Can I use a pc power supply with my G4?

rjenkins1 · #1 December 4th, 2005, 04:43 PM

My Mac G4 quicksilver will not power on. I tried the cmd option P R keystroke, pressing the reset button, leaving the system unplugged for a while, and replacing the clock battery. Power cable and outlet are fine. The next step is to replace the power supply. I want to use a PC ATX power supply that I have on hand, but the power slot is different. The mac motherboard has two extra holes for the main connector. Is there some way I can adapt it?

barhar · #2 December 4th, 2005, 05:44 PM

Via two Google searches -
'Quicksilver' Power Supply Pins assignment: (1).
'ATX' Power Supply Pins assignment: (1) and (2).

'Is there some way I can adapt it?' - yes, well - as long as the ATX'es Power Supply can provide all the needed voltages, and can provide equal to or in excessive of, the current - per output voltage, of the 'QuickSilver's Power Supply.

rjenkins1 · #3 December 4th, 2005, 08:11 PM

Bless you for the links. I was doing all the wrong kinds of searches.

OrganLeroy · #4 February 15th, 2006, 02:53 PM

Just to throw in my own experience, I used this article from xlr8yourmac.com as a guide to upgrade the power supply in my Sawtooth G4 to a higher-wattage ATX power supply.

It was a bit intimidating, but everything worked out fine. However, I did have one hitch along the way that made me think I had fried the motherboard. When I restarted after replacing the power supply, my screen went to black-and-white text that gave various diagnostics and ended with the line "we are hanging here."

NOT reassuring.

I did a little research on this site and found that the diagnostics were pointing to the graphics card. I unplugged the graphics card from its socket and blew some compressed air in, and a huge cloud of dust erupted. I decided to clear out the rest of the case with the canned air, closed everything back up, and restarted.

No further problems. It looks like I just dislodged enough dust in the process of messing around inside the case to foul the connections in the graphics card. If you try this, give the inside of your case a cleaning to save yourself some stress.