Power Supply cords.

[1spiniform1]

Can you use any power cord on any power supply or do you have to have a specific one?

[Skiiwee29]

If by cord you mean from the PSU to your wall outlet, then yes.. you can use any you want. If from the PSU to components, then NO, they are NOT interchangeable almost every time. 

[OhioYJ]

It probably is worth noting that nicer or more powerful power supplies sometimes come with heavy / thicker gauge power cords than a "cheapo / generic" or low power PSU. When buying power cords I generally try and find cords that are the heavier gauge.

[mariushm]

The connector on the power supply is standardized, majority of power supplies use IEC C14 connector, and the cable connector is called IEC C13 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C13/C14_coupler

 

Some high wattage power supplies (1200w or higher usually) may use the higher current version called IEC C20 (and the connector on cable is C19) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C19/C20_coupler

 

Anyway, the power cable with C13 connector is very common and use the most, even some monitors use it unless they have the power adapter separate like a laptop power supply.

 

You can use any cable with C13 connector, but do pay attention to how much current the cable can supply, I would recommend using cables rated for at least 8-10A of current. It's written either on the cable, or on the plug.

 

Some cables are quite thin, for example monitor power cables may come with a thinner cable because a monitor only consumes 50-100w so there's no need for a thick cable capable of 1000w or more.