Hardware Difference in these cables?

[Lanlan]

So I have two different molex to 6-pin PCI-e adapter cables, but the wiring is different. Can anyone tell me why?
Also, I'd do spoilers if I knew how.
First one, notice it only has 5 pin inputs or whatever you wanna call em.

Second one, wired differently and has 6 pin inputs.

 

[DCG]

ohhhhhhhh, molex to pci-e connectors.

Which one came with your GPU?

 

[Lanlan]

ohhhhhhhh, molex to pci-e connectors.

Which one came with your GPU?

Neither. One was in a PC I bought from a friend (the top one) and the bottom one is from Amazon.

 

[DCG]

The difference I would say I see in the first place is that the first one is grounded by one pin in the PCI-e side (the middle one)
And the second one is grounded by 2 pins, but the molex side (right connector) looks odd.

I'll take a look at the one I got with my GPU, as I've read the ones supplied with a GPU are safer than the other ones (something with shortages etc. don't know the exact reason....)

 

[Lanlan]

The difference I would say I see in the first place is that the first one is grounded by one pin in the PCI-e side (the middle one)
And the second one is grounded by 2 pins, but the molex side (right connector) looks odd.

I'll take a look at the one I got with my GPU, as I've read the ones supplied with a GPU are safer than the other ones (something with shortages etc. don't know the exact reason....)

Are the pictures I posted sufficient?

 

[DCG]

The first one looks identical to the one I got from Asus with my GPU (7970), so I guess that's the safe one.

I think the second one is dangerous, as it doesn't show the ground (brown), which is (I think) standard in the electronic world.
It also looks to me like they are pushing power trough the ground with the second connector (yellow in the lower middle one) and they are sortof overloading the molex with the second yellow cable coming from 1 molex pin (could be wrong on that point though)

My opinion:
The first one is safe to use on a GPU.
The second one isn't, perhaps that it came with something that required the wiring that way, but it seems unlikely to me.... (I wouldn't use it)

 

[Lanlan]

Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[raulpica]

Having more than one pin on a single cable will raise the issue of cable burning under massive strain.

Use the one with more cables.

 

[DCG]

I'll try to make a picture of my (sealed) asus one That ain't gonna work in the plastic :/
I really trust Asus (or any major GPU manufacturer) on this one, as it is supplied with their stuff, people would hate them if it would fry.

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

I never use Molex to PCIE power connectors they always seem in my experience to be qwerky with power.

Direct from PSU thats the real stuff

 

[raulpica]

I never use Molex to PCIE power connectors they always seem in my experience to be qwerky with power.

Direct from PSU thats the real stuff

I've used TWO of them for 2-3 years (I'm a cheapskate on PSUs) since my GPU is kinda demanding (GTX260) and they never failed. They were both from ASUS though

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

that's what id never cheap out on is my PSU hehe seen too many good rigs go out from poor quality PSU's

 

[The Real Jdbye]

From a quick google it seems the bottom center pin of a PCI-E connector doesn't actually have to be hooked up to anything. It can be either +12V or not connected. In case the GPU draws a lot of power from the PCI-E connector it may actually need that last pin connected, I'm not sure. The GPU might also be wired in such a way that it requires the last connector (this would be bad design IMO so I doubt that ever happens)

They will probably both work, but the bottom one seems like the people who made it didn't quite know what they were doing (connecting 2 pins to a single one kind of ruins the point), so it may be made cheaply with low build quality, poor solder connections etc. I would avoid using that one.

The 5V connector isn't connected on either of them, which is the way it's supposed to be, but isn't the 3rd pin supposed to be the ground for the 5V connection? I guess it doesn't matter because it's a common ground, it's just a bit weird.

The first one looks identical to the one I got from Asus with my GPU (7970), so I guess that's the safe one.

I think the second one is dangerous, as it doesn't show the ground (brown), which is (I think) standard in the electronic world.
It also looks to me like they are pushing power trough the ground with the second connector (yellow in the lower middle one) and they are sortof overloading the molex with the second yellow cable coming from 1 molex pin (could be wrong on that point though)

My opinion:
The first one is safe to use on a GPU.
The second one isn't, perhaps that it came with something that required the wiring that way, but it seems unlikely to me.... (I wouldn't use it)

The brown and black connectors are all ground. The bottom one would probably work, but it might be of poor build quality judging by the weird way the wires are connected.
The bottom center pin isn't a ground, so the wiring will work.