iCAN power cables safe?

[never_here]

planning to get custom white cables for the motherboard, cpu, and gpu power connectors.  The problem i have is that there are some nice looking iCAN cables locally i can pick up cheap.  Even then, there are cables from amazon that are like $30 for all 3, rather than one by one.  I'm planning to go plain white, or RGB if in cost range.  But i dont know how safe is this.  I do have a Corsair 1000W that is old, modular, and i dont plan to plug things directly into the modular portion, but just an extension as they usually sell it.  

So... are they safe ggenerally speaking?  I dont plan to put this on display really, but its a nice addition to my Fractal Design North with TG panel.  I mean, in the end this will have a noctua NH-D15 in this, so looks aren't imporptant.  

TO my, Reliability is key.  Will 3rd party cables make these things less reliable?  i mean, in the end, they will, but i mean, is it notable?  I see so many people do this, but its with like branded cables, which probably follow high standards.  But at the same time these are just power connectors that will pretty not move much anyway.  Any ideas?

[Poinkachu]

27 minutes ago, never_here said:

planning to get custom white cables for the motherboard, cpu, and gpu power connectors.  The problem i have is that there are some nice looking iCAN cables locally i can pick up cheap.  Even then, there are cables from amazon that are like $30 for all 3, rather than one by one.  I'm planning to go plain white, or RGB if in cost range.  But i dont know how safe is this.  I do have a Corsair 1000W that is old, modular, and i dont plan to plug things directly into the modular portion, but just an extension as they usually sell it.  

So... are they safe ggenerally speaking?  I dont plan to put this on display really, but its a nice addition to my Fractal Design North with TG panel.  I mean, in the end this will have a noctua NH-D15 in this, so looks aren't imporptant.  

TO my, Reliability is key.  Will 3rd party cables make these things less reliable?  i mean, in the end, they will, but i mean, is it notable?  I see so many people do this, but its with like branded cables, which probably follow high standards.  But at the same time these are just power connectors that will pretty not move much anyway.  Any ideas?

I never heard of the brand, so all I can say based from what I know so far is :
The safety & reliability level really depends on how they made it. And quite depends on the parts you are powering them with.

 

Most cheap custom cables uses 18awg, some of them uses HCS (High Current System) terminals (the pins inside the connector) while some other uses standard pins.

And there is a lot of these chinese brand uses terminals not made by molex, but from other brand, ranging from well known non-molex ones to questionable ones, which means the specification might not be up to par with the molex one.

 

For comparison Corsair cables are 16awg and uses HCS terminals (the pins inside the connector).

 

Thicker cables delivers power better. (Smaller awg number is thicker)

HCS terminals as the name said, were designed to withstand higher current than non HCS ones.

 

So... IMHO :

If it's for low to low-mid kind of system, it's most likely fine on reliability side. Safety side always depends on how safe they made it(the cable) to be.

High-mid to High system, I would prefer to use a more reputable cables.

[never_here]

1 hour ago, Poinkachu said:

I never heard of the brand, so all I can say based from what I know so far is :
The safety & reliability level really depends on how they made it. And quite depends on the parts you are powering them with.

 

Most cheap custom cables uses 18awg, some of them uses HCS (High Current System) terminals (the pins inside the connector) while some other uses standard pins.

And there is a lot of these chinese brand uses terminals not made by molex, but from other brand, ranging from well known non-molex ones to questionable ones, which means the specification might not be up to par with the molex one.

 

For comparison Corsair cables are 16awg and uses HCS terminals (the pins inside the connector).

 

Thicker cables delivers power better. (Smaller awg number is thicker)

HCS terminals as the name said, were designed to withstand higher current than non HCS ones.

 

So... IMHO :

If it's for low to low-mid kind of system, it's most likely fine on reliability side. Safety side always depends on how safe they made it(the cable) to be.

High-mid to High system, I would prefer to use a more reputable cables.

wow i see, awesome, thanks for the info.  I imagined it was somethingn like this but just couldn't search it up.  too bad.  Guess i'll just get the corsair ones when i can later.  rather it not get shorted.  3060 ti and 5600x so, i'd say its moderately high end.

[Poinkachu]

42 minutes ago, never_here said:

wow i see, awesome, thanks for the info.  I imagined it was somethingn like this but just couldn't search it up.  too bad.  Guess i'll just get the corsair ones when i can later.  rather it not get shorted.  3060 ti and 5600x so, i'd say its moderately high end.

That kinda system most likely fine with 18 awg cables & non HCS terminal.

At most they'll pull like ... 360 watts combined when both at full power, which rarely does unless you run GPU & CPU synthetic benchmark all the time.

Like... 215w GPU, 145w CPU

 

Although if it's about whether or not the cheap brand made the cable safe enough to use, or atleast have good enough QC at the factory to spot shit ones, I can't say anything.

 

If you want reputable brands, there's Cablemod, Corsair.

I've heard Asiahorse and/or EZDIYFAB isn't bad for it's price, but it's not like I ever used them myself.

But maybe you can find more info about those two as an option for cheaper cables.

[never_here]

hmm, i see.  thanks for the info.  I think i'll stick with CableMod or Corsair.  iCan is just a local brand i guess from Canada Computers which i have many nearby.  

Some "cheap" stuff is sometimes the same stuff, cheaper price.  Like lets say, HDMI cables.  But anything to do with Power, i do get worried.  I've seen horror stories from USB C cables, and those run under 100W's generally.  So not sure how a cheap extension cord would work.  Figured they may all need to pass certain standards, but probably not.  Cheap is cheap. 

[johnnydayng]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:22 PM, Poinkachu said:

I never heard of the brand, so all I can say based from what I know so far is :
The safety & reliability level really depends on how they made it. And quite depends on the parts you are powering them with.

 

Most cheap custom cables uses 18awg, some of them uses HCS (High Current System) terminals (the pins inside the connector) while some other uses standard pins.

And there is a lot of these chinese brand uses terminals not made by molex, but from other brand, ranging from well known non-molex ones to questionable ones, which means the specification might not be up to par with the molex one.

 

For comparison Corsair cables are 16awg and uses HCS terminals (the pins inside the connector).

 

Thicker cables delivers power better. (Smaller awg number is thicker)

HCS terminals as the name said, were designed to withstand higher current than non HCS ones.

 

So... IMHO :

If it's for low to low-mid kind of system, it's most likely fine on reliability side. Safety side always depends on how safe they made it(the cable) to be.

High-mid to High system, I would prefer to use a more reputable cables.

I have the white ican extension cables and the non gpu ones work fine, but twice now the gpu ones have stopped working properly. My card would shut off randomly when gpu was being used for anything extensive. First time I thought I had a bad cable, but to happen twice is weird. I wasn't sure if its because of overall heat at the connector head, since the other 24 pin and cpu extension cables are fine, or if its because of power draw so I went looking online and found this thread. Idk if anyone else comes across this at some point, but the info about HCS terminals was news to me. Figured I'd add my two cents. 

 

Also to OP, did you end up getting corsair extension cables? How are they ?

[RevGAM]

You should probably start a new thread in the PSU area. 

[never_here]

8 hours ago, johnnydayng said:

I have the white ican extension cables and the non gpu ones work fine, but twice now the gpu ones have stopped working properly. My card would shut off randomly when gpu was being used for anything extensive. First time I thought I had a bad cable, but to happen twice is weird. I wasn't sure if its because of overall heat at the connector head, since the other 24 pin and cpu extension cables are fine, or if its because of power draw so I went looking online and found this thread. Idk if anyone else comes across this at some point, but the info about HCS terminals was news to me. Figured I'd add my two cents. 

 

Also to OP, did you end up getting corsair extension cables? How are they ?

no, i decided to stick with what i got because it got troublesome to fix it up any more. 

i also spent a lot of my money on One Piece decorations to create a theme. =).  My fractal design north just felt wayy to lonely, being the only decent looking thing on my workstation, haha. 

Thanks for the info though. going to stay clear from it.  my pc despite mid tier, i do have a 1000w PSU, so, if by chance the 3060ti decides to use more power, or my ryzen 5, then i might get screwed.  anything to do with power, i get pretty scared.  Also, i've burnt a few PC's due to bad and cheap PSU's, and some defective ones.  sadly...  so.............................  ya, worried.  haha

[alyen]

I have no idea if this true but, I always thought Canada Computers iCAN brand was like cheap stuff you can find from AliExpress. When you look at the number of iCAN products it varies from compatible HP laserjet, gaming/office chairs, mousepad, thermal paste, speakers, dashcam and too many various products for me to list. This lead me to think it's just Canada Computers rebranding to make us feel more comfortable buying. I actually bought black sleeved GPU extension cable when it was super cheap, but I have never tried it. I even think the Armor brand is from Deep Cool, but custom made for Canada Computers.

[Poinkachu]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:36 PM, johnnydayng said:

I have the white ican extension cables and the non gpu ones work fine, but twice now the gpu ones have stopped working properly. My card would shut off randomly when gpu was being used for anything extensive. First time I thought I had a bad cable, but to happen twice is weird. I wasn't sure if its because of overall heat at the connector head, since the other 24 pin and cpu extension cables are fine, or if its because of power draw so I went looking online and found this thread. Idk if anyone else comes across this at some point, but the info about HCS terminals was news to me. Figured I'd add my two cents. 

 

Also to OP, did you end up getting corsair extension cables? How are they ?

https://tools.molex.com/pdm_docs/ps/PS-45750-001.pdf

 

http://www.jongerow.com/12VHPWR/index.html

 

Jon Gerow is JonnyGuru, a well known name in PSU world, and now (I think still) work at Corsair PSU.

He's featured in some GamersNexus vid about PSU.

 

And yes, I can tell you that non Molex terminals can range from what I'd call FAF (Flimsy As Fuck) to good.

I actually have several of differing quality, that I bought for DIY project back then, before I knew better.

 

For some low power stuffs, I'm fine with using it (the shit ones)
But I sure as heck not comfy with using it for high power stuffs.