Welcome to Pete Brown's 10rem.net

First time here? If you are a developer or are interested in Microsoft tools and technology, please consider subscribing to the latest posts.

You may also be interested in my blog archives, the articles section, or some of my lab projects such as the C64 emulator written in Silverlight.

(hide this)

Ultimate PC 2010: New Power Supply

Pete Brown - 15 September 2010

So, while messing around in the case, I did what is easily the worst thing I've done to a PC: I overstressed and pulled-out one of the wires in the power supply. Unfortunately, that's one of the three cables that is hard-wired to the power supply, so I couldn't simply order/fine a new cable. I spent about 2 hours trying to repair it in a way that would make me comfortable using the PC, but no dice.

image

I had tried too hard to conceal this huge cable, and had flexed the connector too much. A few of the pins have doubled-up wires, with one large main one, and a smaller rider. This was one of those pairs, with two yellow wires.

I've never fried memory or CPU, so this is the most expensive screw up since I started building PCs. I was bummed for a bit, but then I thought "cool, I get to go component shopping again!" :)

So, I went down to MicroCenter and picked up a slightly better power supply. This one has a higher efficiency rating, is slightly smaller, and has 100% modular cables. Despite being from the same manufacturer, the cables aren't compatible, so I had to redo all the power in the case. On the plus side, this supply has two 8pin motherboard power supply cables; the Gigabyte UD9 supports both for extreme overclocking. I doubt I really need both, but since they were there, I installed them.

image

The shot above is the final PC build. The blue cables at the top are blue extensions for the two 8 pin motherboard power connectors. The large black main motherboard power cable is not as concealed as it was before, but at least this way it won't have too much bending stress.

I liked the blue logo on the old power supply better, but I can't have everything.

While in there, I added the blue extension at the bottom left. That's for the huge fan in the door. Plugging it back into the tight space under the sound card and above the power supply was a bit of a pain in the butt.

Now I need to go back and redo my overclocking. When the PC kept shutting down at odd times, I thought it was the overclock settings, not a loose wire :)

image image

The first picture above is the PC powered up and the case closed. The second is a no-flash shot through the window looking down on the CPU and memory. My PCs are usually in places where I can't see them, but I do like the blue glow :)

This is still the cleanest/best build I've done to date. Not sure which was more expensive: this or my first 486 (those were EXPENSIVE at the time), but I'm really happy with the build.

I do think, it about a year when I need to clean the water cooling system, I may switch over to black tubing rather than the couple types I have in there now. TBD.

   
posted by Pete Brown on Wednesday, September 15, 2010
filed under:    

2 comments for “Ultimate PC 2010: New Power Supply”

  1. Rob Strenosays:
    Pete:

    On my most recent PC build, I decided to buy a modular power supply, and have decided that I'm never switching back to a traditional power supply. There's not a huge price differential, and, in my opinion, they're worth it.

    First off, you wouldn't have to replace the whole PS if you do something like this. Second, it seriously cuts down on clutter inside the case, as you only have to install those cables you actually need. Third, the reduced clutter improves case airflow.

    -Rob
  2. Petesays:
    @Rob

    I completely agree. The last power supply was modular, but they had a few cables hard-wired - one of which was the main power cable.

    Supposedly, modular PS aren't quite as efficient as fully wired ones, which is why many vendors wire up the required ones, and only have the optional cables be modular. That came up in reviews over and over again a few years back; perhaps they've gotten better.

Comment on this Post

Remember me