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Computer cables will often have clunky plastic cylinders at each end called "ferrite cores" or "ferrite beads" or "ferrite chokes". They look like this: Cable with ferrite core

Personally, I consider these things a bug, not a feature. They're clunky, ugly, and annoying. They were really designed for analogue signals, which makes it particularly unfortunate that most DVI cables seem to have them - I am only using DVI to carry a digital signal, so they are definitely not needed.

The only DVI cables I actually have that don't have these beads on them are the ones that came bundled with my KVM switch - they carry a digital DVI signal just fine. I'd like some advice on how to find some new DVI cables without ferrite beads on them. They all seem to have them (even the cheaper ones) - does anyone know of some that don't?

Adam
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Jez
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    If you're willing to possibly do a little repair, usually these ferrite cores will just come off. If you're lucky, the core itself is on the outside of the cable and you won't have to put the cable back together. –  Oct 27 '15 at 14:21
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    why not just take them off from your cables with cutters? you can break the rings into pieces without damaging the cable if you're careful – user1306322 Oct 27 '15 at 15:06
  • There are a lot of coreless cables on UK Amazon, but they're all "free shipping with purchases over £20." – Adam Oct 27 '15 at 17:08
  • Belkin supply DVI-D (dual-link) cables without ferrites. Well they used to at least. I just bought mine (3m) one off ebay but I've also seen them on amazon. Leading cable brand, Monoprice, have ferrites on all their high-quality DVI-D cables. I'm not sure if ferrites actually provide added EMI/RFI suppression to a digital only signal/cable. Is there anyone here who actually knows the answer to this question? –  Jan 04 '16 at 13:44

1 Answers1

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It comes down to what type of DVI cable you need; it seems that DVI male-to-male cables mostly do not have ferrite beads, but DVI male-to-female cables do.

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DVI Male-to-Male

Are readily available without ferrite beads on eBay. Are mainly used for connecting monitors to graphic cards.

DVI Male-to-Female

Are very hard to find without ferrite beads, in fact I couldn't find any at all without ferrite beads. However, you can get a DVI male-to-male lead and then use this adapter (or similar) to make it a DVI male-to-female cable.

AStopher
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