The ALX-Files: A Triad of Power Supply Swaps. Area-51 Aurora XPS 730x ... How to Make an Area-51 R1.44 Using the r2's New 1440w Delta ... Lessons In the PSU Swap Done Right

July 17th edit: photos of my new cable set were posted at the bottom of the page

---

- Happy VDay from Phobos - 

I've documented & discussed the three recent psu swaps in the title for you, below

- Dell XPS 730x 1.2kW Psu Swap -

As some of you may know, I make power supply swap conversion harnesses for the Area-51 R1 & sell them on eBay, or contact me here through the forum about your psu upgrade. Others of you know that the older Dell XPS 730x shares traits w/R1: namely the mthrbrd & the presence of a master i/o board. I was contacted recently by a 730x owner looking to do a psu swap & he needed the reqwired master i/o cable. Our solution: he bought a new 730x case harness - had it shipped here for the low sum of $10 from RedPlanet - where upon I detached the 20inch mio cable from the 66pin modular bulk connector & went to work on it. He shelled out for a 1200watter which uses an all-black cable set, so I took that new original case harness, gutted it of more black wires & built him an mio cable made up of 10 black wires, black sleeve & black modular connectors to get it to match his new interior design theme spot on.

- MIO Reference Photos -

Using the forum's MIO Reference Photo, the new 730x harness & an old 730x schematic given to me by my friend Tesla, I decided to my own satisfaction that the 730x & Area-51 mio boards are wired identically, therefore the Reference Photo is good for both type mio 10pin wiring schemes. This may be old news to some, but this was my 1st 730x project & I did my research thoroughly b4 any work could proceed. 730x, while wired identical to A-51, note the single wire color-change on 12v pin6.

Again, 5volts Stand-By (purple pin5), what is it? When the psu is plugged in - but turned off - the psu will kick out 5volts to the mthrbrd & mio so that things like the tell-tale power indicator led's on the boards light up. When the system is turned on, you still get a steady 5volts output over pin5. Since these Dell Alienware systems are the only types to get a special 10pin daughterboard, the 10pin grabs 5vsb right from the 66pin in the same slot as the mthrbrd 24p atx cable, they jump on the same pin, share the same pin: share 5vsb. A typical psu only needs to supply 5vsb through the 24pin atx cable in the pouch; there's no provision to grab it unless you 'tap' the 24p atx @ either end of its #9 5vsb wire. 

I gave Garthman - the 730x's owner - two options: I tap a 24pin atx cable for 5vsb - or - I don't. If I don't, then, the remedy is to simply 'turn' pin5 into 'standard 5volts' - the kind that only goes hot after the system is on. To do this I would have jumped into any 5volt wire & routed it to pin5 (ppl) since it needs to be hot 5volts when the system is on (but doesn't 'have to' when system is off). Doing this - changing 5vsb into standard 5volts - his mio would have lost all 5vsb features - whatever it did when the psu was plugged in, but turned off. One way or another I'd get his system back running depending on how I manipulate the 5volt wiring scheme to pin5 'purple'.

How I handled his 5vsb vs standard 5v issue was this: for the 5volt stand-by wire on pin#5 in the mio 10pin, I sold him a brand new 24pin atx cable I had. It wears a standard 24pin at the mthrbrd end like they all do, but it branches into a specially wired 10pin + 14pin at the psu end; I 'tapped' or 'jumped' into the 5vsb wire on what we would call the 24pin's pin#9:

• his mio 'taps' into 5vsb in the original case harness
• his mio again 'taps' into 5vsb, through the 10p at the modular end
• I've wired his system back to factory specs, which was important to both of us
• his 24" 24pin atx did not need a 6"-8" extension like Area-51 'needs'

 - purple wire in middle photo for Garthman's illustration: actual 5VSB wire is black for his build. They are on the same pin, jumped onto the same psu pin of course, haven't tapped the blk mio wire in yet -

- I use 4pin break-away connects: I can never seem to find black 2pin males, only white ones -

Here is the photo he sent me of his install & successful swap of ax1200i into his 730x. I am very happy about his success story, it looks great & he has plenty of power now in his Dell. Some serious bragging rights going on there in his man cave too. The new stealthy black look, all I can say is: somewhere inside 730x lurks my hand-made mio cable & tapped 24pin ... we're very pleased ...

- Gman & the 730x 1.2kW PSU Swap Done Right -

---

- Aurora R4 1.25kW Psu Swap -

My Seasonic x-1250 (XM1) now finds its home inside my baby Knight Fury, lil' Toothless there: a while back an Aurora owner attempted the XFX Pro 1250 swap & as we know Ss x1250 & Xfx Pro 1250 are all but the same power supply, both made by Seasonic. Now that Toothless is setup with an x-1250's cable set, I can easily toss in one of my new XFX Pro 1250's whenever I want to so he can go with a bad-to-the-bone all back in black look, since the cable sets simply interchange.

The guy I just mentioned above that did his Xfx swap had his hands full w/the standard cables:

• Aurora-R4, Looking to upgrade PSU to a higher quality PSU that is not a Dell branded?
• http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19597084/20670245#20670245

Another Aurora owner that contacted me recently said he did the same Xfx 1250 swap; I assume his case is brimming w/full-size cables that he doesn't know what to do with or do about also. Knowing I'd have my hands full w/an original 1250 cable set - 'any' non-ribbon-cable set for that matter - (Corsair hx1000i comes w/all ribbons) I opted to custom make Toothless a set of black cables tailor-fit to his special pint-size needs. Tossing in a psu that is rated 1000w or over is a great idea in Aurora; tossing in a round-cable set from a 1000w or greater psu is ... ummmmm ... yeah:

Maybe a pain. For you. Not for me. Not for Toothless. We survived it.

- Black & 24k Gold bling are some of our Valentine's themes today -

I began w/a few Corsair ax1200 cables but also used some other wiring to complete this install. Let's talk about the original case harness 1st. It has a 28" mthrbrd 24pin atx & a 34" cpu cable which pop into to the 'lower left' of the psu. Standard cables from Seasonic & Corsair or whomever, most pouches come with 24"-26" cables. Goldilox cables that are too short or too long may haunt you.

In this instance I hand made a 32" cpu cable, & due to the front panel layout, I got away w/a 24" mthrbrd 24pin atx cable; it is an all black piece from a Seasonic Platinum 1000 w/gold pins at both ends (standard).

- cable testing day -

I used Corsair ribbon cables for hard drive satas, mio peripheral & main sata/peripheral; for vidcards, I re-did them by tossing on red accent sleeves to give 'em the old Drago_Bludvist AMD Radeon look:

vidcables: I took one 24inch standard vid cable, cut it in half & made a pair of smaller 12 inchers. Did this twice in the event I ever run dual-cards; two standard 24" cables made into 4 shorter 12" cables

When you do this kind of psu swap using standard cables, you will qwikly run out of room in your Aurora, swamped in wires. If you run a solo beast card, your experience will be a rewarding one in the end I think, depends of course. If you run dual-cards, you might be baffled at the lack of space, simply 'no room' for cables under the bottom card, fan spins next to cables, it's a drag, so they say. The loss of the left hard drive bay can be the small cost of an aftrmrkt swap as a work-around.

I don't game anymore but I do run a solo 290x as my recent upgrade from dual 270x's. If I decide to run dual whatever cards again, I future-proofed w/a hand-made 26" mthrbrd 24pin atx ribbon cable:

I've taken three Nzxt 8wire video-card ribbons one on top of the other to make my 24pin ribbon

• yes, I used three 26" Nzxt ribbon cable 8wire pci-e's
• by laying three 8wire ribbons one on top of the other, I get my 24pin atx cable to lay flat under the bottom card & it easily clamps shut using the black clamps
• after it comes out of the clamps & moves away from the bottom card (& fan), I sleeved it starting at where it runs up the wire chase
• the following photos were taken while size-testing commenced:

- my Plan B Dual-Cards 24pin - exactly what Toothless needs when running dualies ... -

Simply put, the 24" atx cable from the Platinum 1000, I doubt I can use it in a dual-card setup, although it is fine w/my solo beast. My trick then w/my Aurora power supply swap in a dual-card setup is custom cables. My sleeved cpu cable tucks under the clamps fine, the main sata is a ribbon so it is fine, the vid cables are short so they are fine, it is the 24pin atx that's your main problemo. As some of you saw & heard on Halloween, I was able to fully sleeve the original case harness 24pin atx, but I had to mash & sqwish it pretty flat to get it to cooperate underneath my 2nd 270x, which I could because I sleeved it 'loose' in that area knowing the wires needed room to lay as flat as they could. I had a bit more problemo trying to mash my black 24pin down; I couldn't do it, so I chose to make the 24pin ribbon.

I can, yes, or could, go back, pop the 10+18 branch connectors off that 24p, remove the heatshrink & ziptie, move the sleeve back an inch or two to give the round cable & wires inside the sleeve 'room to mash down' til they fit in the clamps et cetera. But until I do that, the cable's basically too fat for comfortably running dual-cards, so I put my time investment into the ribbon 24p instead. We assume that shrinking Aurora down like this was an intentional move by the Creator to box us all into their proprietary psu & harness & to discourage as many swaps as possible once the word got out how cramped it is under there for aftermarket cables. Life with Aliens of course.

As for my new ribbon 24p atx, it's a 23wire actually: a pair of 8wire ribbons & one 8wire that was stripped of a wire, now a 7wire, since true atx's are 23 wires (slot 19 is empty these days). Seasonic & other companies may use extra voltage 'sense' wires that may jump into a main 3/5/12/ground or all four like this one does, so I replicated this w/four 22g wires & ran them down w/the 23 ribbons, so over 8feet of 22g wire was needed to make the sense wires my psu uses (4 x 26 inches). This, the xtra step I took in my ribbon atx cable to replicate the black 24p I use with my 290x.

Lastly, I tried my stndrd 24" cpu cable routed the stock way, but it was too short & would have needed an 8-12 inch extension; the original as I said is 34 inches, so I made my own 32 incher to forgo the use of an extension. My left hdd sata is a ribbon that ducks under the tray to the power ports by the wall; my far right hdd sata is sleeved b4 it ducks under the tray & I slapped a sleeved molex head on the end for mio, ran that up behind & out of the far right hard drive tray to help w/cable mngmnt:

*** FYI: I happened to notice my Nzxt ribbon sata connector heads are not the right type (too wide) for Aurora's hard drives because the space at the wall is tight, but the Corsair sata's were right:

general pic: 'fat' wide sata heads won't fit; pass-thru satas identical to the old harness will. If your new psu satas are the wrong type you'll need to use an adaptor, or, buy empty pass-thru's & slap them on instead. Sata pass-thru types, just like the originals, got it?

I just bought a spare compartment sill on eBay:

if I ever have to mod in the left cable area, (or zip off the stud that helps secure the psu cover-plate - reqwired when doing a swap w/an extra long psu, like Area-51's 1200w or r2's 1500w, ax1500i etc) I can simply cut the spare sill in whatever way to accommodate my wiring, which I do not have to worry about at this time. Spare compartment sills are good to have if u need to mod one. Mine was 20 bucks.

*** For R4, to remove your old hard drive sata cables: remove your sill, unscrew the trays from the wall w/an xtra-long screw driver, then remove the screws underneath the case, pop the trays out from their mounting studs. R1-R3 may be similar or may be different.

Psu is a purrfect fit. I may have to mod my psu cover-plate; right now it won't go back on. So what.

- Toothless Says: I'm an Aurora R4 w/a 1.25kW PSU Swap Done Right ... Happy Valentine's Day -

---

May 6 upd8

I've bought a pair of NRHJ9 Aurora harnesses, snipped the old pins off, in the process of applying all new psu pins & modular connectors, & offering a plug & play Corsair ax1200i or XFX / Seasonic 1050 / 1250watt case harness, available on eBay, $77.50 / mailed, with x4 graphics cables, hand-made, true 6+2's. This in an attempt to offer a cable set / case harness with cable management truly addressed, especiually in a dual-cards scenario. 1st come 1st served; if they both sell I might make two more, but I won't be doing this much longer just so you know ... I will retire from custom harness making soon. I'll post a photo of the finished harnesses soon, I'm waiting on a parts supply delivery b4 I can finish them 

---

- Yet Another Area-51 R1 PSU Swap -

I prefer to keep my psu swaps at the $200 level; I qwit gaming so I don't need three cards & $400+ power plants. I'm going to talk about this upgrade in two parts: here I will go over the pro & con of this swap since there are more cons than pros, & in my how-to post link below I will go over the logistics & what I did to pull this swap off:

• the ALX-Files: On a Theoretical Approach to the Area 51 Power Supply Swap Corsair ax-1200i ax-1500i Hale90 Seasonic x-1250 New A-51 R2 1500w Psu
• http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19540327

- Building an Area-51 ALX R1.44 -

It is now Feb 25th, this post represents my edited work. When I debuted 11 days ago I was very critical of the psu I chose to install. My Seasonic came out of my R1 & went into my baby ALX up there for a reason: back at Christmas when a user debuted her Area-51 HEXR1.5, for someone who din't even own r2's new Delta I sure talked alot of smack about it. I own the new Delta & case harness, it is offered now as part of today's debut & I have very mixed emotions about it.

Very disappointed. My count tool says 12,500 words-characters stood here below me & I've removed 9,000 of them, certain the right people at the Mothership saw what needed to be said for the reasons they needed to be told. They best be aware they've got one here who can see; if not I'll toss it all back up so everyone else who missed out can gawk at it & 5000 more behind it you didn't even hear yet, since this power supply is a Pandora's Box that becomes a doorway & an open window into the inner world of the minds & intentions of the people who make our computers & sell us these computers. Based on just the fan size alone as my 1st step, I can literally walk from point A to point Z where I find myself at the desktop of the Creator himself asking for a public one-on-one & 26 truthful answers.

In the end I've installed & will now give you my impressions of the Delta which is why I'm here. I go to Plug Load Solutions, read the 80Plus gold certificate, I see Delta can pull 1711watts from our walls if we let it; 1500watts isn't insane power, 1700 is; it can draw that much energy through itself so it needs a 140mm fan to keep cool with hour-by-hour. Everyone knows this. A 120mil instead? Oh my. Somebody show me a 1500w - besides this one - w/just a 120, I beg you. Delta's at home in my R1 Ultra-Tower. Triad needs a 140 exhaust fan in this psu. Gimme a break. It's the triad's case fan too, & we want the largest fans in our cases everywhere they can be put to have a beneficial impact on the system as a whole whether it's sucking 1700 or 700 out. You charge enuff for it as it is, spring for a 140 Dell; when hundreds of dollars are spent just charge us the extra 5 bucks they cost & keep your reputation intact while you're at it so we can all win. My Aware love-hate meter's at an all-time low. As an Alienware & hardware enthusiast, once dissected as I did do, relative to $ & the customer's overall best interest, the public hardware war isn't won, it's lost every time one of these gets installed, pales in comparison to the best hardware out there which costs less money to buy it. Only the Corporate Cash Flow War stands a chance at a win. Who disagrees?

As of today I've helped almost twenty-five R1 owners do their swap & done 5 here for myself. I keep my ii's & ears open for what's hot & what's not in the psu market; this bare-metal 80plus gold unit with its 120 fan, sparse front panel, 1440w max sticker & whimpy cables has a definite budget feel to it that still does not sit right with me as it represents the barest minimum in design & power. Barely acceptable, it's feature poor & makes one wallet poor; a double-sin, adds insult to injury. In terms of least cost, in my opinion anyway this is the least expensive possible power supply design they knew they could get away with & still have it pass for something & so that's why they stuck it in there to begin with. That's what bugs me: yet again we have borderline hardware inside of & trying to prop-up the proud Area-51 name, but how can it. It's being propped up by just the word 1500watt, it's a premium word so what are we to make of it once we discover it's a budget 1500watt in there?

A finer discussion has been had over this, can still be had, where we can go back over who's interest was at heart, theirs or ours; on careful inspection but with just one look at it you can see they designed it to run & come with the bare minimum, cables & all. The words maximum & premium fly right out the window. I questioned bigtime already - in micro-detail - if this luke-warm r2 hardware's worth opting for when much better hardware's out there right now w/a 140 fan standard, true 125amp 1500w / 133amp 1600w 12volt rails, more ports & cables, paint jobs, ageless warranty, bragging rights, get what you pay for, on & on. As an R1 owner I don't need to care as bad but if you're an r2 buyer, until they offer a revision or drop the price to $100 at checkout:

• stick with the base 850w & stay clear of this one at checkout
• goto newegg, go through their checkout: get the evga 1600watt gold for $270, get it over with
• 10year warranty, extra 160watts on its 133a rail
• period.
• spoil the right alien & not the wrong one
• this one is suspect; you've been warned by someone who owns it & knows what it is & isn't

If the Aliens hired cunning earthlings to figure out how to corner you into this psu due to what sli-config you can or can't order w/just the 850 then I don't know how to finish this sentence other then I feel for you brother; you're on your own & the aliens got over on me too & you can post your own experience.

It is a Delta, they have a good reputation for making a good reliable product, the least we can be thankful for. This one's a heavily over-priced good one, but it isn't a great one, far from it; in the end, the price was an essential deciding factor for my purchase. GroundHog Day, the very 1st Delta listed as 'new other' w/full case harness popped on eBay. Listed for 250 obo, he met my best offer in the middle for 235-shipped, three-way SLI ready as a bonus & he netted 200 after the sale due to his seller & ship costs. He thought he only paid $200 for it at checkout & agreed to 35 for the cables.

He did pay 200 on top of my estimated $250 for the base 850w (& cables) he opted out of, as part of the starting price: r2 'starts' at $1700, the base price, from there you opt up, but you still paid for that 850 & then added 200 more. If you contact Dell they report this one retails right now for $465 just for the chassis & no cables. These then represent our 'only' clues to what the r2 owner 'paid' for theirs, so I leave each of you to decide for yourself. My estimate: $400 min, more like $450 w/case harness.

If I go to Newegg or Microcenter I get to buy a normal power supply that plays by market rules, may get an online review, may get disassembled to see what is inside it & how it stacks up, may even get put on a load-tester to see what it can benchpress & define the qwality or lack-there-of, of the output energy. How does it do, how does it stack up, how well can it keep cool in a hot-box torture test, when does it shut-down, it's good stuff & I read these things. A science can be employed & public opinions rendered, which help the market & the customer to weed out bad from good & good from great. I get this Delta from Alienware, I spelled it out how I wind up w/something that deviates from the conventions of the norm & comes eqwipped w/less then the norm; every possible normal corner we look for on the surface was cut to help lower their cost which strips me & strips it of all the normality I would otherwise find on the open market, & then when it's all said & done I find out people pay more for it then the best one on the market, where the price is structured one is never supposed to know what was paid - if we did, we would know not to buy it or at least walk into the purchase a better informed consumer.

The only data on their Area-51 sales page seems to be: 1500watts, add 200. No 'explanations', no 'description'. Buy it or don't. They're Alienware, you figure they're there to hook you up. You do what's best for you, so long as you be aware that pound-for-pound this Delta costs the very most & yet comes with the very least once compared to the open market. These are now my edited but carefully studied opinions brought to you as CliffsNotes; form your own opinion, do your own research if what I said bothers you. From there, decide if you're willing to reward the aliens for charging you more while simultaneously offering your Alien less, up to & including a smaller case fan which is where we began at. Is it a power supply fan or is it a case fan or is it both?

1700watts, where's the 140? Tri-sli, Haswell-E 140w tdp, where's the 140? Why did u leave it out for?

That 120 in there is Pandora's Box.

As much as I resented this power supply I overcame it in order to climb up the mountain & stand on top. It was important to me as an Alienware owner to compile the theoretical how-to for myself & publish it here for posterity. I resent it just as much after delivery, more so. Darn this thing. Knowing I could get this for about half what the prior owner & r2 owner's are paying, I bought it b4 word gets out. It's a budget psu so I only handed the guy back what it's worth. Paid half, still feel ripped off.

top side, the 80Gold sticker, 1440w 12v max. real 1500watters? stickers will say 1500w 12v max

to work in R1 we flip it over so the mounting holes work

smells & looks new, arrived here as an un-offending kreature at least:

the cut corners on that 120mm fan feels like a heavy slap in the face & a slap on my billfold too

as an R1 owner, you lose the hardware war even when you pay 250 tops w/cables for one. I took one here for the R1 Team, to help publish the how-to ... even though I can't publish the why-to

problems of the r2 crowd now become our same problems & we're here to find out what is best for R1

looking for gold? get evga's 1600watt gold. $270 after rebate. this one's fool's gold til they revise it; it can't compete w/the open market - it doesn't have to - our most telling clue of them all, in my opinion.

From Area-51 Sales page: optional 1.5KW power supply and modular cabling will ensure revved-up performance that is both highly efficient & reliably impressive.

I beg to differ: the reality is in stark contrast to the fantasy & illusion above & below. compare the two images & make up your own mind why that front panel above is cgi'd in all black for ... $

reliably unimpressive: artistry is at hand however in their ads/sales department

a real presentation like this disturbs the unreal cgi harmony found on Alienware.com Area-51 sales page. I see a red door and I want to paint it bla-ack ...

- I swapped out this black & gold looker for the Industrial Look *heavy sigh* -

It might be slated for my Aurora instead as the result.

Sunday Feb 8th, I kick-started the heart that pumps the electron blood to & through my Alien ALX.

In spite of its looks & lack of features I'm here to introduce my new Area-51 ALX R1.44

psu plugged in, power off, 5vsb powers mio tell-tale led, mthrbrd led too somewhere on the left

- up & running -

As u can see I have successfully installed the Delta into my R1. My ALX is better known by his title of KingJeremy_theWicked. He now literally possess the most lethal secret weapon we have here in our Dragon Army. I came to debut the Delta & talk about what it might take to put one in yours. If you're an R1 owner, you want to join us @ R1.5 / R1.44 Nation & u see one of these go for real cheap? For half price? Now while they're still 'new' & low miles should u put one in? Maybe. Maybe not though. It's pedigreed Area-52 hardware, but that's about all you'll get. Don't shell Dell the $465 b4 ship/tax they want for the bare chassis & maybe no cord: much better titanium hardware exists for R1 @ that price, w/lots more 'stuff' boxed w/it & a boxed ageless warranty:

for $405, this beast in black is what you'll want to harness into your rig. fully decked out front panel wearing ten 8pin ports & a good sata suite fit for Area-51 R1's ultra-size. There are many high-power psu's out on the market but hers is my favorite & we had lotsa fun together doing her install.

yes. Mrs Money makes me a jealous boy w/her pretty powerful girl-toy harnessed in hand

as w/any R1, it takes custom wiring to pull a swap off, so let's see what happened here with mine:

1st, you zip your rear trim so the plug fits.

 we're blessed the 120mm fan orients as a top-mount ... whew ...

Delta has a sparse front panel - only three sata ports - 5 or 6 is better inside R1, therefore I do work-arounds below. It uses all 6pin connectors, not 8's for pci-e. 8's would've been better I suppose.

{edit 6.17.15 I've made two cable sets for my ALX, the 1st was a proto-type illustrated below, the finished work is now edited into the very bottom of this post }

I have a slew of possible connex to use. For now, I have many of the right male-female 6pin connex, but this is a test-run, a feasibility study, so I'll substitute dual 24pin connex instead, later.

below, material to convert or multiply three sata ports into six sata ports: simple jumps, y-splits

far right: solo female pin plugs into solo 6pin connect, each male pin goes into a separate 6pin connect

5 wires above ez to 'change' into 10 wires, a small adaptor to 'change' one sata port into dual ports

In both of these builds I made her 6pin y-splitters; I will eventually make three for my Delta

I have the right 6pins but I might make a custom harness for the Delta soon & will need them. For now I'm using my custom Seasonic harness & have to 'adapt' the Delta to it. Fun. I'll make adaptors & extensions for it which I can remove later, then build it a custom harness later.

a series of photos of the experimental cables-extensions-adaptors to do this swap:

the red 12v-ground 6pin group: 8p for mio, 4p (optional eqwipment) 12p for my 12p cpu cable.

Red modular row, pure 12v-grounds. My cpu cable will tap in using 16g extensions-adaptors. Optional 16g 4p if I need to tap 12v-ground for something else, like an evga powerboost etc. Mio in the left 8p

the dual-row of 24pins can accept six 6pins, or three in each row. My three hdd sata harnesses will go into the top row. Main sata & mio will tap the bottom row & leaves one open. Three female 6pins tap the Delta top wht 'sata', shown; later I will substitute the 24pins for simple y-splitters discussed earlier

what it took to do this swap: 24p extension, cpu extension, 8p extension for mio, sata multiplier

the original 24p of course needs a 7inch extension which I built, above, nearly complete.

Your custom Delta harness 'kit' might look similar:

Note: my 24inch cpu cable could not reach & needed a short extension. I think it is possible the r2's 28" cpu+pci-e all-in-one harness might work in R1. As r2 owners begin to part-out their systems, it might be a worthy cable to use if yours comes with one. Too pricey to buy new I'd say

Delta & cables are now installed, this is just a testing set of harness adaptors. A prototype

it's ready to turn on:

- we have lift off -

- No Majik Smoke: Radeon 5870 test-mule in case there was a blow-out  ... - 

KingJeremy_theWicked says:

Inside of DreamLand I've Had a 1.44kW Psu Prototype Swap Done Right ...

---

I'm a harpy over these cables & lack of sleeve but I'm not the only one. Now's a good time for a 2nd opinion on the cables in general. GameSpot.com, who see & review & demand the best systems too:

• 'similarly disappointing are the modular cables which are your basic mis-matched oem set - & again given the cost - it's odd not to see a more aesthetically pleasing & sturdier set of wrapped cables inside.'
• check my how-to as I itemize what you get in an r2 cable set, what might work & might not

I'm using an r2 zip-tied video cable pair just until I adapt my better Seasonic vid-cables, 16g w/gold pins. Star Trek IV, Spok jumps in to do a MindMeld, lady yells out at Kirk: you're friend's messing up my tank & messing up my whales!

So yes, the part stickers & white zipties are messing up the window'd view in my desktop

Here's what the r2 case harness amounts to, minus the vid-cable pair installed in my case. I got the 3rd sli cable, yours may or not come with it.

I won't be using these, but I'm glad I had them to help make the color front panel pinout in my how-to

---

Majik Trix: trick or treat in February?

As R1 owners, we want to be mindful of all the real estate not being used on the front panel. When in triad, visually speaking, w/the black pci-e connex facing up, r2's designers got the vid-cables & parts tags to block (obfuscate) the view of the sparse front panel underneath.

When we as R1 owners flip it over like we did to see the fan, we get a better idea of what is & is not happening with their design. In our ultra-tower, we might like three full rows of connex. This is the Creator's greatest Majik Trik w/the Delta: the illusion of 'alot' of connexions. We're supposed to admire I suppose the uniformity of the all-6pin front panel. Clinical. However, sparse as it already is? Take a closer look with me:

• almost no psu manufacturer but this one of course would use four 6pin headers for the mthrbrd atx cable (blu-blk-red-wht)
• they all use standard single 24pin header ports, or the classic 10pin+18pin, 10+14 etc
• one or two header connex at most, since it is all you need; go look online

Eddy r2 is soooo short of cables, that front panel would be soooo sparse looking that what they did was 'break' the 24pin header up into 'four headers' - why? - the only advantage is to make the front panel appear to be more 'full' then it deserves to be:

To qwikly illustrate, I subtract the blu & wht row - move them up top next to red-blk where they s'posed to be at - & what we have now is a half empty middle row. poof... :

• & room for another '6pin black' in the pci-e row at very bottom (red sqware)

The blu-wht connex are positioned where they are, only to make the front panel look full. A gimmick, a majik trik of illusion; move them where they normally should be - in the top row - & poof: all kinda unused real estate emerges. The illusion, similar to people wearing vertical stripes 'to appear thinner'.

Moving on. The cpu cable only needs an 8p header, the extra pci pwr cable in r2, it only needs an 8p, so really just two 8p headers need to occupy the red row. What they did, again, is 'broke' what should have been just two 8p headers up into 'three 6p headers' - why? - to make the front panel look fuller. By my ii's I see they bought & brought just that wee lil bitty more 'color' & subtracted a wee lil bitty less 'metal' from the visual presentation, or visual illusion, a mirage ... I know why they did it, but how?

• by breaking their 'cpu cable' duty up into three connex instead of just two

Odd. All of this hidden away from us yet hiding right there in plain sight so not hiding there at all.

And to be honest, with all that extra room they shoulda coulda plumbed in an extra 4th sata header for expansion & future needs - the space is plainly there - I sees it for me-self. What I did in the photo, is we would pretend the cpu-pci (red connex) are a pair of 8pins like they should have been made into - & poof - a whole new header emerges that could have been for expansion, like an extra sata-molex (I cropped a white 6pin into the red row for this reason). Everybody understand what just happened?

The r2 Delta at one & the very same time has not enuff headers & yet has too many headers.

The r2 owner may care less, but they might like to care & worry over the price they paid, since the sparsity of connex represents in a way less engineering & materials inside the chassis. Knowing this, I still can't get over why it is as long a chassis as ax1500i/1600 T2? To look imposing maybe? Eqwal? Your guess is as good as mine ... but this psu is based on looking like more than it is ... as if ...

Earlier I said it would have been nice if the vid-cable headers were all 8pins. There was / is room if u look for it for all 8's. The lack of 8's is of course none-other than a cost-cost. 8's ruin the all-6pin look & looky what the all-6pin look bought them (not you, them). Admittedly, r2 may not 'need' that 'nearly-missing' middle row in my photo, but, nor does the r2 owner need an added row at checkout for $200 extra for this thing. $75 dolla extry at checkout. Right? Right.

this appears to my trained ii's to be the most under-eqwipped 1500w psu 'on the market', like dead-last

a product like this of course finds its way & could only find its into an Alienware. of course

I used my own majik trik above to help them out: this is the 'correct way' to view the Delta panel:

- there is no extra 6pin white in the red row. Poof. -

my photo above should give us all pause once we put it into perspective what has occurred

still not convinced?

- how 'bout we move the red cpu header down to the red sqware? whole middle row 'bout goes poof -

r2 owners might never-mind this section while the R1 owner in particular needs to pay close attention to this. Our hard-earned money's s'posed to be buying smart engineering, the kind where the humans we pay are trying to fit in as much quantity/qwality as they can - spoil us in a sense - not schemed up & dream'd up engineering that finds ways to deprive our hardware & then deprive us of less & make it look like it got more so they can ask more. Sparse outside denotes sparse inside. We want a psu full in the middle, we want some 8pins in there to feed our video-cards, not all six's. Not bare.

If I can see it, I know for a fact the Creator saw it too ... what to do what to do ...

---

I know. I just did a double-take too over the $465 1440w gold psu chassis & cables

I'm dying to insert the phrase penny-wise & pound-foolish, but can't find the right spot

does it surprise you it's unpainted, 120mm fan, weak cables, no 8pins, 80gold, 1440w max? Look how they sell these things online, their 'ad': you don't know til after it shows up in your house, right? Til after you bought it. Won't even come up off of a free third vid-cable ... oh man ...

the 'arguments' I made in my post? I hand you 'proof' of the budget Delta power supply

between this & the new r2 mthrbrd ... the aliens lost my respect. deservedly so.

---

Industrial vs Artistry

Delta 1.44kW may belong in r2 & belong to r2 & they may be a perfect pair for it, fitting actually

I have my doubts at times it belongs in my R1 (or yours); it takes away more then it gives

gone is the feeling your money's been spent in trade to people who've got your back & are in business strictly to 'hook you up'. robs u of the feeling that you bought & own something elite

or own something normal. an alien power supply is what u get - go figure - alien to the marketplace.

... ax1500i wears a 1500w max sticker for a reason. it's a true 1500watter, not a alien 1500watter ...

- Did I just win the Hardware War. Did I just lose it. Is it a draw. Is it all three - 

the fact I don't know doesn't sit well with me here. this unpainted 1440 puzzles me.

for an extra 35 bucks I coulda rolled up in this joint w/1600 12v horses

& a full black cable set pouch to work with

*heavy sigh*

---

Delta in Aurora R4 as a Back-Burner Project

Not sure yet if I'm going to swap the Delta in my baby ALX or not. For now I got as far as a dry-run w/the r2's 24p atx & cpu cables for a size fit so people can get a feel for what those cables will look like if they buy a used Delta w/r2 case harness. For a dual-card situation I have a spare compartment sill to hack up, namely hacking off the psu-cover boss/stud so a longer chassis fits. I would also lose the left hard drive bay most likely, as we'd treat this install like the old Area-51 1100w/1200w inside Aurora that some of you've seen or heard about.

Here are a series of photos of the new r2 cpu cable & 19" 24pin atx cable in my R4

• 24p atx top photos: its four 6pin modular ends land on the sill, can not reach the psu
• would need four typical 6pin pci-express extensions to reach the psu
• I already qwestion if a person can make those connexions under a bottom card / dual card
• may be a solo-card scenario if you use extensions like that
• the alternative is to plug the 24p into the psu & allow it to go as far as it can (last two pics)

Plugging the 24p atx into the psu itself, I feel you would need about a 6" 24p extension, or a person might invite a scenario where the black snap-lok is simply set aside in a box & you go without it. Hmmmm. These four photos show the approximate situation you will face there with yours. Whether you use one or two vidcards, the card(s) will hold all your cables tight to the wall between the mthrbrd & pci-e fan, that general area needs your attention, as well as what everything does under a possible dual-bottom-card; that area is our source of greatest frustration when slapping in a new psu.

Of course, I can already tell my best options are either cut my sill right in half (use only the right-side half for the pci-e fan to rest on) & when I lose the left hard drive bay my wiring worries disappear essentially once the entire left-side sill disappears, or instead 'enlarge' a cable access area right beneath the black snap-lok knowing my hdd tray won't work & won't even be there in the way with the longer chassis, most likely. Knowing these things, I'm unsure if or when I can tackle an actual install here but for now just settle for discussing possibilities of what the cables might do or might need. .

The stock r2 cpu cable reaches barely in a dry-run w/out psu chassis, the need for a cpu 8pin extension I am unsure of at the moment for that reason, since it might actually stretch from the psu front panel up to the mthrbrd cpu 8pin port. 

It is possible you can use one of the r2 sata cables as your main sata for dvd etc.(the loss of the left hard drive bay means you might toss a hard drive caddy in an open dvd bay if you need to run a 3rd hard drive, knowing you can't run 4). The remaining sata cable will not work as is to power either hard drive caddy, if yours are R4/ALX style w/a rear sata connect at the wall, so you would need sata pass-thrus or adaptors etc. mentioned way earlier in my R4 1250 swap above. Aurora is soooo small, lol, what a lil pain they are.  The Delta's fan will face down. The vid cables with r2 are 13" so you get a small break there, since 24 inchers are long & wieldy.

These are my preliminary thoughts. If you have Aurora & see the Delta go for cheap, are willing to jump through some hoops, buy the materials it might need (extensions of whatever size & type) then perhaps get it if it comes w/cables since most will work. A shorter chassis in the 1200-1250 watt range might suit you better, but landing the Delta in the $200-$250 range, 1500w / 1440w max 12v, what more do I need to say?

Here, an Aurora case harness, disassembled, ready for new pins & connectors, perfect for the Delta

Now. I myself would just buy a new original R4 case harness/eBay, & rebuild it w/all the right modular connex, wire it up right, voila, all my cables would be the right size, custom fit. If you're adventurous, think about it. The case harness shown above is about to be used for ax1200i or Pro 1250 / x1250, but the same idea can be used for the Delta: I prefer new molex mini-fit jr. psu pins over the stock pins since they're better, (if you can back the stock pins out & re-use them, be my guest, but you'll need a few new pins regardless, since some wires are spliced in the harness) ... you'll need new psu terminals & empty modular connex & can use my color pinout from my Area-51 psu theory post to wire it up right. You would use the r2 vid-cables if you have them, perhaps by a pair if your psu didn't come with them, as they are a pre-assembled upgrade over the stock Aurora vid-cables. Maybe a y-split 6pin to get 4 peripheral cables to work on the Delta's 3 periph modular ports.

---

My advice for A51 R1 when working w/the Delta: start w/an original case harness (U647R is $15 right now on eBay) or buy a nice set, figure it out like I do using my how-to thread & do-it-yourself. Old School baby. My original case harness cables, they look good enuff but I may do a black set soon. I didn't buy my Delta to figure it out & turn right around & sell it; I plan to keep it.  

I am sure my Alien is to be considered a very very rare kreature indeed ... rarely seen in the wild ...

got somethin' to say about my ALX R1.44?

I'd like to hear your opinion. and may even respond to it.

---

6.17.15

Purple n' Blak Attak: the Seqwel 

Having admired the cable set I made for a user back in February, I went about my own custom set for the Delta. I acquired an inexpensive unopened box of CableMod brand pre-sleeved black cables, of whom began selling 4packs of purple sleeved wire. From there, I removed some blacks / inserted some purples & what have you, eventually custom-sizing most cable-types; for instance the standard 24inch video cables were cut-down to a more manageable 16 / 14 / 12 inches, as I made myself three-sets. The hard-drive sata & main sata were custom-sized as well. I made a sata-multiplier (aka 6pin y-split) to run the hdd sata-cable-pair off of one 6pin psu port. The main sata & mio occupy the remaining two 6pin ports. The cpu cable & mio occupy the triple-red cpu row. All important wires were upgraded from 18gauge to 16gauge as well. Enjoy browsing over the finished work.

---

July 31, 2015 Lunar-51 GLX 

- Lolita wears a new case harness -

I've used fat 16gauge wire & gold pins 'everywhere'

I finally sourced a black 2pin male/female to use as a 5volt stand-by break-away connexion; Mio 10pin 5vsb-wire couples to what will become the extra-long hand-made 24pin ATX mthrbrd cable - 30 inches & no extension - shown here tapped 5vsb -

here an 11 inch & 15 inch set; the matching 13 inch pair's already in use

760mm long. no extension. beautiful.

- an NZXT Hale90 1200watt swap done right -

---

Tripods. Triads.

It's like the War of the Worlds up in this joint. WWIII. Doom's Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKg8DFi-bPo

Metal Church >< Beyond the Black

---

2.14.15

no sacrifice. no compromise. the purrrfect convergence of power & design:

See this enviable 1500 horsepower system I collaborated on, with her new ppl & blk wardrobe & shiny Lunar-GLX Armour in the links here: part2 >< part1 Link 12