AWG in PSU cables, what is it, types and characteristics

We are heavy, it is true, but it is that today we are witnessing authentic atrocities of configurations on the forums, on the Internet in general and in certain stores which, the truth, are freaking out, we are not going. not lie to yourself at this point. With the abysmal consumption of standard GPUs, touching very high voltage peaks, with less and less change-of-state times, a quality power supply is essential and with these AWG cables up to the task.

What is AWG and when was it introduced to the desktop world?

As we have already briefly explained from time to time, AWG stands for American Wire Gauge, and it is nothing more than a classification measure for metal gauges and thicknesses of circular section (in the PC case).

So it was AMD with the Radeon R9 295X2 who introduced this to the PC world, but AWG’s history dates back to 1857, when James Buchanan, then President of the United States, installed the first OTIS elevator in that country, creating a new classification measure in as a standard, logically called AWG.

The problem is that today and while it is of interest to the user as such, not all manufacturers outside of the US offer any AWG value in their power supplies. In fact, a lot of brands don’t either, so sometimes it’s really hard to know what kind of cables each model includes.

While AWG helps categorize PC power cables, it actually looks pretty strict as it hasn’t been updated for many years. For this reason, many manufacturers do not give it importance, especially because outside this country people do not understand these measures.

What are the correct values ​​for PC and why?

Let’s start with a basic table that identifies the diameter, area, electrical resistance and allowable current in copper to understand a bit how this standard works:

As can be seen, the lower the numbering, the greater the thickness, the lower the resistance in the copper and the higher the current allowable. So what are the factors that modify these measures as such? Well, thickness or diameter determines everything, but so does temperature and length.

For this reason, on PC, only three measurements are currently used in industry:

AWG 20, why do high end sources use these cables?

Considering the table above, we can see that AWGs are still the thinnest. As we commented above, the determining factors are temperature and length, but it should be noted that there are two temperatures to calibrate cables, including these AWG 20: the temperature of the cable and the ambient temperature.

Certification implies that an AWG wire at an ambient temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, with a maximum cable length of 55 cm (disputed by the manufacturers) the maximum temperature that the cable can withstand is 50 degrees.

But if these types of cables can carry close to 10 amps at best or 120 watts, which can at best deliver up to 360 watts in PC, what’s the problem? Very simple, it is not surprising that before such consumption these AWG 20 cables are found with temperatures above 50 degrees, that is to say that the cables are touched and they burn.

For this reason, manufacturers use these types of cables for 6-pin GPU connectors, which output up to 150 watts as standard. The problem is that some high-end sources also include these AWG cables and many users go on to overclock their components to very high or even extreme, which pulls the amps and therefore the temperature. Since you usually don’t touch cables you don’t realize it, but it is more than likely that the cable is at the melting point.

So be careful with power supplies with these cables, especially if they are high end, better not to expect too much from those that include them, as this is done to save costs exclusively.

AWG 18, one cable to dominate them all, right?

Well, here’s an eternal debate about who’s complaining about certain manufacturers and who’s saying enough is enough. And is that any 18 AWG cable should be more than enough for any current PC component, including extreme overclocks.

The problem is, many manufacturers deliberately lie about the use of their cables because they “fatten” 20 AWG cables with coatings and layers, so you’ll have to cut a cable and see what kind of cable we have. Just think of the fact that a user uses a dual 8 pin cable for a GPU like the RTX 3090. 350 watts with peaks above 400, yes momentary and per millisecond, but they are there. If we think we have 18 AWG cables and there are 20, we may have a more than interesting problem.

AWG 16, long live the king

This cable is of such quality that hardly any manufacturer uses it in their power supplies, only in the extremes. The problem is that with the amount of cables that have to be installed in a PC today, the cost of the source is skyrocketing and everyone wants to compete on price, but they rarely do any marketing on a detail like this.

In any case, with these cables we have the best of the best for PCs and above all we will have the best efficiency in the power supply. Are they worth it? Only if we are going to have components with high amps and high consumptions, whether in stock or in overclock, because we will have less resistance and maybe a greater length in these cables, which the Full Tower towers will appreciate.

Aside from the cable terminations, it should be borne in mind that many manufacturers do not include pure copper in their cables, but alloys that are much easier to manufacture and therefore less expensive. This can create long-term problems, such as micro-breaks, a thermal bridge that raises the temperature of the cable or simply that it ends up on the outside of the connector due to an alteration that can no longer hold it. .

In short, an AWG cable must be at least 18, of the highest possible quality in terms of materials, and if it can be, AWG 16 to ensure the proper functioning and stability of the system, especially in the long term.