[G4] power supply upgrade

[Charles Robles]

Thanks for the advice on brands as I am not used to poking around  
inside my machine other than to install simple upgrades. 350 watts is  
exactly what I was considering as the power supply inside my machine  
says 120 w. I need enough to power the processor upgrade and anything  
else I might install down the line. The tech guy at other world  
computing where I got the upgrade said he would send me an article on  
how to proceed with a pc power supply installation but I have not  
seen it yet. Thanks again.
On Nov 12, 2006, at 8:50 PM, Richard Klein wrote:

> On Nov 12, 2006, at 8:07 PM, Charles Robles wrote:
>
>> Hi guys, I am new here but i think i might be in the right place.  
>> I recently purchased a mercury extreme 1.5 GHz processor upgrade  
>> for my g4 originally 400MHz machine. I also previously installed  
>> an extra hard drive and ati 9000 pro video card. The previous  
>> processor upgrade was 800Mhz. Well, the new processor did not  
>> work- no startup chime and no picture so i put back the old  
>> processor and everything works fine. I received a replacement and  
>> got the same results so i spoke to a tech guy where I bought it  
>> and he suggested that I am probably right over the line powerwise.  
>> I suspect that he might be right. He suggested I can get more  
>> power by buying a pc power supply and just splice some wires and  
>> such to install it. I don't know the details yet. I guess my  
>> question is do you think the tech guy is correct as I suspect he  
>> is and what kind of pc alien part should fit into the space and  
>> how big volt wise would be too much for my g4 or should I just  
>> forget the whole thing?
>
> I would guess that 350 watts should be the minimum rating you  
> should consider.  There's some very good PC power supplies out  
> there, but there's also some real crap, so stay away from brands  
> you've never heard of.  I've personally been very happy with Antec  
> power supplies, but some other reputable names to consider would be  
> Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, and Enermax.  If you can afford  
> it, overkill won't hurt anything (excess capacity is only used when  
> it's needed, so a 1000watt power supply in your Mac won't use any  
> more electricity than a 350 watt one, except that the 350 watt  
> supply will fail before your computer draws anywhere near the  
> limits for the larger supply).  I'd place more priority on a  
> reputable brand name than on the wattage rating, though.
>
> I haven't taken the time to look at any wiring diagrams, but re- 
> wiring the PC supply for your Mac should be pretty simple.  I'd  
> like to do that myself, but my Mac's power supply isn't dead yet,  
> and I've got plenty of other projects...  I *think* the external  
> dimensions of the power supply will be the same, but a tape measure  
> can verify that.  You can measure your own power supply, and you  
> should be able to find dimensions for the PC power supply on the  
> manufacturer's website.
>
> Good luck!
> -- Rich
>
> Antec: http://www.antec.com/us/pro_powerSupply.html
> Thermaltake: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Power/ 
> power_index.asp
> PC Power & Cooling: http://www.pcpower.com/products/power_supplies
> Enermax: http://www.enermax.com.tw/english/product_supply.asp
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