes sense now. It is an inexpensive computer for internet browswing and some light business use. I can see why dell did what it did. Just wish it was a bit more clearer in the manual. Then again, I have you guys and gals to help. I found the cable and put it on order. Will let you know how it goes.

BTW, I looked even closer at the optical drive, and the power connector to that is not the standard sata type. It's a perhaps a mini sata power connection? What the hell!? It is one of those slim dvd drives, so I guess that is why its like that. 😀

Cheers

his PSU has 0 sata/molex/pci-e connectors , his mainboard offer those (no pci-e power tho)

 

[g-unit1111]

his PSU has 0 sata/molex/pci-e connectors , his mainboard offer those (no pci-e power tho)

That is a strange PSU design. If the motherboard has SATA data cables then it should at least provide SATA power.

BTW, I looked even closer at the optical drive, and the power connector to that is not the standard sata type. It's a perhaps a mini sata power connection? What the hell!? It is one of those slim dvd drives, so I guess that is why its like that. 😀

Cheers

That's probably the reason why I haven't touched a prebuilt system in 15 years, lol.

 

[psychedelic_Ed]

Just to close this out, I have bought the power cable and have updated the system with a new SSD. New life! Thanks all for your help!

Side note for reference: I had originally installed w10 onto the new SSD, but then I had an old program that wouldn't install / register anymore (older QB's Premier 2007). Soooo, seeing that I don't want to buy a new copy of that program in 2021, I cloned the HDD with Aoemi Backupper (free). At first, the system wouldn't boot. I think it's this annoying TPM thing that is in the bios (built in?) and everytime there was a new OS drive, it wouldn't detect the HD. Anyway, I ran the trouble shooting from dell (from USB) and then it scanned and fixed whatever errors it found. Luckly it boots up now and all seems to work. I'm giving it a few weeks to make sure it all works before I format the old HDD, but so far so good.

What is the point of the TPM? Annoying as hell. I have never ran into that before, but I guess that is Dell for you and making everything so difficult to do.