G4 1Ghz Sonnet Encore Power cable

[haemogoblin]

I need some assistance, I'm trying to recreate the power lead for a Sonnet encore G4 1Ghz.

I have a diagram, but I would REALLY like to see pictures of an original cable specifically where the 8 pin lead hooks in to the 20 pin header.

 

[haemogoblin]

Still looking for help with this

 

[NJRoadfan]

Cable appears in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZon3u91KBM

Looks like a pretty standard Y-splitter.

 

[History_SE30_Dude]

I have the zif upgrade as well and no power cable. Did you ever figure it out?

 

[haemogoblin]

Yes, I’m currently building one

 

[Some_Person]

I've built one of these cables before:

https://imgur.com/zab02g5

The pinout for the card's power connector is as follows:
GND GND GND GND +5V +5V +5V +12V

 

[Schorschinjo]

Thanks for the pinout and sorry for bringing this thread up again.

I recently got hold of a 700MHz Encore. Unfortunately without a proper power adapter cable as well. Therefore, thanks to your pinout, I will try to build an adapter, so that I can run this card in my beige G3.

Is it a bad idea to attach such an adapter to one of the molex connectors meant for internal drives (HDD, CD, etc)? Probably it would be easier than adapting to the mainboard atx connector (regarding the number of pins on such a three ended adapter and regarding the sheer size of the ATX 20 pin connector, which would have to fit somewhere below the drive chassis with all the IDE, floppy, SCSI power and data cables already floating around at that place in the housing). And the 4-pin molex should have all necessary voltages available as well (5V, 12V, GND), doesn't it?

Or is the drive connector too weak from the power supply side, weaker than the mainboard connector?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[obsolete]

The Molex Mini fit Jr. pins (Sonnet card) are rated for at least 5A each, and there are three of them. A single AMP Mate-n-Lok (4-pin internal drive connector) pin is rated for 11A. Granted, that 11A comes with a 30C rise, which is a little uncomfortably hot.

Realistically, the G4 is not drawing 75W, or even 55W, so you can probably get away with it and it'll be fine. There will be a higher voltage drop across your adapter, but the card is regulating 5V down to a lower DC voltage anyway, so it shouldn't matter. Just make sure it doesn't get too hot.

 

[Schorschinjo]

The Molex Mini fit Jr. pins (Sonnet card) are rated for at least 5A each, and there are three of them. A single AMP Mate-n-Lok (4-pin internal drive connector) pin is rated for 11A. Granted, that 11A comes with a 30C rise, which is a little uncomfortably hot.

Realistically, the G4 is not drawing 75W, or even 55W, so you can probably get away with it and it'll be fine. There will be a higher voltage drop across your adapter, but the card is regulating 5V down to a lower DC voltage anyway, so it shouldn't matter. Just make sure it doesn't get too hot.

Thanks for the advice! I tried it with the self-build adapter and after fumbling with the cache enablers, firmware patches and drivers, I have the card currently running MacOSX 10.4.12. It shows as running at 733MHz and with XLR8 MACh Speed Control, I can see that now all caches are recognized. Geekbench2 scores 371 points, compared to Action Retro's 450 points for a 1.04 GHz G4, this seems in a fair and plausible range.

Up to now, I did not dare to close the housing of the beige G3 desktop due to temperature: I had a small fan blowing air over one end of the heat sink. This small fan could be operated even with a closed enclosure. With this one blowing onto the zif socket end of the heat sink, the other end of the heat sink became pretty warm still. Therefore I have added another fan blowing onto the middle of the heat sink, which is bigger and can not be included into a closed housing.

I wonder if the airflow becomes more defined and with it more efficient, when I close the housing, or if the CPU will run freaking hot.

BTW: The Sonnet Encore CPU did not come with fans mounted on top. In Action Retros video, there is a twin fan mounted onto the heat sink. Is this the standard equipment also for the 700MHz version, and was removed from mine, or does only the 1.0 GHz version have the fans and the 700 MHz variant comes without fans from the factory?

 

[gsteemso]

"10.4.12"? Is that a typo or has someone released a community-built update like Sorbet Leopard tried to be?

 

[Schorschinjo]

"10.4.12"? Is that a typo or has someone released a community-built update like Sorbet Leopard tried to be?

Shuriken identifies itself as 10.4.12 and brings some enhancements. Yes, sort of community release.