PSU cables...yikes!

[JohnJSal]

I just spilled out all the PSu cables onto my bed and I'm a little confused. First off, I'm trying to match up the "Package Contents" page to what I have in front of me, but since the cables aren't labeled I'm kind of lost. Here's what I have:

2 x 800mm 4-pin peripheral power connector cables with three connector heads
2 x 450mm 4-pin peripheral power connector cables with two connector heads

2 x 550mm PCIe connector cables

2 x 800mm SATA connector cable with three SATA connector heads
1 x 650mm SATA connector cable with two SATA connector heads

1 x Y-adapter with a 4-pin female peripherals power connector at one end and two female small 4-pin Floppy power connectors at the other

1 x Y-adapter with a 4-pin female peripherals power connector at one end and two female 4-pin peripherals FAN ONLY power connectors at the other

So alright. My first question is, how in the world do I identify which is which? And once I know that, how do I know what end plugs into what part of the PC? Which into the PSU and which into the HDD, for example? Maybe on inspection I'll be able to tell.

More importantly, I'm confused about what to do with the fans. I will have PCIe card, so that's easy. I'll also have a SATA optical drive and a SATA HDD, so again, it's just a matter of choosing which length of cable I want to use for each, I suppose.

But what about the fans? Am I suppose to use those FAN ONLY cables at all? Or do I plug the fans into the 4-pin peripheral cables (the ones listed first)?

Do I do anything with the Y-adapter cables?

I think I've identified the cables, but what's weird is some of them have connector heads at the end of the cables, as seems normal, but they also have connector heads in the *middle* of the cables...what are these for?

Finally, does a sound card need a power cable from the PSU?

Whew, hooking up the PSU is going to be quite a challenge, I can see it already!

Thanks!

 

[dznutz]

don't worry about it. if it looks like it connects then connect to it. if it doesn't connect then flip it. if it doesn't connect at all then it doesn't belong. after it's connected gently tug on the wires. when plugged correctly plugs will not fall out when you gently tug on the wires. it's best to use the mobo manual as the guide

my power supply wasn't as detailed as to privide the cable lengths

since it's your first time for now i suggest just connecting everything together to get it running. after a while you can play with cable management

 

[JohnJSal]

don't worry about it. if it looks like it connects then connect to it. if it doesn't connect then flip it. if it doesn't connect at all then it doesn't belong. after it's connected gently tug on the wires. when plugged correctly plugs will not fall out when you gently tug on the wires. it's best to use the mobo manual as the guide

my power supply wasn't as detailed as to privide the cable lengths

since it's your first time for now i suggest just connecting everything together to get it running. after a while you can play with cable management

Well, I suppose it won't be hard to figure out once I actually look at the connections on the HDD and DVD drive.

But I'm still a little confused about the fans. I know the CPU fan goes directly into the motherboard (and doesn't need to plug into the PSU, right?)

As for the case fans, I will have 4 or 5. Do I use the FAN ONLY cables, or do I just plug them into the regular peripheral cables? I always read that the ones marked FAN ONLY really aren't too good sometimes.

 

[Nvidia4life]

If you can plug any of the case fans directly into your motherboard, that can free up some space for you to not have to use the FAN ONLY cables.
Like dznutz said, don't stress about all the cables. you probably won't use them all. just look at the connectors on the motherboard and the drives, then look at the plugs from the power supply. You can tell where most of them go by looking.
Just be aware that every peripheral (drive) needs a connection from the power supply AND from the motherboard. the motherboard allows everything to communicate (fans don't need to communicate through the motherboard) with everything else. The power supply gives the motherboard and the peripherals the power to communicate.
Hope that helps.