A cable's a cable, right?

[Terminat.]

I thought that power cables were all pretty much the same. They came with 5V and 12V rails, and provided power for pc components. Then I saw this:

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_enhancement/vga_hdd_power_lead

I am very skeptical about this "power enhancement cable." Don't get me wrong - OCZ are a great company, with excellent memory and power supplies, but what good will these wires actually do?

Then I read these three reviews:

http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=229&cat_id=1040&action=reviews

http://www.burnoutpc.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=177

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/ocz-powerlead_5.html

They all say these OCZ wires are amazing - but how? They are a bit vague on the improvements, saying they give a "cleaner power source" but what does that mean, and what are the real-word benefits?

I thought a power cable was a power cable - was I wrong? Have any of you seen the benefits of these cables?

[moz_21]

...They all say these OCZ wires are amazing - but how? They are a bit vague on the improvements, saying they give a "cleaner power source" but what does that mean, and what are the real-word benefits?

I thought a power cable was a power cable - was I wrong? Have any of you seen the benefits of these cables?

I haven't used them, but unless these cables have capacitors and shielding, they will not clean up the signal. Especially if you buy a decent power supply in the first place.

Waste of $$, IMO.

[SpazTech]

Shielding has been in effect for video and audio cabling for years. I've had audio cables running to close to extension cords and I could hear the 60Hz hum. In theory shielding the power cables in this way should protect the power cable from interference from outside sources and vice versa.
My two cents.

[Gnufsh]

I haven't used them, but unless these cables have capacitors and shielding, they will not clean up the signal. Especially if you buy a decent power supply in the first place.

Waste of $$, IMO.
OCZ's website says they're shielded.

If you look at the comments on the x-bit labs review, you'll see someone made a list of what it would take to build your own filtering cable:

2x 10µF/25V cap. (Part # P975-ND): $0.33
2x 0.1µF cer. cap. (Part # 399-2155-ND) : $0.32
1x Ferrite cable clamp, unknown rating: $0.10-$2.41 (estimate: $0.56)
1x Molex male plug (Part# A1431-ND): $0.19
1x Molex female plug (Part# A1402-ND): $0.22
Molex pins: Roughly $0.20, but they're sold in large bags.
4 ft. 16 gague cable: Roughly $0.60
(all part numbers from digikey)

Total cost: About $2.42 for an equivalent cable.

Note, however, that this is before the quantity discout that manufacturers get, and that if you're only making one cable, you might need more than the amount listed above because of minimum numbers of parts (some are only sold in lots of 10, or of 7000 for the Molex pins from this distributor [you can get them in smaller lots elsewhere, but I was too lazy to look]). Actual cost to OCZ is still likely to be well under $2 to make this cable, if not under $1. Talk about a profit margin...

Hmm... actually, maybe I should get in on this gig. These really must be miracle cables, ignore what I said above. Anyone want to buy one from me for $20 + S&H? ;)

http://www.xbitlabs.com/discussion/1167.html

For the beginning of the xbit labs review, go here:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/ocz-powerlead.html
(ocz and the first post linked only to the last page)

It still gives me goose bumps to hear ocz talked about as a good company. Somewhere along the line I missed when they switched from terrible to good. Anyone want to tell me when that was?

edit: I find this use of the word "extreme" on the ocz page:

The OCZ PowerShield™ EMI Control technology with Copper-shielded power leads provides extreme current stabilization...

It seems over the top. We're talking about a power cable that provides a bit cleaner power, not something that seems like anything extreme at all. Well, maybe an extreme waste of money when you could build one yourself for a few dollars.

[stan03]

wasn't too long ago, but they seemed to have turned around.

[Borisw37]

Eh, i say bull Sh@#$.
Even if the calbes are shielded, and have a ferrite clamp on them, you are not going to notice any difference. Your PSU is supposed to supply good clean 12v DC +/- .2v or something close. If you still have 60hz AC signal interference in your 12v DC and 5v DC lines, get a new PSU.