modding psu to modular?

[elk0019]

i am planning to do it on a corsair tx850 psu and make it FULLY modular, even the main 24 mainboard cable but since i don't know much about integrated circuits nor what the implications of such a task are...

i'm simply taking it involves cutting the native cables inside the psu, fitting them with respective female sockets (normally found on the motherboard) and placing them on openings i'll have to make on the front panel of the psu so i can plug in normal modular cables... thus making it modular?

so... am i going to fry the pc by trying that?

[schlafmuetze]

that for sure is possible mate, but i would not try that with your 850w psu and your 2000e hardware but
with a cheap psu to learn if it works and with another comp, not your main workstation;
i could try that out for you but i got no psus here except the ones working.
tell me if i should try that for you.

basically how i would do it:
cut the cables
put the connectors: male - female between there
solder the cables on the connectors
ready to go

hope this helps

[elk0019]

ty for the reply schlafmuetze

i have another crappy 550w psu i could use but i don't have crappy hardware to go with it :P

your way of doing it is exactly how i tought of doing it only i wouldn't have to solder anything because i would simply splice the wires in the metal thingy like this:



and respective male

oh and thanks for the tip not to try in on the main workstation i hadn't tought about that

[MadHacker]

I modded one of my old PSUs as modular PSU a while back. but only to the molex cables.
as long as you don't get the order of the cables mixed up you should be fine.

[Spork!]

Don't know about your part of the world, but my local newspaper has adds for $50 P4 systems every week. I'd get something like that to test on.

[celemine1Gig]

i am planning to do it on a corsair tx850 psu and make it FULLY modular, even the main 24 mainboard cable but since i don't know much about integrated circuits nor what the implications of such a task are...

i'm simply taking it involves cutting the native cables inside the psu, fitting them with respective female sockets (normally found on the motherboard) and placing them on openings i'll have to make on the front panel of the psu so i can plug in normal modular cables... thus making it modular?

so... am i going to fry the pc by trying that?

There is a reason why the main 24-pin ATX and the CPU-power 4-/8-pin connectors don't get the modular cables, but are left standard, solder connected directly on the PCB inside the PSU (added comment: most of the time at least).
And that is RESISTANCE!
These connectors must be able to conduct huge currents. Now if you make the cable modular you introduce a new resistance at the point of connection. At the beginning this sure wouldn't be too big a problem. But over time (depending on how often you disconnect and connect the cables) the resistance increases, due to simple mechanical fatigue of the material, and causes two problems.
a) A voltage drop at the connection resistance, caused by the current through the cable. That means less voltage that reaches the motherboard's connector.
b) If the current get's high enough the cables could get hot and even melt the insulation in the worst case. High risk of short circuit and/or even fire.

That's the reason why you only use modular connectors on cables that you know won't have to conduct too much current.

[MadHacker]

There is a reason why the main 24-pin ATX and the CPU-power 4-/8-pin connectors don't get the modular cables, but are left standard, solder connected directly on the PCB inside the PSU.
And that is RESISTANCE!
These connectors must be able to conduct huge currents. Now if you make the cable modular you introduce a new resistance at the point of connection. At the beginning this sure wouldn't be too big a problem. But over time (depending on how often you disconnect and connect the cables) the resistance increases, due to simple mechanical fatigue of the material, and causes two problems.
a) A voltage drop at the connection resistance, caused by the current through the cable. That means less voltage that reaches the motherboard's connector.
b) If the current get's high enough the cables could get hot and even melt the insulation in the worst case. High risk of short circuit and/or even fire.

That's the reason why you only use modular connectors on cables that you know won't have to conduct too much current.

odd I have one powersupply with modular motherboard connectors.
came that way.

[celemine1Gig]

I didn't mean to say that it will burst in flames instantly if it has modular ATX and P4 power connectors. I just illustrated that it is a bit risky to make these cables modular. As I said, the described effect developes over time and is depecndant on how often you reconnect the cables.
It can work for years without problems with only modular connectors. But it could also get messy if you happen to choose some connectors that wear out pretty fast. That's why it is safer to leave the connectors with potential huge current draw non-modular.

And BTW, just out of curiosity, which PSU are you talking about exactly? I'm particularly interested in what type of connectors they used.

[RADCOM]

Interesting CelemineGig thanks for the insight. The first modular PSU the Ultra X 500W was completely modular and the 20 pin power to motherboard was very thick. I'm glad I did plug it in and out to much or is it okay as it was built to a higher spec to allow this.

[MadHacker]

I didn't mean to say that it will burst in flames instantly if it has modular ATX and P4 power connectors. I just illustrated that it is a bit risky to make these cables modular. As I said, the described effect developes over time and is depecndant on how often you reconnect the cables.
It can work for years without problems with only modular connectors. But it could also get messy if you happen to choose some connectors that wear out pretty fast. That's why it is safer to leave the connectors with potential huge current draw non-modular.

And BTW, just out of curiosity, which PSU are you talking about exactly? I'm particularly interested in what type of connectors they used.

Its an OCZ EVOStream 720w PS



http://gear.ocztechnology.com/produc...ed_/index.html

Loud with the 80mm fan. I'm sorry I bought, I put it in my sons machine.
he doesn't notice the noise...

[celemine1Gig]

@Madhacker:
OK, never saw that one before. They might have thought that people probably wouldn't reconnect the main cables too often anyway. As I said, I didn't write my posting to scare people. It's just a simple fact.

As RADCOM already suggested indirectly: If you own such a PSU, just don't keep reconnecting those main cables like a madman and you should be fine for a very long time, unless the device was defective from the start or developes a defect not related to the connection resistance problem.

[Necetra]

The Seasonic X-series is completely modular, including 24-pin and 4/8 pin ATX connectors.