S10 642327A - splitting internal power & other cables?

[BoHick]

As I am looking at internal upgrades (PCI/e cards, 3.5" drive bay for the 2nd 5.25" bay, etc.) and I am looking at internal power cables and USB, some questions arise after doing a thorough spring cleaning yesterday (and a clean boot first go - yeeeesss):

1] the 5.25" bays have a pair of SATA 15-pin male connectors - can this 'daisychain' be extended if need be and if so, what is the technical term for this cable extension type so I can search for images of them (best to use images when working with the local shops - this applies to each cable/connection in question)?

2] the 4-pin Berg connector for the floppy (I have the OEM card reader) - I assume this can be split with a Y to either a pair of 4-pin Bergs or a 4-pib Berg and a 4-pin Molex: is this correct?

3] there are 2 power cables, both 6-pin female (P3 and P11) - what are they for exactly and can I coopt them for other uses than original?

4] on the board there are 3 USB connections, all in use: can an internal USB port on a PCI card use some sort of adapter/cable configuration to accomodate another male USB connector?

I won't go into here why I'm asking these questions here. By understanding what can/not be done with these internal cables some of my other questions will answer themselves. ;-)

Many thx in advance.

[erik Community SuperMod · Accepted solution]

1 - yes, provided you don't exceed 75W of total draw from the resulting chain you create.   a "SATA power splitter cable" is what you want.

2 - yes

3 - each of the 6-pin PCIe power connectors have 3 +12V and 3 ground.   typically these are for video cards and add 75W each.   not much can be done with them unless you're powering something that is +12V only.   they could be split out to SATA power (+12V/gnd only) or 4-pin molex each using only two pins.   personally, i'd leave these connectors alone.

4 - there are both PCI and PCIe x1 adapters with internal USB connectors.   this link to newegg.com might help locate something suitable.   you might find a product on their site also offered in your area.

[BoHick]

Hi again Erik - thx for your quick reply. I will definitely take your advice on #3. On #4 I have a follow on question that I'll start a new thread for so as to keep things tidy.