Okay, someone explain this to me...

modessitt

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From everything I've ever seen and read and done, when using Golden Tee boards, the say to run the power for the green boards from the power supply to the two four-pin connectors, as well as a connector to the hard drive. Makes sense and has always worked.

Well, just the other day, I was looking at a GT green board and I decided to check something, and found that the +5, +12, and ground pins of those four-pin connectors have direct continuity with the same pins on the edge connector. This should mean that a normal JAMMA harness (with switching power supply connected) should be enough for supplying the GT board with enough voltage to operate correctly (adjusted with load attached).

If this is so, why the emphasis on the 4-pin connectors? Why wouldn't a normal JAMMA setup work just as well?
 
It will - for a while - but the draw is enough with the hard drive that it'll start building up resistance on just the edge connector and eventually burn the board. I've seen it happen on a ton of Blitz (and related) boards.
 
It will - for a while - but the draw is enough with the hard drive that it'll start building up resistance on just the edge connector and eventually burn the board. I've seen it happen on a ton of Blitz (and related) boards.

I figured to run a separate connector from the switcher to the Hard Drive, and just power the board (and video card) thru the edge connector...
 
I run the board from the edge connector and the HDD from the power supply. Like Peale said the edge connectors get burnt and I've even seen lifted traces.
 
If this is so, why the emphasis on the 4-pin connectors? Why wouldn't a normal JAMMA setup work just as well?

When Incredible Technologies had those boards made they were slightly thinner then their older boards so the GND and +5 connections at the JAMMA connector weren't as solid as they used to be. The end result was that the edge connectors would eventually burn up.

For short period testing and what not its fine to run them that way.

I worked for an IT distributor at the time and this is what they told us.

Matt
 
It will - for a while - but the draw is enough with the hard drive that it'll start building up resistance on just the edge connector and eventually burn the board. I've seen it happen on a ton of Blitz (and related) boards.

does this mean I shouldn't use the on-board hard drive connectors on the Seattle/Vegas boards?

I have a dead comp power supply laying around... can just make my own PSU HDD power connectors with some molex pins I got. :X
 
Its not so much voltage its current - thats why on Pole Positions we install friggin jumper cables to all the test points and more or less bypass the edge connector. More wire = more current capacity = cooler connections and happier golfers.
 
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