Mac Pro Power Supply Replacement Procedure.

[gskibum]

I'm stuck with what I thought was going to be an easy job - compared to a G5 tower or an iMac.
:)

I need to replace the power supply in my Mac Pro (2008) but I'm stuck at getting the small cover off. I've removed the metal plate that was under the optical drives (POV when looking through the side). But it seems there's a small cover for the power supply that's similar to the big processor cover for the liquid cooled G5 towers. I can't figure out how to remove that.

Does anyone have a link to a manual or take-apart guide for the Mac Pro?

Thanks!

[AlphaDogg]

ifixit is your friend www.ifixit.com

Edit: Oops just realized they dont have a guide.

[gskibum]

Yeah AlphaDogg I had checked there first.

It really seems it's just a darn cosmetic plate that's got me stumped!

[Rt&Dzine]

Are you looking for the Apple Service Source for the Mac Pro? You should be able to find a downloadable version with a search.

[CaptainChunk]

That isn't a cover, actually. It's part of the power supply assembly.

You have to remove Hard Drive Bays 3 & 4 and the optical drive carrier first, if you haven't already.

There's a metal cover with a handle (it hides the power supply harnesses that connect to the logic board) to the left of where the power supply is mounted with two Phillips #1 screws. Those have to come out. Then, you slide the handle up, towards the top of the case and the cover should lift out.

At this point, you should see the power supply harnesses and you can disconnect them.

Then, there's four 2.5mm hex screws on the bottom-side of the power supply that have to come out. Once these screws are out, slide the power supply to the left (towards the front of the case) to disengage it from its rails and then the assembly should slide right out.

Hope that helps.

[gskibum]

Awesome CaptainChunk.

That's what I needed. I had missed two of the screws with the hex head.

I was having memories of that CPU cover with the plastic rivet in so many of the G5 towers!

[CaptainChunk]

No problem, bud.

[Jason Argonaut]

1) My Mac Pro Early 2008 doesn't have "metal cover with handle " visible on PS. There are 4 black screws holding PS firmly in place. How do I reach the extra connections?
2) The new video card (GTX480, not Apple-specific) has 1 black 6-pin, 1 black 5-pin, + 2 white 4-pins. Must all of them be connected (perhaps 1 of the whites is redundant?)?
3) Can I leave the original Radeon HD 2600 in slot 1 (if not, how can I "see what I'm doing?")?
4) how do I "Flash the ROM"?
Otherwise, this thread has been most helpful.
--
Jason A.


That isn't a cover, actually. It's part of the power supply assembly.

You have to remove Hard Drive Bays 3 & 4 and the optical drive carrier first, if you haven't already.

There's a metal cover with a handle (it hides the power supply harnesses that connect to the logic board) to the left of where the power supply is mounted with two Phillips #1 screws. Those have to come out. Then, you slide the handle up, towards the top of the case and the cover should lift out.

At this point, you should see the power supply harnesses and you can disconnect them.

Then, there's four 2.5mm hex screws on the bottom-side of the power supply that have to come out. Once these screws are out, slide the power supply to the left (towards the front of the case) to disengage it from its rails and then the assembly should slide right out.

Hope that helps.

[CaptainChunk]

1. The cover isn't on the power supply itself. It's located to the left of the PSU module, behind where the optical drive carrier comes out (the two Phillips #1 screws are near the top securing a latch). Those screws come out and you lift the latch to release the cover.

2. AFAIK, the PCIe power leads on the logic board won't supply enough power to feed a GTX480. I think you also have to leg off of the optical drive (Molex) power in addition to the logic board leads. One of the video card gurus here can probably chime in with more info.

3. You can leave the 2600 in Slot 1 if you want, but if you do that, the GTX 480 will effectively block Slot 3 if installed in Slot 2 (Slots 2-4 are single-height and the GTX 480 of course, is a double-height card).

4. Unless I'm mistaken, you can't flash a GTX 480 for EFI yet. No ROMs exist because Apple-specific 480s don't exist (and may never). You'd have to use injectors instead. Netkas.org would be a good place to start... I'm by no means an expert in this area though.

But for future reference, it's always best to research what works before spending a considerable chunk of change on a video card.

[goMac]

As far as I know, you can't get the 480 working in a Mac Pro without a second power supply. You'll need an external or an internal one, and an internal one means sacrificing at least one of the optical drive bays.

No ROM flash. You're going to have to leave the 2600 to run it by injection, as far as I know.

Honestly, my advice would be to return the 480 if you can, unless you really really need an NVidia card. The 5870, even the PC version, would be a much better choice. Very similar performance, and you don't have this entire power issue. The 480 is known for being a loud and power sucking card.

Unless you really need CUDA, ATI is the way to go at the present, both on PC's and Macs.

(The 460 isn't too shabby though.)