What are these power cables?

[LinComp]

Hi, thanks for helping me!

I an building a new desktop. I am curious what these two cables coming from my PSU (power supply unit) are;

One of these two cables has 2 plugs on it, somewhere half way down of the cable there is one plug, and at the end of the cable another similar plug, these both are same type of plugs, and for me they appear will fit into a socket with L shape - so are these the power cables for SATA drives such as SSD etc? if yes, then why i have two plugs on the same cable and which one i am supposed to use to connect to my ssd? the proximal one or the distal one?

Another cable coming from the PSU has actually 3 plugs on it, the first plug on it appears fits to L shaped socket of sata, and the next one is female 4 hole plug, and the next is another type of female 4 socket kind of plug

Could you guys kindly tell me why there are more than one plug on the same cable and also how would i know which one to use or which one not to use?

Thank you guys so much helping me out with this big puzzle i am facing now during building this pc myself!

 

[br00n0]

Hello,

Yes the flat L connectors are to power SATA devices such as hard disks, SSD's and CD/DVDs.
There are no preferences on the order to plug them in. Use them to best connect your drives and optimize cable management, usually one on top of the other.
The 4 hole plugs is are Molex connectors, used on older drives and CD-ROMS, but also used to power LED light strips of fans in your case.

Good luck!

 

[4745454b]

Do you know the model number? Or can you provide pics? I'm not sure what you are talking about.

My guess is the first one if it has two identical plugs is these are PCIe power plugs. They would be 6+2 pin plugs. They wouldn't be an "L" shape however. The second one sounds like it has a SATA power plug on it, followed by a "molex" power plug. These are what older drives used. The would have a female 4 hole plug. But then you said "and the next is another type of female 4 socket kind of plug" which has me wondering what it is. Unless it's the ancient 4pin floppy plug. I'm not sure I've seen a SATA, molex, and then floppy plug.

 

[anotherdrew]

so are these the power cables for SATA drives such as SSD etc? if yes, then why i have two plugs on the same cable and which one i am supposed to use to connect to my ssd? the proximal one or the distal one?

Yes, they connect to SATA drives.
You can use either plug, they are the same.

Another cable coming from the PSU has actually 3 plugs on it, the first plug on it appears fits to L shaped socket of sata, and the next one is female 4 hole plug, and the next is another type of female 4 socket kind of plug

The larger 4 hole plugs are Molex connector and were used on older hard drives and CD/DVD drives. The smaller is a mini-Molex and was used for floppy drives.

Could you guys kindly tell me why there are more than one plug on the same cable and also how would i know which one to use or which one not to use?

Many of us have more than one drive and so we need multiple plugs. For example:
http://img.banggood.com/images/oaupload/banggood/images/CC/00/dd707e36-1d0f-441b-883e-5b00e120bdfc.jpg

 

[Solandri]

Since you can't provide pics, rather than have us try to figure out from your written description, why don't you look at these pics and figure out for yourself.

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html

 

[scout_03]

post the name and model of your psu .

 

[LinComp]

Thanks so much to Br00n0 & 4745454b & Anotherdrew & Solandri & Scout_03 !!!

I really appreciate the help from all you guys!!!

I feel I am now far more enlightened about these various cables coming out from my PSU

Once again Thank you guys so much, all these information is extremely helpful!!!

 

[4745454b]

You also don't need to use all of them. If your motherboard or other device needs it, use it. But it's ok to just bundle up the extra ones and leave them in the bottom of your case.

 

[LinComp]

Thanks so much 4745454b !!!, sorry for being late in replying, I was away from computer for very long and logged in back to the site just now.

I really appreciate this additional advice and suggestions, and this is really helpful to me!!!

Once again Thank you so much, this information is extremely helpful!!!