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Thread: Best wire for ATX cable and crimping tool

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    Best wire for ATX cable and crimping tool

    Guys, I need to buy some wire for ATX cable and other bits, like CPU cable, PCIe, SATA, standard molex, fans...

    Which standard is best for it?
    Would AWG 18 (24/0.2mm) be the best for ATX cable?
    I'm guessing AWG24 is thinner and better for fans at stuff?

    Any suggestions? Best shops to buy it? or just go to ebay?
    Also, which molex crimping tool is best to buy and not so darn expensive?
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    Re: Best wire for ATX cable and crimping tool

    http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

    Chart and calculator tool at the bottom might be useful.

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    Re: Best wire for ATX cable and crimping tool

    Yep the good standard for PSU cables is 18 AWG (gauge) the smaller the number the thicker the wire, it's the number of wire to make an inch of thickness or something like that.
    The wire thickness should depend on the current, voltage and distance to travel.
    I'm a bit sketchy of the exact physics, I seem to remember the thicker the wire the less the resistance but the more the voltage loss, why on some very cheap psu, it's a good job they cannot supply their listed current, if they could the thin wires used would actually heat up and melt their insulation.
    18AWG should be able to take 12v for about 2m with minimal voltage loss, 20 AWG can be used on some of the lower current cables such as the 5V Stand By and power on (green wire on the 24pin motherboard cable) and some high end PSU (1kw+) use 16AWG on some cables
    Another down side to thick wires is cable management, the thicker the wire the harder it is to bend round corners and the more space it'll take up esp when bunched together, they also cost more.
    18AWG is seen as the ideal balance point.

    edit: I found the rough number, it's 4.5 feet is a 1volt drop for 12v @ 18amp (the most a pc should pull from any one cable (not any one wire)) on 18AWG

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