Question SSD Power Cable

[harryhaley16]

Hello,
I recently purchased a Western Digital WDS500G2B0A WD Blue 3D NAND Internal SSD 2.5 Inch SATA, 500 GB but don't think i have any spare power cables for the SSD. I have a spare CD drive one which has 8 cables going into the back of it however they normally have 4 in the back for the SSD power cables. I was wondering whether i could purchase an adaptor of some kind to get around this issue or perhaps have to buy another PSU?
Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you!

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[JohnBonhamsGhost]

those are the correct data and power cables for SATA devices. either the HD or the optical drives's should work fine for the SSD.

the only issue may be is that one or both may not function at 6gb/s like the SSD probably requires, this will reduce possible read/write speeds. check your user manual or manufacturer specs for the motherboard to see.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I was wondering whether i could purchase an adaptor of some kind to get around this issue or perhaps have to buy another PSU?

You can use this type of adapter to connect your new SSD.

(BTW - your pc case fans are not connected and are not cooling your pc. This also causes dust buildup.)

 

[harryhaley16]

You can use this type of adapter to connect your new SSD.

(BTW - your pc case fans are not connected and are not cooling your pc. This also causes dust buildup.)

Thanks for the response!
I just checked those cables you’re right they’re not plugged into the motherboard however that’s because they’re an old 3 pin and my motherboard needs a 4 pin. I’ll have a look at some newer fans soon. Thank you though for letting me know but the fans do actually spin so I guess that’s a good sign

Yes I’ve seen that adaptor around but heard they can potentially catch fire? The other person said I could use the optical drive cable which I might do as I don’t ever use it. Will that be an issue considering that has 8 cables going into the back of it and I’ve seen SSDs normally have 4? Thank you!

 

[harryhaley16]

those are the correct data and power cables for SATA devices. either the HD or the optical drives's should work fine for the SSD.

the only issue may be is that one or both may not function at 6gb/s like the SSD probably requires, this will reduce possible read/write speeds. check your user manual or manufacturer specs for the motherboard to see.

Ok that’s good to hear so I should be able to just plug the optical drive cables in to the ssd even though they have 8 cables in the back and I’ve seen most SSDs with 4? If it doesn’t matter I’ll do that as I don’t think I’ve used it once! Thank you very much for responding

UPDATE:
The optical drive has 8 cables going into the power supply however 4 are unused. If you look at the back of my PC and in the top left corner there is a loose cable tied around another wire. That is the cable coming out of the optical drive power supply. So is that still possible to then be used on the ssd?
Thanks

 

[SkyNetRising]

those cables you’re right they’re not plugged into the motherboard however that’s because they’re an old 3 pin and my motherboard needs a 4 pin.
but the fans do actually spin so I guess that’s a good sign

If fans are spinning, then it's fine. They're connected to molex cable then.
They can be connected either by 3pin fan cable or molex adapter (but not both simultaneously, this will cause short).

Yes I’ve seen that adaptor around but heard they can potentially catch fire?

Nope. That's very simple adapter. Can not catch any fire (unless you short out connected storage drive).

The other person said I could use the optical drive cable which I might do as I don’t ever use it.

Yes - that's also an option.

 

[harryhaley16]

If fans are spinning, then it's fine. They're connected to molex cable then.
They can be connected either by 3pin fan cable or molex adapter (but not both simultaneously, this will cause short).


Nope. That's very simple adapter. Can not catch any fire (unless you short out connected storage drive).


Yes - that's also an option.

Ok great thank you so much for your help ill use the Optical Drive cable!