Modular PSUs: The Reality of the Resistance

Zitat

Some companies have refused to manufacture modular power supplies and have even taken the effort to spread fud (fear, uncertainty and doubt) over the very concept of modular power supply connectors.

The argument? The resistance of the modular interface reduces the performance of the power supply, because resistance causes voltages to drop. No doubt any modular connection causes resistance. Nobody's denying that. But how much does the resistance of the modular connectors effect the voltage delivered to your peripherals?

[...]Hopefully you all found my little experiment entertaining and informative, if not monotonous and overly in depth. Obviously, it's fighting a losing battle trying to convince anyone that modular connectors don't create any significant resistance, but I think there's a few things here we can all learn from.

Someone once said that a modular connector's pins have as much resistance as two feet of wire. I can't recall where that came from, but I think our five subjects have shown us that there's actually as much as four times as much voltage lost in a mere 18 inches of cable than there is in a modular connector. And when thinking about a loss in voltage in a modular connector, one shouldn't look just at the fact that a power supply has a modular connector, but perhaps how that modular connector is made.

[...]Of course, despite today's findings, we still can't ignore some KNOWN ISSUES with modular power supplies that we all need to be mindful of. Any physical connection point, whether you're talking about the modular connector on a power supply or a lug nut on your car's wheel, is a potential point of failure. Connections can work loose. But in some applications they don't work loose once they are in place because, unlike your car's wheel, your power supply is not a moving part. But many times I have seen people assemble builds with modular power supplies, tie things up all neat and tidy, and then NOT go back to double check the security of the modular connections at the power supply. This can, and DOES, cause HUGE problems. Please double check ALL of your connections whenever you open your case, shove your hands inside and start bumping and yanking on different cables.