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The component that is typically connected to the motherboard using a SATA cable during PC assembly is the optical drive. SATA (Serial ATA) cables are designed to connect storage devices, and optical drives—including CD, DVD, and Blu-ray drives—require these connections to interface with the motherboard for data transfer.

While hard drives also use SATA connections for the same reason, optical drives are specifically identified with this connection type during assembly, in addition to the hard drives. It’s important to understand the purpose of each component and their specific connection types to prevent any confusion during assembly.

The power supply connects to the motherboard using different types of connectors, such as the 24-pin ATX power connector, and graphics cards typically connect via the PCIe slots on the motherboard rather than through SATA. Thus, the optical drive stands out as the correct answer for this question.