So...
I'm moding a Power Mac Pro. Ripping the guts out, and putting in a Z77 board. I love the way they have the hard drives though, so I wanna keep it. Problem is, they plug into a back plane, and they all go to an SAS plug.
(Pictures!!)
The SAS end.
How it plugs into the HDD's
There are a few bumps in the road. Here are some questions.
1 Do they make an SAS extension? The cord is only 6" long (heh heh) and I'll need it to reach farther. :/
2. Are there any Z77 boards with SAS controllers on them? I looked at the ASUS WorkStation board, but it didn't look like it did.
3. Also, most of the SAS controller add-on cards seem to be PCI-e x4. If I mod a PCI-e x1 slot to fit the x4 card, will I loose funtionality? As in only be able to have one HDD due to the loss of the PCI lanes...
The plan here is to install the Mobo upside down, and put in some water cooling. I'm trying to keep the look as close as I can for the initial build (proof of concept... I have 4 more to play with), then eventually cut the side panel for a window...
Bonus Pic!!
I call this DISASSEMBLE!!!
I'm moding a Power Mac Pro. Ripping the guts out, and putting in a Z77 board. I love the way they have the hard drives though, so I wanna keep it. Problem is, they plug into a back plane, and they all go to an SAS plug.
(Pictures!!)
The SAS end.
How it plugs into the HDD's
There are a few bumps in the road. Here are some questions.
1 Do they make an SAS extension? The cord is only 6" long (heh heh) and I'll need it to reach farther. :/
2. Are there any Z77 boards with SAS controllers on them? I looked at the ASUS WorkStation board, but it didn't look like it did.
3. Also, most of the SAS controller add-on cards seem to be PCI-e x4. If I mod a PCI-e x1 slot to fit the x4 card, will I loose funtionality? As in only be able to have one HDD due to the loss of the PCI lanes...
The plan here is to install the Mobo upside down, and put in some water cooling. I'm trying to keep the look as close as I can for the initial build (proof of concept... I have 4 more to play with), then eventually cut the side panel for a window...
Bonus Pic!!
I call this DISASSEMBLE!!!
