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Mac Pro 2009/2010 Chassis Mod - Work Log.


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VANILLA Mod

 

(i) the journey begins. (existing (two 2009 Mac Pro) mods of mine can be seen here.

 

a large parcel arrived through the doorstep.

mod begins from unboxing this parcel.

 

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Protection foam, packing as per original out of the factory. Cannot expect anything less, as the sales pitch has "brand new" labeled on the description. continuing...

 

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and there she is, first glimpse of this world since the factory days... films attached as expected.

 

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All there is to it, Brand new case, with four HDD tray, OD tray, CPU Cage with Fans, PCI FAN. All lacks is a PSU cage, which through miscommunication, i doubled made sure it comes with it, seller denies afterwards, nevermind... shopping for an empty PSU cage...

 

 

(ii) Fill in the GAPS.

 

and after minutes of hunting, comes two candidates.... neither are brand new... so will need to make some compromises.

 

 

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after moments of self debate, selected the one that has the least defect on the cage front plate, and took the bullet for the scratches and what not of the un-visible tops and bottoms once installed. Trade-offs, Always... nevermind... i guess this is a part of DIY...

 

the original 980W with all due to respect is beautifully designed, for its original purpose. it has absolutely no use for any ATX main boards, due to its heavy i decided to give it up and left it behind.

 

tips for shopping PSU cage, the look of a Mac Pro 3.0 i.e. 2008, looks identical and physcially fits in the 2009 Mac Pro case. the only snac is the mount holes, you will find they are mis-aligned. PSU cage is mounted by four hex screws... some fiddle may get you to attach two of them, which to my trade-off is acceptable due to its cost. but i went for the 2009 model anyway for completeness.

 

(iii) The alternate/ultimate swap

 

since the 980W hasn't came thru the post. there is now an empty cage at hand. Dispict of its simplicity and a perfect fit, it wouldn't function without some juicy power supply. With previous mod experience, this time, i had taken one step further to modification. Firstly, i had decided the specifcation for this PSU must be close to the original's MP spec. hits and run with searches, i settled with this again a DELL OEM also 875W Silver rated PSU, as in mod #2. however this one, is NPS made rather than Hi-Pro. and there are significant difference when taking apart and having a look inside. Come-on in.

 

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with the last mod. i only spent time to extend each cables with the Hi Pro made 875W PSU. with this, i had completely taken all cables out and swapped out 5x tall electrolytic capacitors, replaced by shorter one's for better cabling management. the difference between the two... well tidnyess, and how far can one go for a DIY Hobbiest? anyways... pictures i hear you say:

 

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things to watch out for replacing capacitors? lots...

first find one that matches the current ratings of the existing one's.

first namely the Voltage rating, replace of the same or higher. second the capacitance... Capacitors are used for filtering noise, {censored}, on your power lines... so without seeing the circuit, i just replaced with the same capacitance. these electrolytic capacitors are polar signed. the negative signed must be on the lower potential. otherwise they WILL Blow up. Fun yes? not so fun when everything is locked down and find one of them smoking and blow up with white powder all over the case... NOT nice!

 

So further diving in and manage all the cables, counting all that i need for ATX and SATA. i end up with the following:

ATX's main board power 24+8; SATA x 2 very enough for my plan (it will be rectified why later), and PCIe Graphic card power, 6x2. and two pairs of 12V+Gnd, gave me a total of 58 cables.

 

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putting the two ends together...

 

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PSU is fitted in the cage ready for testing before connected to the mATX network. ;D

 

that is all i have time for today. Thanks for tuning in

To Be Continue... Stay tuned...

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the only cut 2009 and 2010 Mac Pro case that need to be cut are as follows:

 

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CPU Cage

 

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below the CPU cage, there is also a stand that the Cage sits on. cut is also needed there, as previously described in my COMPLETED section.

working on some very exciting, backplane board look alike PCBs... updates soon.

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  • 1 month later...
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