Looks more like 18AWG,
Everybody is concerned about the wire gauge but the limmiting factor is the PCI-e power pin.. how much current can that take .. prob. not more than 9Amp at max.. !!(per pin)
well the ones I have wire wise that look like the above pic in structure (no splice) are 16awg so far very cool to the touch
using 2 1200i corsairs each to its own 20amp 220v circuit with triplite 220v surge protector each one
hopefully they ALL will work fine and resolve these problems whatever the source for all of us with Neptunes/Titans
(one less problem to worry about hopefully on the particular KNC units)