Hi people, I know I’m new around here but I wanted to comment on this topic because the whole PCIe cable has been giving me a few headaches for the past 2 and a half years.
(Also, I apologize in advance for the long post, I tend to get a bit too verbose when I start typing…)
I have to say my experience with the HDPLEX cable has not been as positive as yours… I didn’t know about this cable until I read it in this thread so I went ahead and ordered one about a month and a half ago or so. Although it doesn’t matter much, I have to say it took unexpectedly long to arrive (considering the distance it had to travel it usually takes a few days for a package to arrive, not a few weeks…). But anyway, it arrived and due to work and other things I couldn’t test it till this past weekend. First things first, the cable itself looks well done, good quality and is super thin; at first glance everything seems great. But once I started testing it didn’t behave as I was expecting: it works, yes… but every single time it links at PCIe 3.0@x2. I haven’t been able to achieve a x16 link with this cable. Not a single time, and when I test these things I use 3 different motherboards and 5 graphic cards. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a faulty unit, I really wanted this cable to work, but seeing it running at what is basically PCIe 1.0@x8 sure was a disappointment, .
Considering that from the beginning I’ve been looking for cables with the intention of using it on a case that I’d like to manufacture and sell I’ve also bought and tested a few others over the past two years, so while I’m at it I’ll throw in a couple of comments:
A) I often see people comment on how the 3M is apparently “the best one out there”. Well, I have a 3M cable (it’s the first one I bought) and from my point of view is not “the best”, it’s THE ONLY ONE that really works as advertised. It works every time, all the time, at PCIe 3.0@x16 in every case without any issues. The performance and reliability are virtually identical to plugging the card directly to the motherboard. It’s server grade stuff and it shows (it also shows in the price, though). If I had to criticize something it’d be that the pcbs are green…
B) A lot of people seem to have the LiHeat cables in high regard, but in my case is more of a love-hate relationship. I want them to work properly, I really do: they are fairly cheap, look good, have different options for different orientations and apparently some of them even work. And I say apparently because I have over half a dozen LiHeat cables, from older, gray prototypes to newer ones (including the Lian-Li one, which I’m fairly certain it’s a LiHeat) and none of them work well. They are all over the place! from one that works only with low TDP cards, to another linking at just x8 on one motherboard and x1 on the rest, to the ones that do not work at all or just 1/10th of the time to, my favorite, the one that nearly toasted the PCIe slot on my Impact VI. Again, I’d love for them to work, but just the thought of putting, I don’t know, say 1000 cases out there with these cables seems to me more like a nightmare than a good idea.
C) I don’t have that Sintech one that michaelmitchell linked but I do have the ModDIY “premium” one that looks very, very similar (I’m pretty sure it’s the same, only longer). And I must say I was really surprised with this one. Yes, as iFreilicht said it looks pretty much like a cheap cable wrapped in foil and black fabric tape and the first thing I thought when I picked it up was “no way this one is going to work well” … but surprisingly it did; so far it’s been quite reliable, links at 3.0@x16 and the performance is basically within margin of error. Only one time while changing motherboards and cards I had to take it out and plug it in again because I had no signal (one minor issue in over 20 test runs). So yeah, either those cables are surprisingly good or (more probable, I think) I won the lottery with this unit.
Again, these are just comments and thoughts based upon my experience and I understand it may very well differ for other people. I just wanted to throw in my two cents.
