somewhat related PSA: never use old psu cables with a different model psu. As far as I understand it they aren't standardized as to which wires connect which pins, so you risk destroying components if you mix and match cables and psu
Nah it's fine. Even if he plugs in only one of the 6 pins it's more than capable of the 150w the 8 pin output is rated for.
You'd need a really old and shitty PSU for it to actually use different gauge wires for the 6 Vs 8 pin, since the only difference is 2 extra ground wires (and a higher power rating).
A house fire is unlikely, as you definitely have the PC under supervision on first power-on. The wire insulation can catch fire under certain circumstances but it won't burn your house down if you're quick to act.
No, don't throw them away. You can definitely replace one with another if all the wire colors match and the wires are thick enough and by a reputable brand (so that it's actual copper). But yes, 4-, 6- and 8-pin Molex connectors have at least 2 different possible pinouts, the 24-pin one should be standard.
But if you're naïve and think they're plug-and-play, you'll be playing with a plug-and-fire setup. Most of such swaps will cause a short circuit, in which case fuses or electronic protection will probably trip before the cable insulation starts burning (if the copper is thick enough to sustain 100 A for a second and not heat up by 200 °C). However, pretty much no PC components have polarity protection so you will need to go shopping for an entirely new build.
I'm not one the throw things away, but please don't reuse them if you don't know what your doing.
The PSU end of PSU cables are usually different from brand to brand, sometimes model to model (thanks Corsair), so yeah as long as the pinout matches you should be fine, but I usually wouldn't risk it. Oh the cables are usually all black too, so good luck toneing it out with a multimeter.
For example Corsair vs Seasonic, pay attention to the PSU side:
I made full custom cables for my last build then the PSU died. RMAed it and got a replacement that was on generation newer.
If I hadn't have learned that cables weren't standardized while making the first batch, I would have fried everything in my PC.
I never wound up remaking/rerouting everything so it just looked like shit for the following 2 years. I probably won't make custom cables again for that reason, though it did look really nice
Its for this reason i use straight-through extensions when builing my PC. Lets me route cables where/how i want. Then they connect to the psu cables somewhere sensible and hidden.
Adds to the cost but makes the whole build (so upgrades/replacement) so much more modular.
Just have to make sure you get decent ones and not thin core cheap crap.
I almost did the same as you, and decided to beep out some of tge psu cables as i was waiting for the new PSU to arrive. Immediately bought straight extensions, and havent looked back since!
It’s always safer to just leave random mystery cables alone.
However, if you have a multimeter and some patience, they can still be used safely. You just need to know what you’re doing, look up the pinout and measure the voltages before plugging anything into any sensitive components.
It's a power adapter cable for inside a PC. It's an 8 pin to dual 6 pin PCI power adapter. You probably don't need it, it likely came with a PSU and wasn't needed for the build.
Dunno what they are actually called (and I refuse to look it up) but I always called those 6 pin and 8 pin power connectors and people seem to know what I mean.
Hasn't really been an issue in the last 20 years for me and now those are really only used for the CPU power and AMD GPUs. Also aren't those curved pin cover things there specifically so you couldn't plug it into the wrong thing?
Most modern cards need the combined power of the two input cables, while many power supply units for compatibility's sake still only offer the two small cables and not a single big one.
So this adapter now usually comes with every graphics card you buy, and sometimes PSUs too, and they end up lying around.