Where can I have 14-AWG cables made for my PSU?

[GGeorge007]

I'm about to purchase a 1600W PSU from EVGA for my computer which will have 3 x 3080-Ti GPUs rated at 350W max each. I would like to know where I can buy 14ga wires for this power supply. I've not had any luck to date; on Google and DuckDuckGo I've seen a couple of sites that offer 16ga cables, but not 14ga.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[freakdiablo]

There's a decent chance 14awg cables won't fit in the connectors, which is why you can only find 16awg.

Why do you think you need 14awg? Most of those PCIe power cables are only a foot or two, and keep in mind the hot leads are spread over multiple stands.

 

[GGeorge007]

After reading several posts and articles about power supplies and the cable thickness for high end GPUs, all of which recommended 14-AWG for these needs, I want my cables to be capable of delivering the needed wattage without overheating. And to me, overheating a cable should be much less than the recommended 60॰C (140॰F).

 

[freakdiablo]

What model power supply are you using?

I doubt 16awg cables are hitting 60c, even with some 3080s being out of spec power draw wise. An 8 pin connector has 3 hot leads and "delivers" 150w. Let's say a card has two connectors, and breaks spec pulling 180w on each. That's 60w on each strand, 5a@12v. I'll be really, REALLY surprised if individual 16awg cables are hitting 60c on a 5a draw.

 

[GGeorge007]

I guess you can't read... so I'll repeat myself.

I mentioned in my FIRST post, in the FIRST sentence, that I am about to purchase a 1600W PSU from EVGA. I'll add (which I did not mention before) that it will be the Titanium 80+ build, part no. 220-T2-1600-X1.

An EVGA 3080-Ti, part no. 12G-P5-3967-KR, is stated on the EVGA website having a power draw of 350 W (that is the maximum rated for this card). A typical motherboard supplies 75W in the PCIe slots, and PSU manufacturers "typically" supply "up to" 150W per cable to the GPU. The 3080-Ti has three 8-pin connectors which all add up to a total of 525W.

I do not expect the cables to reach the 60॰C. I do expect that the lower temps will allow the amount of voltage loss due to a "voltage droop" to be less. That is my end goal. I don't want any voltage droop if I can avoid it.

So... I'll repeat myself again: Where can I have 14-AWG cables made for my PSU?

 

[EarthDog]

Easy, George...we all miss things sometimes.....

I'm sorry I can't answer your question directly. But I do have one myself, if that's OK...

I don't want any voltage droop if I can avoid it.

Is this for extreme overclocking purposes? Otherwise, I think you're looking into it too deep. I ran a 3080Ti with a single 750W unit in the same manner (three 8-pin PCIe). Zero issues even while overclocking. I don't have three, but, your PSU shouldn't 'droop' for much of any reason...

anyway... hopefully someone can help you, but just trying to get the whole story.

 

[GGeorge007]

Easy, George...we all miss things sometimes.....

I'm sorry I can't answer your question directly. But I do have one myself, if that's OK...


Is this for extreme overclocking purposes? Otherwise, I think you're looking into it too deep. I ran a 3080Ti with a single 750W unit in the same manner (three 8-pin PCIe). Zero issues even while overclocking. I don't have three, but, your PSU shouldn't 'droop' for much of any reason...

anyway... hopefully someone can help you, but just trying to get the whole story.

Hello EarthDog. Yes, I agree, I shouldn't have jumped at him so hard... but it's over now.

Yes, I am an extreme overclocker. I am not a gamer, but I do participate in BOINC. There is a member that writes some high end overclocking programs for some of us and he does it very well. But, I digress.

What I do not want is for my OC'd GPU's to "droop" voltage because I'm running them at the limits of 350W, which by some standards is "okay" to droop a little bit. If at all possible I don't want to droop at all, or as little as possible.

 

[Max0r]

Out of all the random PC/monitor power cables I have, two are 14 AWG. So I use those for my systems of course. They have the usual connections though, while it looks like that extreme PSU has a different style.. I believe you're looking for one of these?

StarTech.com 6 ft Heavy Duty 14 AWG Computer Power Cord NEMA 5 15P to C19 - Office Depot

THE IT PROS CHOICE Designed and built for IT Professionals this 3 prong power cable is backed for life including free lifetime 245 multilingual technical assistance PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY UL listed UL62 UL817 Fully molded strain relief connectors for durability Fire Rating VW 1 3 Conductor...

www.officedepot.com

14 AWG NEMA 5-15P Male to IEC 60320 C19 Female is the thing to look for. I wonder if they come in 12/3 style too? XDDDDDDDDDDD




It's always nice to learn something new. I never knew about any of this crap.


But yea, my 14 AWG cables are C13/C14 or whatever

Oh, by the way to the forum George. Jeez... I must have been around here 80,000 years. I should have remembered to do that by now.

You're not related to this guy, by any chance, are ya?

 

[EarthDog]

What I do not want is for my OC'd GPU's to "droop" voltage because I'm running them at the limits of 350W, which by some standards is "okay" to droop a little bit. If at all possible I don't want to droop at all, or as little as possible.

What, exactly, do you believe droops? And what is the result of that? I really don't think you're going to have this 'droop' you're looking for? A power supply comes properly equipped (power and PCIe cables) to put out at least what the PCIe-SIG spec is for those cables (150W+ for 8-pin, AWG of the power cord is complementary too, of course). If the cards have 3x 8-pins, that's 450W (525W as you said above with the slot) and well in spec for a 350W card. Nothing is going to get warm and it isn't worth the hunt or effort unless you're modding the BIOS etc to go over the meager power limit increases too?

And, you're looking for better 8-pin PCIe cables, right? Not power cable?

 

[Max0r]

Oh wow, that's for PCIe PSU cables? Damn that's hardcore. I should have known. But that's just how out of touch I am. Looks like I'm learning even more now.

And I definately agree with the concept of overprovisioning when it comes to extreme overclocking on cables. I bet running thicker and shorter wires would help avoid drooping voltages. But I've already made enough of a fool of myself in this thread. But the good news is that means I'm learning even faster!

Fail fast, fail first. That's my motto.

 

[EarthDog]

 

[GGeorge007]

And, you're looking for better 8-pin PCIe cables, right? Not power cable?

Yes, the 8-pin PCIe cables from PSU to GPU, not the A/C power cable from wall to the PSU.

 

[EarthDog]

While you wait for someone to respond who may know, I'd consider reaching out to EVGA and see if they can help you with better cables.

I still don't understand the goal (I suppose I don't have to, but to best help...........). Consider that extreme overclockers (who use sub-ambient cooling methods) don't change their cables around and pump cables just like that full (and perhaps then some) of the 150W rating. If they don't do it to break records where literally every MHz counts, I don't think it's going to make a darn bit O difference with ambient cooling and some tweaks.

That said, if you care to explain more, I'm all ears. We're all here to learn...

 

[Arctucas]

Been a lurker for a while, this post caught my eye.

OP, why do you believe you need 14AWG conductors on the PCI-E cables?

 

[magellan]

HWiNFO64 reports that one of the 8-pin connectors on my 1080ti (at 2164/1.2V) drops to 11.536V while drawing upwards of 454 Watts. I'm pretty sure my 8-pin PCIe cables are only 18AWG. If HWiNFO64 is accurate I'd imagine 14AWG connectors would probably reduce this transient voltage drop seen at the videocard even though it's still within ATX specs.

 

[GGeorge007]

I think that you'd be hard pressed to find someone making 14AWG cables for your PC. And even if you did find someone, it might be difficult to plug them in.

A 16AWG cable should be more than enough to run a GPU, especially a 1080Ti. I know of several people running 3080Ti and 3090 GPUs and they are not having any difficulties running them with the standard HIGH WATTAGE GPU with 16AWG cables.

EVGA has PCIe 16AWG cables on their 1000W GPU and higher, and they are a reputable brand. So is Seasonic.

 

[magellan]

@GGeorge007
My old Rosewill Capstone 750 Watt 80 Plus Gold doesn't have multiple, 18AWG strands to each PCIe 8-pin connector pin, only a single 18AWG wire goes to each PCIe 8-pin connector pin. I do sometimes have CTD's but only in one game: Dying Light.

 

[EarthDog]

First - I wouldn't take software readings as The Gospel...

Second - 11.53V is still in spec. ATX spec allows for 5% variance.

Third - You already know 1/2 and aren't reporting any actual problem so.....

...maybe it's the Enermax that may be as old as the rig and it's soft in its old age.

@GGeorge007 - Did you contact EVGA? Did they reassure you that the gauge that comes with whatever is appropriate?

Im running a 450W GPU (not system...) on a 850W PSU and w/e gauge cables it came with... surely you both are good.

 

[Evilsizer]

only way to really know your 12v rail is to measure it from the cable while its under load. even if we assume the software is correct voltage that low is in spec. further voltage drop like that depends on the load on the 12v rail, ie the percentage use of the 12v rail. some psu's are most efficient around 50% load some are still great up to 80% load. that is as far as voltage drop goes, as this will be dependent on the topology of the power supply design. the quality of the voltage regulators and the capacitors in the power supply the heatsink/fan setup to keep it cool. age of the power supply is at play as well, there are some that do not know. the age of the capacitors does matter as they are in constant use, they degrade over time.

each 12v cable from the psu to the gpu is off the same 12v rail. the 16awg is more then enough for these short of a run, as you notice newer gpu power cables are using more 12v pins which are stil 16awg.

AWG Wire Gauge Chart For All 44 Wires (Ampacity Chart)

Picking exactly the right wire size is not an easy task at all. Different AWG (American Wire Gauge) wires have different diameters, cross-sections, and allow only a limited number of amps to flow through them. To adequately figure out what size AWG wire you need, you require at least a wire...

learnmetrics.com

if a single pair of 16awg wire can handle 17amp/150watts then you have 6 of those that is 900watts, at 8 your at 1200 watts. as they add more pins for the gpu plug standard it will support more load. in power supplies the few ways you will melt the cables, if the pin connectors getting loosened from plugging and unplugging. this basically shaves a bit of metal off each time they are plugged in and removed, they are being held in by friction. as the metal thins it will either be loose enough it doesn't make a good connection or the pin it self is thin enough it gets hot from the current demand. for 16awg wire to be a issue it would need to be a really long cable for this kind of power demand. main points to take away here are they need to be quality pin connectors, crimped/soldered properly for our needs. cheaper psu's are cheap for a reason, lower quality, cheap cables, cheap topology design. it will still get the job done but do not thing about using anything other then a mid range gpu it, even then that might push it to much.

Personal story, ran a 9600K locked at 4ghz with 2 ssd's/1060 6gb(stock) on a silver stone sst-st45sf with no issues. It moved through 2 or 3 other upgrades from the time i bought it here in the classies from a guy that did reviews at jonnyguru's site. after he took it apart he saw how bad the soldering job was done on the capacitors he re-soldered them.

worry less about the cables and more about the quality of the power supply, do not cheap out. power supply is really the last place you want to cheap out on.

**EDIT**
regardless if it is AC or DC voltage it is still going to carry the same wattage. for instance 1200watts@12v=100amps or 120vac=10amps, still 1200 watts.

**EDIT 2**
if the pins for the connector are close to what is used in the 4 pin molex connectors, that means a pair will handle 135watts. the cable wattage above in my post did not take in to account for the connectors limitations.

 

[Evilsizer]

just making a new post to follow up about the pins and plugging/unplugging them in. Jay's 2cents really does not go into that kind of detail, not sure if anyone on his staff knows this kind of stuff.