PSU cables length for Fractal Design Define R5
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Aeacus
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Only power cable to worry about is EPS12V (to power the CPU) since that one sits the furthest of PSU. Since your EPS12V power cable is 450mm long, i don't think it would reach to the connector on MoBo since those connectors are usually placed at the top left corner on the MoBo (near MoBo rear I/O panel).
In my AMD build, i have Seasonic S12II-520 in use and that has 550mm long EPS12V power cable. In my old Cheiftec midi-tower ATX case, my EPS12V power cable barely reached the connector on MoBo and i had to route the cable on top of the MoBo and not behind MoBo tray. Since then, i've replaced the PC case with microATX case which is smaller than my old midi-tower ATX case and my EPS12V cable reached just fine, even when i routed that behind MoBo tray.
Note: midi-tower ATX case is a bit smaller than mid-tower ATX case but bigger than microATX case.
Since i had that issue with my 550mm EPS12V cable, your shorter 450mm EPS12V cable should present the same problem in your mid-tower ATX case.
For good quality power cable extensions, you can go with CableMod cables,
link: https://store.cablemod.com/products/?filter_product-category=basic-extension-kits
In my AMD build, i have Seasonic S12II-520 in use and that has 550mm long EPS12V power cable. In my old Cheiftec midi-tower ATX case, my EPS12V power cable barely reached the connector on MoBo and i had to route the cable on top of the MoBo and not behind MoBo tray. Since then, i've replaced the PC case with microATX case which is smaller than my old midi-tower ATX case and my EPS12V cable reached just fine, even when i routed that behind MoBo tray.
Note: midi-tower ATX case is a bit smaller than mid-tower ATX case but bigger than microATX case.
Since i had that issue with my 550mm EPS12V cable, your shorter 450mm EPS12V cable should present the same problem in your mid-tower ATX case.
For good quality power cable extensions, you can go with CableMod cables,
link: https://store.cablemod.com/products/?filter_product-category=basic-extension-kits
Yeah, probably I should just buy cable extensions. MicroATX case is not an option because I have standard ATX MoBo (ASUS Z87-C).
I'm surprised though that even Seasonics have this problem. They are highly rated in reviews - japanese capacitors and all that. I even considered buying one in the future when my old power supply drops dead. Do you find your PSU reliable in other aspects?
I'm surprised though that even Seasonics have this problem. They are highly rated in reviews - japanese capacitors and all that. I even considered buying one in the future when my old power supply drops dead. Do you find your PSU reliable in other aspects?
Aeacus
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Reason why i had trouble with my Seasonic S12II-520 is, is because S12II series is fully wired and it's cables are limited to 550mm. I'm also running Seasonic M12II-850 EVO (Haswell build) and Seasonic PRIME 650 80+ Titanium (Skylake build). Since M12II EVO series and PRIME series are fully modular, their EPS12V cables are 650mm long, reaching just fine to the top left of my MoBos in my full-tower ATX cases. Though, i've replaced the stock modular power cables with CableMod custom sleeved power cables to match my Skylake and Haswell theme. Full specs with pics in my sig.
Despite it's age, Seasonic S12II series is the best group regulated unit ever made and it's very solid unit. I even used my S12II-520 to power my Skylake build for a few months before i bought PRIME 650 80+ Titanium for it. Besides that little cable length issue, i haven't had any other issue with my S12II-520 unit for the past 3 years i've had it and used it.
Even today, 8 years later from the launch of S12II series, Seasonic still produces and sells S12II series PSUs since people trust the S12II series because they are tried, tested and proven to be reliable. In fact, Seasonic has never made a bad quality PSU in the past 40 years they have been in business, which also makes them one of the oldest PSU OEMs in the world. Depending on who you ask, either Seasonic or Super Flower is considered the best PSU OEM in the world.
Though, if you go with Seasonic unit and don't want the cable management headache due to the fully-wired design all S12II series PSUs have, go either with M12II EVO series (5 years warranty), Focus+ series (10 years warranty), or even better: PRIME series (12 years warranty). Regardless the Seasonic unit you go with, you can be sure that your PSU will serve you for years to come.
What i like the most about Seasonic is their solid build quality and fact that Seasonic is also a PSU OEM. I prefer to buy all my PSUs directly from the manufacturer, leaving the middleman out of the loop (e.g Corsair, EVGA). Since if you go with e.g Corsair PSU, you never know who the real OEM of the PSU is. Because Corsair doesn't make PSUs they sell, OEMs they use are: Channel Well Technology, HEC Compucase, Chicony Power Technology, Great Wall, Flextronics and Seasonic. Only Flextronics and Seasonic made units would be those i'd be comfortable using in my PCs.
Despite it's age, Seasonic S12II series is the best group regulated unit ever made and it's very solid unit. I even used my S12II-520 to power my Skylake build for a few months before i bought PRIME 650 80+ Titanium for it. Besides that little cable length issue, i haven't had any other issue with my S12II-520 unit for the past 3 years i've had it and used it.
Even today, 8 years later from the launch of S12II series, Seasonic still produces and sells S12II series PSUs since people trust the S12II series because they are tried, tested and proven to be reliable. In fact, Seasonic has never made a bad quality PSU in the past 40 years they have been in business, which also makes them one of the oldest PSU OEMs in the world. Depending on who you ask, either Seasonic or Super Flower is considered the best PSU OEM in the world.
Though, if you go with Seasonic unit and don't want the cable management headache due to the fully-wired design all S12II series PSUs have, go either with M12II EVO series (5 years warranty), Focus+ series (10 years warranty), or even better: PRIME series (12 years warranty). Regardless the Seasonic unit you go with, you can be sure that your PSU will serve you for years to come.
What i like the most about Seasonic is their solid build quality and fact that Seasonic is also a PSU OEM. I prefer to buy all my PSUs directly from the manufacturer, leaving the middleman out of the loop (e.g Corsair, EVGA). Since if you go with e.g Corsair PSU, you never know who the real OEM of the PSU is. Because Corsair doesn't make PSUs they sell, OEMs they use are: Channel Well Technology, HEC Compucase, Chicony Power Technology, Great Wall, Flextronics and Seasonic. Only Flextronics and Seasonic made units would be those i'd be comfortable using in my PCs.
Thank you for such a thorough and informative answer!
I'll go with M12II since it costs practically the same as S12II but has all the goodies.
Cablemod kits look great, but unfortunately they are not available where I live. A local electronic store has Bitfenix cables and a salesperson assured me they are also of high quality. Maybe I'll give this brand a try.
I'll go with M12II since it costs practically the same as S12II but has all the goodies.
Cablemod kits look great, but unfortunately they are not available where I live. A local electronic store has Bitfenix cables and a salesperson assured me they are also of high quality. Maybe I'll give this brand a try.
Aeacus
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You're welcome. 
Bitfenix power cables are also good quality, just like CableMod ones. Though, do note that Bitfenix power cables are extensions and not the full cables which would go from PSU to the component. CableMod, in the other hand, also offers full cable kits and their global store ships worldwide with a flat shipping rate of $20. For Seasonic PSUs, you'll need SE-series power cables,
cablemod: https://cablemod.com/products/?filter_series=se-series&show_products=48
I have this set in use with my Skylake build: https://cablemod.com/product/cablemod-se-series-xp2-km3-cable-kit-red/
this one in use with my Haswell build: https://cablemod.com/product/cablemod-se-series-xp2-km3-cable-kit-blue/
and i'm planning to get this one for my AMD build: https://cablemod.com/product/cablemod-se-series-xp2-km3-cable-kit-green/
once i get fully-modular PSU for it (probably Seasonic Focus+ 80+ Platinum).
Oh, one more thing. There are 2x versions of Seasonic M12II series. Older M12II PSUs are semi-modular while newer, M12II EVO series are fully-modular. Seasonic has discontinued M12II series as of today but they still produce and sell M12II EVO series.
Bitfenix power cables are also good quality, just like CableMod ones. Though, do note that Bitfenix power cables are extensions and not the full cables which would go from PSU to the component. CableMod, in the other hand, also offers full cable kits and their global store ships worldwide with a flat shipping rate of $20. For Seasonic PSUs, you'll need SE-series power cables,
cablemod: https://cablemod.com/products/?filter_series=se-series&show_products=48
I have this set in use with my Skylake build: https://cablemod.com/product/cablemod-se-series-xp2-km3-cable-kit-red/
this one in use with my Haswell build: https://cablemod.com/product/cablemod-se-series-xp2-km3-cable-kit-blue/
and i'm planning to get this one for my AMD build: https://cablemod.com/product/cablemod-se-series-xp2-km3-cable-kit-green/
once i get fully-modular PSU for it (probably Seasonic Focus+ 80+ Platinum).
Oh, one more thing. There are 2x versions of Seasonic M12II series. Older M12II PSUs are semi-modular while newer, M12II EVO series are fully-modular. Seasonic has discontinued M12II series as of today but they still produce and sell M12II EVO series.
Ok, good to know about full cable kits. Having no experience with modular PSUs and third party cables I actually assumed that extensions can replace main power cables, which is not the case apparently.
I've checked out your PCPartPicker pages - Cablemod products with matching lights and other hardware definitely look fantastic.Though, I'll probably buy Bitfenix extensions if needed. My top concern is silence and I reckon windowless Define R5 would be the quietest choice.
I've checked out your PCPartPicker pages - Cablemod products with matching lights and other hardware definitely look fantastic.Though, I'll probably buy Bitfenix extensions if needed. My top concern is silence and I reckon windowless Define R5 would be the quietest choice.
Aeacus
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- Mar 21, 2015
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When building up PC's theme, it's best that you take certain theme that you like and go from there.
For example: my black & red theme in my Skylake build started with the MoBo selection where my MSI Z170A Gaming M5 MoBo has black & red heatsinks on it. From there, i went with MSI Gaming X series GPU to match my MoBo theme and rest is basically history (also readable from my pcpp build log).
While Haswell build MoBo does have some bits and pieces of red, my wife loves blue color and so i took it as a base, to create her a black & blue themed build.
Of course, i also added RGB fans/LED strips to both of our builds so that we can change the internal lightning color if the main theme get's old.
Hardest build theme to figure out was with my old AMD build. Since i like black more than white, i didn't want to go with a theme where white is dominant color. Also, since i already have black & red theme and black & blue theme, there's no point to duplicate those. After some serious thinking, i decided to go with black & green theme. MoBo itself also helped with it since MoBo PCB is mostly green. So, i based my AMD build around that theme.
The thing with PC cases is that it isn't the case that makes the noise but instead the case fans you put into there.
If i were to take a "quiet" case like Corsair 400Q and put a Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM fan into it which outputs 43.5 dB(A), then you can be certain that the PC won't be quiet at all, despite the claims it being quiet.
The trick is that the more fans you have inside the case, the less each fan has to work to maintain the airflow and the less noise fans produce. And that is also a main reason why i have 7 case fans in my Skylake and Haswell builds (mostly 140mm but few 120mm as well). Since i have that many case fans, i can keep all of my case fans spinning between 800 - 1100 RPM and thanks to this, my PCs are very quiet while still having proper airflow inside my full-tower ATX cases.
For example: my black & red theme in my Skylake build started with the MoBo selection where my MSI Z170A Gaming M5 MoBo has black & red heatsinks on it. From there, i went with MSI Gaming X series GPU to match my MoBo theme and rest is basically history (also readable from my pcpp build log).
While Haswell build MoBo does have some bits and pieces of red, my wife loves blue color and so i took it as a base, to create her a black & blue themed build.
Of course, i also added RGB fans/LED strips to both of our builds so that we can change the internal lightning color if the main theme get's old.
Hardest build theme to figure out was with my old AMD build. Since i like black more than white, i didn't want to go with a theme where white is dominant color. Also, since i already have black & red theme and black & blue theme, there's no point to duplicate those. After some serious thinking, i decided to go with black & green theme. MoBo itself also helped with it since MoBo PCB is mostly green. So, i based my AMD build around that theme.
The thing with PC cases is that it isn't the case that makes the noise but instead the case fans you put into there.
If i were to take a "quiet" case like Corsair 400Q and put a Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM fan into it which outputs 43.5 dB(A), then you can be certain that the PC won't be quiet at all, despite the claims it being quiet.
The trick is that the more fans you have inside the case, the less each fan has to work to maintain the airflow and the less noise fans produce. And that is also a main reason why i have 7 case fans in my Skylake and Haswell builds (mostly 140mm but few 120mm as well). Since i have that many case fans, i can keep all of my case fans spinning between 800 - 1100 RPM and thanks to this, my PCs are very quiet while still having proper airflow inside my full-tower ATX cases.
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