Power supply upgrade

[All Taken]

Does anybody know if it would be possible to extract the power supply in a Mac Pro, crack it open and replace the innards with a more powerful PSU?

I ask as it would be nice to not have to go the external route, properly wired I imagine it is quite possible but would like so more information.

Is anything about the Power supply modular? I know it has a specific connector to the back pane but other than this? The voltages supplied to each part of the system? Would a more powerful PSU wired into the bare Mac PSU provide too much voltage to the system? Can the components compensate and just draw what is required?

I know people have said all along don't use power splitters for 8 pin Graphics cards for example, does this apply to SATA to 8 pin adapters too?

Would the rails handle the extra power draw if it were possible?

Thanks

EDIT: Seems the traces would be the bottleneck anyway as they wouldn't allow the extra draw over a sustained period. Looks like an external PSU for me

 

[bax2003]

Problem with MP PSU is motherboard connectors. You can see pinouts and details here:
http://tinyurl.com/d9chedf

PSU is not modular:

You can use 6-pin to 8-pin PCIe adapters at your own risk. I can say that I used GTX570 for 6 months with 8 pin and 6pin power without problems and now I use Radeon 5870 and 5770 at the same time with one 6-pin Y splitter and everything is fine.

You cant provide too much power from any PSU, problem is of course when you ask too much from it .
Too hide cables, reduce clutter and improve airflow, Apple provided two 6 pin conectors on the logic board.
Best possible solution for extra GPU power is additional internal PSU specially dedicated to GPU.

 

[All Taken]

Problem with MP PSU is motherboard connectors. You can see pinouts and details here:
http://tinyurl.com/d9chedf

PSU is not modular:
Image

You can use 6-pin to 8-pin PCIe adapters at your own risk. I can say that I used GTX570 for 6 months with 8 pin and 6pin power without problems and now I use Radeon 5870 and 5770 at the same time with one 6-pin Y splitter and everything is fine.

You cant provide too much power from any PSU, problem is of course when you ask too much from it .
Too hide cables, reduce clutter and improve airflow, Apple provided two 6 pin conectors on the logic board.
Best possible solution for extra GPU power is additional internal PSU specially dedicated to GPU.

Thanks for that, using the pin out would it be possible to solder on a pair of PCI-e power connectors? perhaps 8 pin?

So the 2x 6 pin on the board still get power but also have access to a couple of extra power sources, if the PSU can handle the extra draw then I avoid the risk of burning out the traces and I just have a couple of extra wires VS whole other power supply in the 5.25 bay.

 

[bax2003]

Theoreticly, yes, and as far as i know you will be first to do such thing to MP PSU
It is much cheaper and easier to get extra internal PSU.
If you ask me, a would not put any more stress on Logic Board traces then one 6-pin PCIe Y splitter.

With 4 HDDs, SSD, 5870 + 5770, 5 USB and 2 FW devices....bla bla, Mac Pro uses about 750W. Only worry are traces, and, I must say it again is my own risk. With first opportunity I will get internal PSU for GPU, because I want to keep this fantastic machine for a long time.

 

[El Awesome]

The Mac Pro has a 1000w PSU, why would you need more?
You can use an external PSU if you need more power connectors.

 

[All Taken]

The Mac Pro has a 1000w PSU, why would you need more?
You can use an external PSU if you need more power connectors.

I'm sure you could figure out why, I don't want to take up space inside my case with another PSU. I don't want it to be external.

If I could run an additional 2 cables for 2 x PCI-e power from the Mac Pro PSU this would be the best solution all round.