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Resolved Anyone know about converting and mounting an ATX power supply for use in a Sawtooth?

alexreich

alexreich

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 26, 2011
640
28
I've been reading about people using ATX power supplies in their Sawtooth machines on the xlr8yourmac website, but the how-to link they provide is dead.

Can anyone link me to a guide with images, or tell me how to do it so I can look into this? I'd like to put a better PSU in my Sawtooth so I can put a 9800 Pro in it, but I don't want to get into the project without knowing what I'd be in for.

EDIT 1: After a bit more research, I have found out which ATX power supply to use. "Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W" is what I'm seeing for this mod. Seems to go for around $40-45, which is in my price range.
 
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I have the same PSU in mine. Fits the Sawtooth perfectly and the fan exhaust and power cable plug line up perfectly. When it comes to the modification all you need to do on that PSU is swap the POK line with any of the three 3.3v. Everything including deep sleep works perfectly with it.

If you're not comfortable playing around with power supply wires you can buy a custom adapter for a Sawtooth from this site. He only sells to people in the US so if you don't live there you are on your own.

Anyone in the US willing to buy one for me and ship it to me in Canada? They are 15 US (13+2 for shipping) and I would pay whomever that 15 plus enough to ship it to me in Vancouver, Canada.

I did my own modification on the power supply connector itself by swapping the POK with a 3.3v but I would like one of those adapters so I can use ATX PSU's in the future just plug and play.
 
zen.state said:
I have the same PSU in mine. Fits the Sawtooth perfectly and the fan exhaust and power cable plug line up perfectly. When it comes to the modification all you need to do on that PSU is swap the POK line with any of the three 3.3v. Everything including deep sleep works perfectly with it.

If you're not comfortable playing around with power supply wires you can buy a custom adapter for a Sawtooth from this site. He only sells to people in the US so if you don't live there you are on your own.

Anyone in the US willing to buy one for me and ship it to me in Canada? They are 15 US (13+2 for shipping) and I would pay whomever that 15 plus enough to ship it to me in Vancouver, Canada.

I did my own modification on the power supply connector itself by swapping the POK with a 3.3v but I would like one of those adapters so I can use ATX PSU's in the future just plug and play.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Looks like next time I have some extra cash I'll get the PSU, have my uncle do the modification to the wires (he's very experienced with these sorts of things), and then install a Radeon 9800 Pro once I get another chance to invest in my Sawtooth. Thanks Zen.
 
The one thing I need help with for once is ignored.

I will start a thread for that I guess since you marked this as resolved. I need one of those adapters in the future but I am prevented from buying one directly from him since I am not in the US.
 
zen.state said:
The one thing I need help with for once is ignored.

I will start a thread for that I guess since you marked this as resolved. I need one of those adapters in the future but I am prevented from buying one directly from him since I am not in the US.
Click to expand...

I didn't want to have to admit that I'm so broke that I have to wait to order a PSU. I wasn't ignoring you. I'd order you one myself but I just can't do it right now.

Surely someone a bit more well off than myself will come along and see this thread and may be able to help you out with getting a cable.
 
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Alex:
I think you're misunderstanding what I am saying. Not that someone pay for it for me but rather I give them money then they buy it and once they get it ship it to me.

Anyway, sorry to go off topic.

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jbarley said:
Come on now zen, I'd think you'd want to wait a bit longer then 20 minutes before claiming "you were being ignored". ;)
Click to expand...

I was speaking directly to alex who is someone I help a lot so don't take those words being for you or anyone else.
 
zen.state said:
Alex:
I think you're misunderstanding what I am saying. Not that someone pay for it for me but rather I give them money then they buy it and once they get it ship it to me.

Anyway, sorry to go off topic.

----------



I was speaking directly to alex who is someone I help a lot so don't take those words being for you or anyone else.
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Ohh alright, I see. I misunderstood. I see what you mean now. I may be able to to do that sometime in the near-ish future. How soon do you need the cable? It may be a couple of weeks before I can do that.

EDIT 1: I just checked the ATXG4 website and USPS to see how much it would all cost with shipping, and it turns out the site that sells the cables doesn't take PayPal or debit/credit cards. So I won't be ordering from that site. I promise you I would order one for you in the future if they did business in those formats.

I'll look online through eBay, Amazon, and the usual tech sites but if I can't find anything that takes payment via debit/credit or PayPal I likely wouldn't purchase from it.

EDIT 2: eBay has nothing, Amazon has nothing, searching the web now.
 
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I just remembered that my old friend and ally here ThunderSnake will be a lot less busy soon after moving and such so I will ask him to do it. He and I will be starting a PowerPC oriented site soon after leaving powerpcusers.com

He has been crazy busy and off the grid for a while now so I forgot about that option.

Sawtooth ATX adapters are nothing you're going to find of ebay since they are custom made by one person in the US. He takes money order payments and has been at it forever and is 100% trustworthy. I will get one by other methods as I mention.
 
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zen.state said:
I just remembered that my old friend and ally here ThunderSnake will be a lot less busy soon after moving and such so I will ask him to do it. He and I will be starting a PowerPC oriented site soon after leaving powerpcusers.com

He has been crazy busy and off the grid for a while now so I forgot about that option.
Click to expand...

Congrats on creating your own site man. Is it going to be a forum, or a blog/news type of site? Looking forward to seeing it.

I really apologize for being a let down on the cable. I just can't find anything online that takes the payment formats that I'm comfortable with. I've been looking for it since the misunderstanding earlier in the thread.
 
Zen, a suggestion if I may.
Could you personally, purchase one of these adapters using a M/O and have it addressed and shipped to Alex, who then might forward it to you?
 
zen.state said:
I have the same PSU in mine. Fits the Sawtooth perfectly and the fan exhaust and power cable plug line up perfectly. When it comes to the modification all you need to do on that PSU is swap the POK line with any of the three 3.3v. Everything including deep sleep works perfectly with it.

If you're not comfortable playing around with power supply wires you can buy a custom adapter for a Sawtooth from this site. He only sells to people in the US so if you don't live there you are on your own.

Anyone in the US willing to buy one for me and ship it to me in Canada? They are 15 US (13+2 for shipping) and I would pay whomever that 15 plus enough to ship it to me in Vancouver, Canada.

I did my own modification on the power supply connector itself by swapping the POK with a 3.3v but I would like one of those adapters so I can use ATX PSU's in the future just plug and play.
Click to expand...

I can buy it for you but the problem is that I will be travelling starting tomorrow and will not be back until Saturday.

Send me PM if you still need my kindness. :D
 
jbarley said:
Zen, a suggestion if I may.
Could you personally, purchase one of these adapters using a M/O and have it addressed and shipped to Alex, who then might forward it to you?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be comfortable with giving my address information and such, I am a security nutcase. Looks like Nameci is here to save the day though!
 
Zen, if the site takes PayPal I'll do it for you.

Only problem is my credit card that I have hooked up is kinda... let's just say I went a bit overboard on eBay. So if you can PayPal me the $15 or whatever I'll buy it then when it comes I'll figure out shipping to you. I'll check if they take PayPal. If not I can figure something else out...

Edit: how the heck do I pay the guy? He doesn't take electronic payment. (Wouldn't any payment coming through the internet be electronic?) I don't feel to save with a money order payment... I'll ask him if he will take it from me... maybe if I ask nicely!
 
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I will get either ThunderSnake or Nameci to do it since I know both well. Not sure why people have concerns over money orders bought with someone else's money.

There is nothing sketchy about that guy at all but he is just very stuck in his ways. He also never appears to be in it for the money since he only charges 15 for one including shipping and also can't be bothered with international shipping forms. He has been making and selling those adapters since at least 2006 but I never really had the need for one till now.

Nameci: I will send you a PM on Saturday about it. It's good to see someone step up and help me for once.
 
zen.state said:
I will get either ThunderSnake or Nameci to do it since I know both well. Not sure why people have concerns over money orders bought with someone else's money.

There is nothing sketchy about that guy at all but he is just very stuck in his ways. He also never appears to be in it for the money since he only charges 15 for one including shipping and also can't be bothered with international shipping forms. He has been making and selling those adapters since at least 2006 but I never really had the need for one till now.

Nameci: I will send you a PM on Saturday about it. It's good to see someone step up and help me for once.
Click to expand...

Not a problem zen, just shoot me a PM or email (ice dot ginandoy at me dot com).
 
The PSU adapters are super easy to make. I have all my G4's except the MDD where I rebuilt the PSU running ATX PSU's. Any PSU should work. I got the cable at Monoprice.com and just moved the pins around to match Apples. Total cost was like $3.
 
zen.state said:
The one thing I need help with for once is ignored.

I will start a thread for that I guess since you marked this as resolved. I need one of those adapters in the future but I am prevented from buying one directly from him since I am not in the US.
Click to expand...

I'll be out of the country till next thrusday, but I'm more than willing to help you out with that as soon as I get back, as long as they take Online check, and you take paypal I'll help you out no problem. Shoot me a PM if you still need a hand.
 
MaxHeap said:
The PSU adapters are super easy to make. I have all my G4's except the MDD where I rebuilt the PSU running ATX PSU's. Any PSU should work. I got the cable at Monoprice.com and just moved the pins around to match Apples. Total cost was like $3.
Click to expand...

That was, what I was thinking.

@Zen: Is there perhaps a problem I do not see at the moment with the possibility of buying a normal adapter and changing the wires instead of doing the work on the wires of the PSU itself?
 
Cox Orange said:
That was, what I was thinking.

@Zen: Is there perhaps a problem I do not see at the moment with the possibility of buying a normal adapter and changing the wires instead of doing the work on the wires of the PSU itself?
Click to expand...

On the ATX PSU that I'm using now I modified the wires on the built in connector. For the future I would prefer a plug and play option like an adapter and although I did contemplate making my own I know the ones he makes are of very high quality.

I plan on buying at least 2 more of those 430W Thermaltake for other Sawtooths.
 
MaxHeap said:
The pins just have barbs you can bend in with push pins and move them to the correct socket. Doesn't get much better than that.
Click to expand...

I completely understand that. The modification I did to mine was swapping the POK and the nearest 3.3v rather than just soldering the 3.3 to the POK as most do. The swap is a lot cleaner and you don't have anything extra to sleeve.

It's not that I cannot make my own adapter it's that I appreciate and prefer this guys craftsmanship to my own. I am all about quality with everything and making custom cabling isn't a particular strength of mine or at least not at the level I would prefer it to be.
 
zen.state said:
I completely understand that. The modification I did to mine was swapping the POK and the nearest 3.3v rather than just soldering the 3.3 to the POK as most do. The swap is a lot cleaner and you don't have anything extra to sleeve.

It's not that I cannot make my own adapter it's that I appreciate and prefer this guys craftsmanship to my own. I am all about quality with everything and making custom cabling isn't a particular strength of mine or at least not at the level I would prefer it to be.
Click to expand...

Start a joint venture with you selling overseas and this guy selling in the U.S! There would definitely be a demand for them over the pond...
 
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