6-Pin AUX Cable on Power Supply
 

I'm not sure if this is the case with all power supplies but, with the Enermax PSU that I have, there's a 6-pin AUX cable that I've just kept bundled up and pushed aside and just occupying valuable space.

Does anyone know whether or not this cable is actually used for anything? Would it be okay to remove it from the PSU completely?

I believe those are used when a card needs its own power supply independent of the agp/pci socket power. I believe some of the new high-wattage video cards require this.

Bob

I thought they just got normal 5V and 12V from a regular molex?

I suggest taking a zip tie and neatly gathering up the aux cable and the P4 cable if you arent using it. Then just open the PSU case and put it on the inside instead. Try to put it on the side near the other wires so it isn't obstructing the flow of air through the heatsinks and hot PSU bits, Keeps my wiring neater and I can always use the cable if I need it later.

i have 3 dual cpu server boards and they use that extra cable that looks like the old style AT connector. its gives extra power for the cards and the cpus if they need it. my one board wont even run if its not connected

They had disappeared from psu's for a while, then the P4 + rambus came out, which required that power connector.

Of course after the rambus boards have disappeared that power connector is still present on many power supplies

I just chop them off. But then again, I only run AMDs.