A problem with the PSU

I woke up early to get started on my computer right away. I could barely even sleep the night before knowing I would have a fully functioning gaming rig, built by myself, ready to use by the end of the day. But it never really turns out that way, does it?

I started first with pulling out the power supply and familiarizing myself with its features and various cables and connectors.

My power supply of choice, the Corsair SF600 80+ gold, is a fully modular power supply, which means the cables I’m NOT using for this build do NOT have to be connected directly to the PSU and end up getting stuffed into the bottom of my case. The ‘SF’ in ‘SF600’ stands for ‘small form,’ as in small form-factor, which would be perfect for this case and any case I decided to build in the future. I went with a 600 watt PSU which seemed well rated for the amount of wattage needed to supply all of my components with power. [If you are building your own PC, pcpartpicker.com has a handy tool to estimate wattage between your components, but always double check with manufacturer specifications to verify you don’t short yourself on power] The case also had separate brackets for SFX/ATX PSUs, so you could interchange them at your need if working with a different power supply. This power supply also featured a bottom-mounted intake fan to draw cool air in from the bottom of the case, where I already had a dust filter from the case in place.

I feel like I should note another positive in working with this case, the NZXT ‘CAM’ connector box, located at the top right corner of the case in the previous picture. This handy little box would play part later down the line in connector multiple fans and RGB lighting accessories, with tons of grooves, fittings, and even a velcro strap to manage cables located on the rear side of the case. 

The cabling to the left connects the various front panel I/O to the MB and power.

I started by plugging in some of the various MB connectors and routing them to the backside of the case, where they would eventually plug into the power supply located at the bottom right of the case [from this angle].

But once the main two MB power cables were plugged in and routed through the slots to the backside of the case, I installed the power supply into the case and made a quick, disheartening discovery.

The location of the main MB power cable [situated on the top right hand corner of my motherboard] meant that the included power supply cable was nowhere near long enough to reach the location in which the PSU mounts into the case. I must have tried every way possible to route this cable, but it was just way too short. I pulled out my MacBook and did some research.

It looked like in order for me to make clearance of the wiring for this case, I would need to order some cable extensions for the motherboard and the GPU. Unfortunately, this meant I wouldn't be able to get the build completed inside the case today. With some other components still needing to be installed, however, I decided to keep working. I ordered the necessary cable extensions and continued to work.