[snippage]

After I did the service work, the old PSU worked sufficiently well that I
kept it in that PC for a month, even though a new Coolmax 400W I-400 had
been delivered. IMHO mechanical problems are a precursor to electrical
problem. One day, after I powered PC down then up, I was informed of a
RAM problems. Not so I thought, it's brand new 8GB RAM that I tested for
hours and hours. It is definitely the PSU that failed its purpose to
deliver good clean power. I disassembled that PC, removed the old PSU and
screwed in the new Coolmax 400W I-400. Then I discovered the Coolmax did
not provide all the connectors I need. I didn't know that! I thought
standards were forever? Maybe I can get the problem solved tomorrow.

So now I have one nonfunctional Dynex 400W PSU with no value and one
Coolmax that has no value to me, but may have trade value at the shop. I
like to keep information continuity going, so now I will be distressed
until that PC is working.

The number of cables is partially proportional to the
capacity of the power supply.

Maybe a 1200W supply would have eight PCI Express video
card connectors on four cables.

Whereas a 350W supply, the designer of it might not put
any video card connectors on it. Because it isn't expected
the supply could power a discrete video card with one
or more external connectors.

There are SATA and Molex connectors. Usually a supply
needs at least one string with Molex on it, for backward
compatibility, plus at least one more with SATA 15 pin power
ones. Preferably two SATA chains, since in a typical build
there might be two clusters of storage devices.

Yes, before you buy, it's a good idea to sus out the
cabling.

There are no standards for documentation or for being
helpful to customers. You would have thought in a fully
connected world, it would be different.

Two dimensions of the ATX supply, on the faceplate side,
are standard. The "depth" dimension is a function of
capacity. Too long of a supply, the cable bundle can
"bump" into the back of the optical drive.

This site has some materials to help identifying
what's on each of your supplies.

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psucon...onnectors.html

Paul

Thanks Paul. The link to article you gave was useful. A nice man at a repair
shop gave me a short Molex to six pin GPU power adapter cable. I gave him
RAM I could not sell. I was confused a bit by an 8 pin connector that could
be split into two identical four pin connectors on the new Amazon Coolmax
PSU. I left the old Dynex PSU with the shop for refurbishing. That may have
been premature. I used scotch tape to identify all the power connectors I
used. The wire colors tell what is correct. Either I get a call from the
shop to tell me all is A OK, or I can study the article you gave to satisfy
my concern. I don't want to power up unless everything is electrically
correct.



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