Computer Hardware Drives Power Questions

[CorinaMarie 29,894]

I have this little HP Compaq 6000 Pro Small Form Factor PC which has a tiny 240 watt non-upgradeable power supply. (Proprietary design.) I plan to add a 2nd Sata hard drive which is still within the power limits. However, I also want to add the new GeForce GT 710 2048MB DDR3 PCI-E 2.0 Low Profile Video Card I bought. That's going to overload the power supply. According to the OuterVision® Power Supply Calculator I could unplug the DVD writer and get back within its limits, but I'd rather not go that route. (And the DVD drive was manufactured May, 2010 so it doesn't likely comply with Sata 3.1 standard which would power it down when not in use.)

So, my idea is to buy some of these StarTech 6in 4 Pin Molex to SATA Power Cable Adapters and connect those to a separate ATX power supply for both hard drives and the DVD. (Yes, I know which pins to tie together on the 20 pin ATX main power connector to make it power up.)

( @rsc204 and others) Thoughts?

[simmytu 605]

Molex to SATA, loose all your data.

Cheap, yes. Easy, yes. But reliable? No*. This is quite anectdotal but I really distrust this single piece of equipment cable, because an irl friend of mine had his cable ignite, creating a nasty burnt plastic smell. There's some truth to those horror stories about molex to sata cables burning inside desktops, especially those with this kind of adapter.

*None of inside of two family computers have burnt, but I haven't used them after this incident.

[CorinaMarie 29,894]

21 minutes ago, simmytu said:

Molex to SATA, loose all your data.

Oh. Phooey. But, this thinger isn't the data cable. It's just for the power.

 

22 minutes ago, simmytu said:

There's some truth to those horror stories about molex to sata cables burning inside desktops, especially those with this kind of adapter.

Yikes! Ok, I'll try to Google up something about that then. Thanks!

[SpookyZalost 39]

honestly if you're already going to do an external power supply why not invest in an affordable modular power supply?
I'm currently using one on my desktop, cost less than $80 new, and you only plug in the cables you need into the various ports on the front with all the cables being interchangeable.
need more sata power? add sata power cables, need some molex? add compatible molex cables.

it's cheap, it's efficient, and it'll probably solve all your problems.

here's what they tend to look like:


clearly labeled and easy to setup too.

[CorinaMarie 29,894]

2 hours ago, SpookyZalost said:

honestly if you're already going to do an external power supply why not invest in an affordable modular power supply?

After I found about a zillion references to those Sata converters melting and worse, I did start Googling up power supplies. I'm going to crunch the numbers for my other, slightly better comp and see if the video card will be ok in it instead. Upgrading its power supply is an option if needed.

[SpookyZalost 39]

Ironically I did use molex to sata power adapters for a while on the system I was using 2 builds previous to power my backup drive.
but they weren't cheap ebay/china ones either, I'd gotten them from a computer repair place who at the time was using them for hardware upgrades.

and they lasted a good 4 or 5 years before I ended up upgrading my psu to support sata.

so I can't vouch for how well said adapters work now, but back when I last used them they didn't do anything like short out drives or catch fire or melt or anything like that.