If you think youre having a bad day....

[HTC]

I am still baffled as to why PSU manufactures started using cables with different pinouts in the first place, what was the point, why do that ? What a horrendously moronic design choice.

If it was "to make it work ONLY with THEIR products" ... then it backfired spectacularly ...

 

[Vya Domus]

If it was "to make it work ONLY with THEIR products" ... then it backfired spectacularly ...

But even if the point was to make the cables only work with their products it achieves nothing, PSUs still come with their own cables regardless. If the cables were always sold separately I'd understand it, the fact that they change the layouts between their own models makes this even more bizarre.

This is baffling because it's obviously done on purpose, otherwise they'd just use the default layout, just can't understand why.

 

[maxfly]

You're obviously emotionally invested. Let me guess, it's also Jensen Huang's fault they screwed up every side business they've had right? From motherboards to mice and keyboards to their network and audio cards right?

I, like everyone, loved EVGA's products (when they hit the mark anyway and they usually did), but it's undeniable that their quality standards dropped HEAVILY over time and that they were unable to continue to provide the same level of service they did when they were at their prime, around the time Pascal generation cards were the good stuff.

Power supplies like their N1 series shouldn't be used on ANY computer and I'll stand by that but I've seen lots of people using them just because of the brand. They have regularly released trash products in the PSU market and relied on RMA in case anything goes wrong. This isn't up for debate, it's a hard fact.

The fate of EVGA was sealed by a series of bad decisions. The power supply drama is just one of them.

Nah, I don't allow emotions to dictate how accurately I remember history. I simply despise liars that embellish in order to make an incorrect statement fit their narrative without offering any actual facts. I don't care how butthurt you happen to be about the N1s existence or how you FEEL about it. Get over yourself. The fact is, you tried to make this all encompassing claim that they were releasing garbage PSUs from the get go which of course is BS. It says everything about you and your opinion. I called you on it so now you completely change your story. Trying to throw their Nvidia choice and peripherals at me as if It somehow will prove that your first post wasn't absolute fud. The garbage here is all the BS you've spouted.

 

[freeagent]

My Evga PSU is better than my Seasonic

Sad but true.

 

[Bill_Bright]

If eVGA literally instructs this, then the poor guy is 100% not at fault.

I agree, the user is not at fault for the damage but he is 100% at fault for apparently NOT having a sound, robust backup plan in place that included multiple backup copies (preferably with at least one maintained off-site) of any and "all" data he did not want to lose.

It's been said before, but there needs to be a standard for modular power supplies.

100% agree. There is, of course, the ATX Form Factor industry standards for the component end of the cables - but not the PSU end. I get why companies like using proprietary parts - it typically forces us consumers to spend more money by buying only from that company, thus helping them to corner the market and increase their profit margins.

But PSU cables don't fit that scenario, IMO simply because the component ends (and voltages) must comply with industry standards. It seems to me, it would be cheaper for the manufacturers too, if they standardized the PSU end. The logistics alone for inventorying the PSU connectors and the cable sets would be vastly easier, thus cheaper.

This is baffling because it's obviously done on purpose, otherwise you'd just use the default layout, just can't understand why.

We don't have all the information. Maybe they used a different OEM supplier. Or the OEM changed their base platform. Again, this is only because, as Shrek noted, there is no industry standard for the PSU end of these cables. The component ends are standardized - they have to be or else we could not use these supplies on different brand motherboards, SSDs, graphics cards, etc.

BTW - most PSU brands use OEM suppliers. There is nothing wrong with that. Just the fact Seasonic are their own OEM supplier does NOT make Seasonic supplies superior in any way. We must remember it is likely EVERY component (resistor, capacitor, coil, transformer, IC, diode, connector, wire, etc.) inside even Seasonic PSUs were probably made by a different company.

Are you really sure about this? I have not followed the case, so I do not know.

I strongly doubt that any company would send out power supply without cables that are needed for safely running the power supply.

Well, folks should at least follow the thread. The Toms article clearly said (my bold underline added),

EVGA forgot to send...updated power supply cables to account for the changes.

Had the thread been followed, one would seen those type doubts for this incident were unfounded.

It is common practice for RMA replacements to come WITHOUT cables - and this is not just for power supplies. I have seen it for monitors, motherboards, cable TV boxes, and more. HOWEVER, when the cables have changed through revisions, and the replacement is a different revision, then sure, cables should come with the replacement. And it appears EVGA was aware of the change.

That said, claiming they "forgot" is a lame excuse. There's a reason commercial airline pilots do not "forget" to lower the landing gear; they have checklists! And these checklists (and the gear status) are double-checked by a second person.

(1) There should have been a checklist.​

(2) The person fulfilling the RMA replacement order should have followed the checklist.​

(3) the person packing and shipping the replacement should have double-checked the checklist and the supply to make sure everything on the checklist (to include the cables) were in the box before shipping.​

Point is, nobody should need to "remember" to toss in cables too.

This suggests a much bigger systemic problem within EVGA from management down through training to the low-level, minimum wage grunt shipping out the replacements.

I have been a long time fan of EVGA products. I still am. But me doing business with a company is NOT based solely on their products. The company's policies and customer service (including after-the-sale service) plays a major role in my decision process too. And in the last year or so, EVGA, IMO, has really failed in that area.

That said, no company is perfect.

 

[Onasi]

My Evga PSU is better than my Seasonic

Sad but true.

Everyone who’s remotely serious about hardware knows that brand is irrelevant, individual quality models are. Pretty much all major vendors have both outstanding and crappy models. EVGA is no exception. Seasonic USUALLY doesn’t make straight trash, but far from everything in their lineup is pure gold. People dunk on Corsair PSUs sometimes, but RMx, AX and their SF line are absolute bangers which are a great pick. So one should always be diligent and do the homework when buying PSUs.

 

[Vya Domus]

We don't have all the information. Maybe they used a different OEM supplier. Or the OEM changed their base platform. Again, this is only because, as Shrek noted, there is no industry standard for the PSU end of these cables. The component ends are standardized - they have to be or else we could not use these supplies on different brand motherboards, SSDs, graphics cards, etc.

Why would OEMs make cables with a different pinout for no reason ? This makes no sense, it's just a matter of assembly, you can literally rearrange the pins yourself and convert the cable back to the standard layout. You cannot tell me OEMs just cannot find suppliers that make standard layout cables and PSU brands just have to settle for whatever random layout OEMs use for some inexplicable reason lol.

No, I'll remind you most PSUs out there still use standard layouts, they obviously do this on purpose.

 

[ty_ger]

There is no standard layout on the PSU side. That's the problem.

The PSU manufacturer has an employee that decides a pin should go here or there for any reason they want. They want all the powers together and all the grounds together. Or they want this higher power here because the trace is shorter to there internally and makes sense for PCB reasons. Or whatever. It's all about their PCB design (which has no standard), and how to get power out of the PCB most efficiently, so without a PSU pinout standard, they arrange them however they want for whatever reason is best for them.

No, I'll remind you most PSUs out there still use standard layouts, they obviously do this on purpose.

There is no standard layout. There are multiple different layouts and none of them are considered standard.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Personally i like the way Corsair handle their cables with type 4, as in my RMx etc. You can check on their website and see which cables fit which PSU.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Nah, I don't allow emotions to dictate how accurately I remember history. I simply despise liars that embellish in order to make an incorrect statement fit their narrative without offering any actual facts.

Which is exactly what you're doing. It's called rosy retrospection. The sorry state this failed company is in has only one entity to blame: itself, or rather, its poor management and series of poor decisions that it took. You either didn't read my posts at all or you're just going straight to the denial stage. I don't "feel" anything other than the loss of what used to be a good player in the GPU market that also brought some interesting gear every now and then. I do use an EVGA power supply and more than repeatedly have stated you need to pry my Nu Audio from my cold dead hands, that is, until its driver that hasn't been updated in 4 years stops working because of some minute change in Windows and knowing full well it'll never be updated again.

It's a fact that most of EVGA's recent power supplies are garbage, especially at the low end. It's a fact that they dropped out of the GPU market. It's a fact that they abandoned their audio card venture. It's a fact that most of EVGA's famous employees have moved on (for example, Jacob works at NVIDIA marketing). It's a fact that EVGA's motherboard division is abandoned and in shambles (not even their Z790s were updated for formal 14th Gen support) - it's unlikely they will ever release another motherboard again. It's a fact that they haven't released any keyboard and mice for years (the last one I recall was in 2021 and it received poor reviews - "Premium price, not so premium design" which literally sums up this ENTIRE back and forth), and in fact, you can't find them for sale in most of the world anymore. I could go on and on and continue to throw these facts at your face and all you're going to do is insult me for it.

EVGA has crumbled, and its market position has been overtaken by more competent companies. Its time has come and gone. ASUS has stepped up their game in the premium GPU market and largely received the business of former EVGA customers (I have a ROG STRIX instead of a Classified/Kingpin 4080 for a reason), and other companies have stepped up to cover the rest.

 

[freeagent]

Honestly, these are facts that cannot be disputed.. sad but true again.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Why would OEMs make cables with a different pinout for no reason ? This makes no sense

From a consumer's viewpoint, you are correct - it makes no sense. But it is not for "no reason". It's because there are no industry standards or guidelines dictating how to, or even recommending how to do it.

But I think a little history is needed.

Years ago, all PSUs used hardwired (soldered) cables. So this was not an issue. But when modular cables first came out, there were no industry standards for the PSU end of cables or the connectors mounted on the PSUs for those cables. So every manufacturer who wanted to step into the modular PSU business had to come up with their own way of doing things.

The problem was, way back then, it was not certain or even understood that modular cable PSUs would become so popular. This resulted in too much time passing and the various manufacturers became set in their ways - it was too late to coral them all and force them to come to a consensus on standards.

It would be like getting Samsung and Apple today to agree on phone standards - or AMD and Intel to agree on CPU sockets forcing one or the other to totally give up their way of doing things and retool to the new standard. This is a VERY EXPENSIVE process. And it would require all the losing companies to admit their was not the best.

This is exactly why there is no ATX Form Factor type standard for laptops and why they now are so proprietary. This is why Sony's BetaMax video tape recorders lingered so long before they finally gave up, admitted defeat and settled on the VCR format.

"IF" these industries (and us consumers) could see into the future when these new industries were first conceived and see which way of doing things would dominate, it would be easy to set a standard from day one. But that just doesn't happen.

It happened once with the AT and its successor ATX for the PC industry only because all the "other" manufacturers wanted to get in that market but IBM had total monopoly control with the "IBM PC". So all those "other" manufacturers got together against their common foe to create a standard where they could compete with IBM by building their own IBM "clone" machines. That would never work today.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Everyone who’s remotely serious about hardware knows that brand is irrelevant, individual quality models are. Pretty much all major vendors have both outstanding and crappy models. EVGA is no exception. Seasonic USUALLY doesn’t make straight trash, but far from everything in their lineup is pure gold. People dunk on Corsair PSUs sometimes, but RMx, AX and their SF line are absolute bangers which are a great pick. So one should always be diligent and do the homework when buying PSUs.

You pretty much nailed it. The big problem with EVGA is that early on, they only had bangers and decent products. Even their very first power supply, the Supernova NEX 1500, that from a technical standpoint was considered average at best and came at a massive price premium, was a very innovative and forward-looking product as far as a power supply was concerned. Keep in mind this is 12 years ago:

EVGA SuperNOVA NEX1500 Classified 1500 W Review

EVGA's new SuperNOVA NEX1500 power supply packs a great deal of features with the most fascinating being its enormous capacity, reaching 1500 W and up to 1650 W, when overclock mode is enabled. Combined with software monitoring and control, the fully modular design and the sleeved cables this is...

www.techpowerup.com

The Super Flower platform that replaced it is literally one of the best you can buy, even today. After a series of bangers such as the 1000 and 1300 G2, 1000 and 1200 P2, they didn't stop there and this platform was perfected under EVGA over time, resulting in the 1600 T2 - fully analog but could go toe to toe with even the AX1500i, at the downside of having some insane inrush current "issue" (it wasn't exactly a problem but your breaker better handle it).

EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 Review

We have on our test bench today EVGA's flagship PSU with an enormous capacity and Titanium efficiency. We expect it to preform incredibly well because it uses Super Flower's high-end Leadex platform and comes with some formidable specs.

www.techpowerup.com

After this it all went downhill. It'd be hard not to remember the many issues of the Supernova G5, with reviews being as close to slamming it as possible

EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G5 Power Supply Review

The SuperNOVA 750 G5 is fully modular, compact, and promises for high performance. Will it be able to meet the popular Corsair and Seasonic offerings though?

www.tomshardware.com

And if that wasn't enough, it kept getting worse until you reached unforgivable trash like the N1 that served no purpose other than sully the EVGA name, hope whatever change they made from it was worth it

EVGA 650W N1 Power Supply Review

Affordable, but unimpressive.

www.tomshardware.com

All of these reviews, on both TPU and Tom's were written by Aris, just to keep it as on the level as possible: I take what he says as law when it comes to power supplies.

 

[faye]

I am still baffled as to why PSU manufactures started using cables with different pinouts in the first place, what was the point, why do that ? What a horrendously moronic design choice.

Yes, there's absolutely no reason there hasn't been an industry standard for years now. I've had at least 10 fully or semi-modular PSUs and the cables are all very similar but almost certainly not interchangeable.

 

[Bones]

hah my stepson was lazy and toasted his new EVGA PSU because he didn't change the modular cables like I told him to. I fully expected it to be a problem because he was going from a SUPERFLOWER-based 550W EVGA to an FSP-based 750W EVGA. On further examination I saw that he also managed to hammer the different shaped pins into the wrong shaped holes on other end. I did not help him after that, and he even tried to RMA it to EVGA but they rejected him like they could smell that he was a dumbass through his email message. I've still got the Platinum 750W unit in a box in my office but it would obviously need a new fuse soldered on if anyone wants to give it a try.

I may have to take you up on that as a "Why TF Not - I need a tinker project" as long as it still has the correct cables for it.

I agree with others on this, like most other things there needs to be a standard set and used across all manufacturers. While things related to the ends that goes to a board or device are standard, it's modular parts/cables with different pinouts to the PSU itself that's the problem here.

And yes, I"ll admit it - I too once upon a time slayed a PSU and a couple of drives because of it.
In my case I didn't force anything AND the cables I had used were VERY similar in appearance to the correct ones for the PSU. I was in a hurry, lighting where I was wasn't the best and to the point, I should have paid more attention to what I was doing period.
Lesson to check things closely learned here.

 

[Onasi]

@Dr. Dro
Yeah, that is the long and short of it, really. I did go through the NEX1500 review for nostalgia sake (damn, time flies) and some of the print on the box made me both laugh and sigh.

That was EVGA as people probably would like to remember them. Not whatever barely animated cadaver clinging to life they are now. What a fall from grace. I mean, we’ve seen BFG, Abit and others just fade away, but I think EVGA just kinda stings the most for enthusiasts.

 

[faye]

You pretty much nailed it. The big problem with EVGA is that early on, they only had bangers and decent products. Even their very first power supply, the Supernova NEX 1500, that from a technical standpoint was considered average at best and came at a massive price premium, was a very innovative and forward-looking product as far as a power supply was concerned. Keep in mind this is 12 years ago:

EVGA SuperNOVA NEX1500 Classified 1500 W Review

EVGA's new SuperNOVA NEX1500 power supply packs a great deal of features with the most fascinating being its enormous capacity, reaching 1500 W and up to 1650 W, when overclock mode is enabled. Combined with software monitoring and control, the fully modular design and the sleeved cables this is...

www.techpowerup.com

The Super Flower platform that replaced it is literally one of the best you can buy, even today. After a series of bangers such as the 1000 and 1300 G2, 1000 and 1200 P2, they didn't stop there and this platform was perfected under EVGA over time, resulting in the 1600 T2 - fully analog but could go toe to toe with even the AX1500i, at the downside of having some insane inrush current "issue" (it wasn't exactly a problem but your breaker better handle it).

EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 Review

We have on our test bench today EVGA's flagship PSU with an enormous capacity and Titanium efficiency. We expect it to preform incredibly well because it uses Super Flower's high-end Leadex platform and comes with some formidable specs.

www.techpowerup.com

After this it all went downhill. It'd be hard not to remember the many issues of the Supernova G5, with reviews being as close to slamming it as possible

EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G5 Power Supply Review

The SuperNOVA 750 G5 is fully modular, compact, and promises for high performance. Will it be able to meet the popular Corsair and Seasonic offerings though?

www.tomshardware.com

And if that wasn't enough, it kept getting worse until you reached unforgivable trash like the N1 that served no purpose other than sully the EVGA name, hope whatever change they made from it was worth it

EVGA 650W N1 Power Supply Review

Affordable, but unimpressive.

www.tomshardware.com

All of these reviews, on both TPU and Tom's were written by Aris, just to keep it as on the level as possible: I take what he says as law when it comes to power supplies.

I made the mistake of trusting Lian Li when I bought my first SFX PSU because I'd had nothing but good experiences with their other products (cases and accessories) and the 750w SFX they put out was a known quality unit. I bought the 850w... And it's a completely different design with misconfigured over current protection, meaning I eventually had to spend almost twice as much on a Silverstone 1kw unit just to get my PC stable. It's a mistake I rarely make, but nobody is infallible.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Yes, there's absolutely no reason there hasn't been an industry standard for years now. I've had at least 10 fully or semi-modular PSUs and the cables are all very similar but almost certainly not interchangeable.

Need to be able to sell sleeved cable kits at a premium tho

@Dr. Dro
Yeah, that is the long and short of it, really. I did go through the NEX1500 review for nostalgia sake (damn, time flies) and some of the print on the box made me both laugh and sigh.
View attachment 340484
That was EVGA as people probably would like to remember them. Not whatever barely animated cadaver clinging to life they are now. What a fall from grace. I mean, we’ve seen BFG, Abit and others just fade away, but I think EVGA just kinda stings the most for enthusiasts.

My G2's box still has that marketing blurb. Yep, that's old. I agree, it stings the most... and they'll be missed even more than BFG, Abit and the sort. Guess that's where we drop the "it is what it is"...

I made the mistake of trusting Lian Li when I bought my first SFX PSU because I'd had nothing but good experiences with their other products (cases and accessories) and the 750w SFX they put out was a known quality unit. I bought the 850w... And it's a completely different design with misconfigured over current protection, meaning I eventually had to spend almost twice as much on a Silverstone 1kw unit just to get my PC stable. It's a mistake I rarely make, but nobody is infallible.

True. That's why I spend a lot of time reading reviews before I buy. Sometimes I take a more conservative approach and get something ready made too.

 

[Vya Domus]

From a consumer's viewpoint, you are correct - it makes no sense. But it is not for "no reason". It's because there are no industry standards or guidelines dictating how to, or even recommending how to do it.

The problem is you are suggesting the supplier of the cable effectively dictates how the power supply will be wired which is hard to believe and you haven't given an explanation on why that is. I get that there is no standard but this means power supply manufacturers are deliberately choosing to not design the PCB such that it mirrors the way the standardized PCIe connector is wired, my question is why.

I do not believe there is a cartel of cable suppliers using random pinouts, these are made to order, the PSU OEMs want them that way.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

My Evga PSU is better than my Seasonic

And what company made it? Do they sell PSUs directly under their own brand name?

(I hate this rebranding mess)

 

[maxfly]

Which is exactly what you're doing. It's called rosy retrospection. The sorry state this failed company is in has only one entity to blame: itself, or rather, its poor management and series of poor decisions that it took. You either didn't read my posts at all or you're just going straight to the denial stage. I don't "feel" anything other than the loss of what used to be a good player in the GPU market that also brought some interesting gear every now and then. I do use an EVGA power supply and more than repeatedly have stated you need to pry my Nu Audio from my cold dead hands, that is, until its driver that hasn't been updated in 4 years stops working because of some minute change in Windows and knowing full well it'll never be updated again.

It's a fact that most of EVGA's recent power supplies are garbage, especially at the low end. It's a fact that they dropped out of the GPU market. It's a fact that they abandoned their audio card venture. It's a fact that most of EVGA's famous employees have moved on (for example, Jacob works at NVIDIA marketing). It's a fact that EVGA's motherboard division is abandoned and in shambles (not even their Z790s were updated for formal 14th Gen support) - it's unlikely they will ever release another motherboard again. It's a fact that they haven't released any keyboard and mice for years (the last one I recall was in 2021 and it received poor reviews - "Premium price, not so premium design" which literally sums up this ENTIRE back and forth), and in fact, you can't find them for sale in most of the world anymore. I could go on and on and continue to throw these facts at your face and all you're going to do is insult me for it.

EVGA has crumbled, and its market position has been overtaken by more competent companies. Its time has come and gone. ASUS has stepped up their game in the premium GPU market and largely received the business of former EVGA customers (I have a ROG STRIX instead of a Classified/Kingpin 4080 for a reason), and other companies have stepped up to cover the rest.

And again, none of this has anything to do with your initial statement.

 

[Bill_Bright]

The problem is you are suggesting the supplier of the cable effectively dictates how the power supply will be wired

I said no such thing. Read it again.

I said, the OEM maker of the power supply dictates how the power supply will be wired on the PSU end. So it is the PSU OEM maker who dictates how the cables will be wired on the PSU end. The ATX Form Factor standard dictates how the cables will be wired on the component end.

 

[Onasi]

And what company made it? Do they sell PSUs directly under their own brand name?

(I hate this rebranding mess)

That’s a simplistic way of looking at things that’s not actually helpful. Most prolific PSU vendors who aren’t OEMs (like Corsair) are not simply “rebranding”. They are actively working with OEMs to engineer their PSUs and often have specific changes and tweaks done to the platforms in order to extract more performance or efficiency. What, did you think Corsair has a PSU division with its own labs and RnD just for the lulz and they just buy stuff in bulk from, say, Great Wall or Flextronics and just slap their sticker on it?

 

[freeagent]

And what company made it? Do they sell PSUs directly under their own brand name?

(I hate this rebranding mess)

Couldn't tell you, one of the reason I wont be buying from that brand anymore.

 

[Chrispy_]

This guy lost 22TB of data because his replacement power supply from evga had a different pinout to the old one. He reused the old modular cables and it murdered all his hard drives when he hooked everything up and powered on

EVGA power supply allegedly kills 22TB of customer storage — revised model from RMA had a different pin layout and killed all SATA-powered devices

The vendor changed the SATA pin layout on the EVGA GQ 1000W, which isn't compatible with previous power cables.

www.tomshardware.com

This is why I buy Corsair PSUs. Not because they're the best or the cheapest, but because they've had clearly-labelled and well-documented pinouts for a long time, and their modular cables have been generationally-compatible across a vast range of their PSUs for over a decade.

If you have a Corsair PSU that uses type-4 cables and you have some type-3 cables, the cables that physically fit will work.

To date, I'm not aware of any Corsair cables that don't work with any Corsair PSU. To clarify that point - whilst you can have a cable that won't fit (eg, wrong-type ATX 24-pin power), you also can't accidentally plug it in, since a Type-5 PSU simply will not accept a Type-3 24-pin motherboard connector, and vice versa.