Question Motherboard connections

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steelrfan85

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I am installing my pc and I have some questions. Not sure if anybody can help. I got some Thermaltake fans and they have the stand fan connector but it came with another cable that has 8 slots. Idk if that’s for something else or not. I emailed tech support but heard nothing back. In the motherboard box has a little plug that has 4 prongs like ground etc. I didn’t see anywhere to plug that in if needed. There is a black cable with looks like dual SATA power connectors that plug into the power unit but I’m not sure. It was in the Corsair box but no instructions for what is what. I plugged in the SATA data but there are no power connectors that came with the HDD it SSD. There are several plugs that are part of the usb and audio jack in the front of my case. I saw he audio on motherboard but no H.D.D LED or AC 97. I’m surprised the cables from the power unit are barely long enough to reach the plugs therefore I have no way to hide or do much with the cable. I have read through the motherboard manual before asking these questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Paperdoc

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I expect you already have what you need. But first, clarify what you mean when you want a "Molex cable to power my SATA drive ". SATA HDD's almost always have a power input connector on them which is NOT the older 4-pin Molex one from a PSU. It is a 15-contact SATA power output from the PSU, and the modular cables that came with your PSU certainly have those. On the other hand, if you REALLY do need a 4-pin Molex female power output from the PSU (needed for some optical drives, for example), you probably have that, too. The "trick" is that your PSU's modular sockets have a label on them saying "Peripheral and SATA". The classic "4-pin Molex" from a PSU became widely used for several peripheral devices, so many now label them Peripheral Connectors, rather than Molex. On your system, at least one of the modular cables that you plug into a PSU socket has one or more of these, along with a smaller connector for 3½" floppy drive and maybe something else. Look at the photos on the PSU website here

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Power/cxm-series-2015-config/p/CP-9020103-NA

particularly the shot with five bundled cables next to the PSU. In the group on the left, the one second from bottom appears to have at least one 4-pin female Molex connector of the "locking" type (with compressible rounded grippers on it).
 
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Paperdoc

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It appears from above that what you really are looking for is SATA power output connectors on wires coming from your PSU so that you can provide power to SATA devices like HDD's, SSD's, etc. We don't commonly call that a Molex connector, and that's why I was a little confused. It also appears that you already have at least a couple of HDD's connected and working. Now, look closely at the back edge of those HDD's. You will see TWO cables to each drive. There's a narrower one with a cable that runs to a mobo SATA port - that's the data cable, and it has 7 contacts in the connector. Next to it is one about twice as wide that is on wires coming from your PSU. It contains 15 contacts and provides the power to that drive. VERY likely that power output connector is one of three or four along the same wire group coming from a socket on the side of your PSU.

With your system SHUT OFF, carefully unplug the wider power cable from the back of one drive just so you can see what it looks like, then reconnect it. Now look at all the wire groups coming from your PSU and see if there are other identical connectors not already in use. Also look at other wire groups that came with your modular PSU because there may be more SATA power outputs on cables you have not used yet. If so, see if the ones you find are enough for your needs.

OF you still don't have enough, there are two solutions. One is a simple SATA power Splitter - an adapter that converts one SATA power output into two so you can connect two SATA devices to that original one output. Something like this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812198015&Description=SATA power Splitter&cm_re=SATA_power_Splitter--12-198-015--Product

Or, this one converts one to four

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812400127&Description=SATA power Splitter&cm_re=SATA_power_Splitter--12-400-127--Product

But if you can't find any unused SATA power output connectors, this adapter will give you two of them from a female 4-pin Molex output from the PSU

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119010&Description=SATA power Splitter&cm_re=SATA_power_Splitter--12-119-010--Product

On that, the white connector is the male 4-pin Molex; as you see it is quite different from a SATA power connector.

Note that the data cable and the power supply cable for each SATA device are both needed to make that device work, and are quite differnet to prevent you from mixing them up and connecting to the wrong place. Also note this. You may find a small group of four pins (or more) on the back of your SATA drive that does NOT have a cable plugged into it. Those are special-purpose pins for diagnostic testing work with the drive, and you never plug any cable into those pins.
 
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korv

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Paperdoc said:
It appears from above that what you really are looking for is SATA power output connectors on wires coming from your PSU so that you can provide power to SATA devices like HDD's, SSD's, etc. We don't commonly call that a Molex connector, and that's why I was a little confused. It also appears that you already have at least a couple of HDD's connected and working. Now, look closely at the back edge of those HDD's. You will see TWO cables to each drive. There's a narrower one with a cable that runs to a mobo SATA port - that's the data cable, and it has 7 contacts in the connector. Next to it is one about twice as wide that is on wires coming from your PSU. It contains 15 contacts and provides the power to that drive. VERY likely that power output connector is one of three or four along the same wire group coming from a socket on the side of your PSU.

With your system SHUT OFF, carefully unplug the wider power cable from the back of one drive just so you can see what it looks like, then reconnect it. Now look at all the wire groups coming from your PSU and see if there are other identical connectors not already in use. Also look at other wire groups that came with your modular PSU because there may be more SATA power outputs on cables you have not used yet. If so, see if the ones you find are enough for your needs.

OF you still don't have enough, there are two solutions. One is a simple SATA power Splitter - an adapter that converts one SATA power output into two so you can connect two SATA devices to that original one output. Something like this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812198015&Description=SATA power Splitter&cm_re=SATA_power_Splitter--12-198-015--Product

Or, this one converts one to four

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812400127&Description=SATA power Splitter&cm_re=SATA_power_Splitter--12-400-127--Product

But if you can't find any unused SATA power output connectors, this adapter will give you two of them from a female 4-pin Molex output from the PSU

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119010&Description=SATA power Splitter&cm_re=SATA_power_Splitter--12-119-010--Product

On that, the white connector is the male 4-pin Molex; as you see it is quite different from a SATA power connector.

Note that the data cable and the power supply cable for each SATA device are both needed to make that device work, and are quite differnet to prevent you from mixing them up and connecting to the wrong place. Also note this. You may find a small group of four pins (or more) on the back of your SATA drive that does NOT have a cable plugged into it. Those are special-purpose pins for diagnostic testing work with the drive, and you never plug any cable into those pins.
Click to expand...

No need to buy any adapters. https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CP-8...=1550773983&sr=8-13&keywords=sata+power+cable

Link akove should work.
 
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