I have an opportunity to pick up an old but near-mint Norco RPC-4220 case for cheap.  The problem is, the backplane in this beast requires 5 Molex power connectors, each one powering 4 3.5 inch SATA drives.  (It actually requires 6,  the last one powering fans behind the backplane, but I could always swap the fans out). The case is built for an ATX power supply, but I don't know of any modern power supplies that come with that many Molex connectors.  They seem to be almost afterthoughts these days - you get one, maybe two cables with Molex connectors.

 

The power supply I have on hand (an EVGA Supernova 850 G7) has three SATA power cables with four connectors each, and one cable with 3 Molex connectors.  I know I could use Molex splitters to get more connectors, and/or use adapters to convert a SATA power cable to Molex, but they make me concerned since each connector ultimately ends up powering 4 drives.  

 

How would you deal with this case? Am I worrying over nothing, should I just go ahead and adapt SATA power to Molex and/or use Molex splitters?  Is there a different power supply that would be a better fit for this case? (I'm thinking 850 watts would be about what I need).   Or should I just pass on the case entirely? 

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

 

Edited January 25, 20242 yr by jhyler

Most higher end modular PSU's allow you to use different combinations of cables, and you can order more molex type cables from the manufacturer. Just be sure to NEVER EVER use cables not intended for the SPECIFIC model of PSU. It's not enough to match brands, some brands use models from different manufacturers for their different lines.

 

(P.S) If you know how to properly use a volt / ohm meter, you can determine whether a "wrong" cable is actually safe to use. If you don't, DON'T RISK IT. Mistakes are VERY expensive. As in, minimum of multiple dead drives, maximum of multiple thousands in data recovery services for said dead drives.