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Maybe we all agree that the first thing PC manufacturers fear most is nothing more than cable management. No matter how many functions your PC has in its case, it’s certainly a tedious task for everyone.
Fortunately, a long time ago, during the normal construction of a PC as we know it today, a beautiful product appeared on the consumer technology market. This product, which is nothing more than a modular power supply, is probably the best nutritional upgrade since the 386 and 486.
Where we are going, we don’t need (too) manycables.
As the name suggests, a modular power supply unit is a power supply unit with configurable wiring. By configurable we mean that you can select the type of cable you want and connect it when it is connected to the components of your PC. Additional cables are turned off by default and you can only use what you really need. There are two main types of modular power supply units:
- Fully modular – all cables of the fully modular power supplies are completely separated. This means of course that you can lay the cables and configure them the way you want. This is what most enthusiasts think of when using the term modular.
- Semi-modular – even if we take into account the optional cables that can be omitted from your assembly, there is of course always the minimum number of cables needed for the PC. Most semi-modular power supplies have a 24-pin motherboard connector and an 8-pin (4+4) CPU connector as standard. After all, these two connections are almost always necessary, so the possibility of separating them will not be so advantageous from a technical point of view.
The direct benefits of modular power supplies are obvious. They significantly improve cable management by simply not allowing cables. Since you can choose which cable to use, the number is easy to check and the clutter you have to deal with on the back of your PC will be much less painful.
In addition, it is possible that some parts may no longer be needed for your computer in the future. For example, when switching from a double PCI slot to a single PCI slot when replacing the GPU. In this case, after a component update, you can easily disconnect the unused cables to put your system in order.
Miracles of using custom GPU cables
One of the main advantages of modular power supplies for the user is the ability to mount them with customizable power cables. Of course, the user cables can also be connected simply as extension cables for conventional power supplies. But you just add another problem to your cable management by expanding your system’s already long, coiled power lines.
With the Modular Power Supply you can easily remove the original wiring and use the desired cables. Again, the advantages are obvious, but if you list them in a more technical way:
- Flexibility in the choice of cable lengths – you can choose individual cable lengths for each connector type, making cable management even cleaner.
- Color variety becomes a choice – you can perfectly match the colors of your cables to a specific theme you want to build your PC with.
- Cable Replacement – If the connectors are damaged or even missing, you can simply use the additional connector from your custom cable set as an immediate replacement.
- Extra weight for the wire – You can also choose non-standard cables specially designed for extra protection. Of course, it always depends on the kind of protection you need.
- RGB is also an option – if you’re in the hottest PC models, you can switch from simple colour selection to the direct use of RGB lighting cables.
Recommended power supply modules
Modular power supplies are much more expensive than standard power supplies. This must be taken into account when creating a PC. You need to assess whether you really need extra comfort or whether these extra costs should be allocated to other budget items. Of course, there are other specifications that need to be balanced when choosing a power supply. Therefore, the modularity of cables should always be treated as a priority for convenience rather than necessity.
At the same time, we have some simple recommendations we can make. Please note that you do not need to purchase these specific products; simply use them as your primary reference for your purchase:
Buccaneers RM550x
The RM550x is one of the best reference modular power supplies in terms of performance and design. Thanks to its properties, it offers excellent wrinkle suppression, very precise load control and can withstand loads of different degrees of gravity without sweating. All this is due to the high quality of the internal components. As a modular power supply, you may be a bit worried about the very short distance between the 4-pin connectors (Molex).
EUGA 650 B5
Let’s move to systems for the middle class. Our most important choice for this category is nothing else than this (relatively) cheap 80 Plus Bronze modular power supply. Despite the fact that it fights under maximum load for a long time, it has many protective properties. They are used to maintain power functions and protect the entire system from electrical overload. Recommended GPUs for this power supply are the Nvidia Gefore 16 series and the AMD Radeon 5000 series.
Seasonal centre of gravity plus platinum (650W)
So you want something more worthwhile? A reliable Seasonic is always behind you. This model is also primarily designed for medium-sized systems, but due to its energy efficiency it can deliver almost immediately what it consumes. It can also deliver the same GPUS performance as the GTX 2080 Ti without accidentally reducing peak usage. For this beast of the GPO you will again have to invest a very large amount of money. But with a 10-year guarantee, the investment is worth it.
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