Maximum PC

I wanted to make a How To that's as easy as possible for people to understand and most importantly, visualize. Also, due to a Christmas gift, it's the first time I've had to make one since it's the first time I've had an SLI rig since I SLI'ed some 9600GSO's.

Here we go. First off, for each plug you're going to make, you need an adapter plug and three 68-Ohm resistors. You can buy the resistors in packs of 5 from Radio Shack for $1. If you've ever bought a video card, you've probably got a few of these DVI-VGA adapters laying around:



Next, the resistors:



Take out three of them. Note that the metal "legs" coming off of these things are extremely easy to bend. Bend one leg of the resistor around the body and pointing down, in-line with the other leg like so:



Then, using wire cutters or even scissors, cut the legs evenly. Drop just 1/8 of an inch or so below the tip of the shortest leg and clip/cut. I suggest doing it this way because then, both legs are slightly pinched by the cutting process and tend to stay in the adapter much better.



Here is the guide you will be following for inserting the pins. One leg goes in at the top, then one at the bottom of each of the highlighted holes. Notice how I've highlighted and attached the holes. The legs of the resistors go into the top hole and then the other leg goes into the hole I've drawn the line to. Pretty easy to see what needs to be done:



The first resistor inserted:



All three inserted. Notice how I've staggered the orientation of the resistor's so that the legs stay well away from each other. This will keep the legs from touching each other "just in case."



Top view with resistor's bent over so you can see the holes each is inserted into:



I took the additional step of taping the resistor's up. My computer sits on the floor on wheels. I wheel the computer around a little bit to vacuum up dust and animal hair and was afraid the back would hit something or a wire get pulled and crush the resistor's into each other. If the legs make contact with each other, I have no idea if it would short the card out or not, so I'm taking this extra step for caution. Use either electrical tape or friction tape. I like friction tape because it doesn't just unwrap itself like vinyl tape does.

First resistor gets taped:



Second one. Notice I used a small screw driver to pull the tape down the legs before moving on to the last one:



All done. Three minutes per plug if you have your materials laid out.





It's as easy as it looks too and it works great. Enjoy!

A superb instructional! Even a know-nothing moron like me could to this.

Great job. Added to the Thread of All Threads.

Seen a few posts on this elsewhere, but your tutorial is by far the best; excellent pics and detailed information presented concisely. Very nice.

Thanks guys.

I was pretty surprised to look for one and not find one on here yet. There's a couple on the Internet, but I thought I could make one that was a little clearer for our place.

LOL! Thanks brother. My hands are usually too dirty from working on things. I wouldn't want to put them in my mouth.

WTF did that do for you?

Nice with actual pics, but I don't see this not working the last 8 times I've posted it:

Tape isn't needed...leads don't touch. If there's a threat of it, then you use heatshrink, cause that stuff won't work. It's pretty much athletic tape.

For those interested in soldering, I've posted an bread board plug too that takes up less space and no heatshrink or athletic tape is needed. Costs less than $8 and is expandable for more than one card. Just trim the board to fit the layout.

Uh. Friction tape is NOT athletic tape. It's FRICTION tape. Used for years and years by electricians before vinyl tape. Although it has been used on baseball bats and such, I wouldn't want to confuse people into thinking the commonly seen athletic tape from Walgreens is something you'd want to wrap around the electrical leads on these resistors. Like I said, Vinyl tape is more commonly found for electrical uses, but it can unwrap itself, which is why I prefer the friction tape I got in the electrical department at Lowe's.

It doesn't have to look pretty with the heatshrink, it just has to work. But yeah, you're right. Yours is much better than mine. Even with the improperly color coded bands on the resistors. I don't know if 75-Ohm will work or not. All the research I did suggested 68 minimum, 73 max....

Resistors are futile!!!! Sorry, couldn't resist (again, same reason)

Quakdude, thanks for the step-by-step, makes it dirt simple to do.

8? Thats it? You could make them for us, plug them in, post 1,000 pictures/videos, and we'll still find new ways to make them not work. I'm being optimistic.


I'm glad Ubuntu and XP don't need those dumb plugs. M$ is always screwing things up.

It allows you to fold on both GPU's without having to hook up a second monitor to the second GPU. Especially important when you're running three or four GPU's on a single mobo, but damned handy when it's only two as well. This way, you don't need another monitor on your desk.

Or Hot Melt Glue.

Quick question, will 1/4 Watt resistors work? Or do they need to be 1/2 watt?

I've not tried it with 1/4 watt resistors. However, I wouldn't either. Not when the spec'ed resistors only cost a couple bucks.

Well I have some 68 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistors laying around. The closet place to get 1/2 watt is an hour away

PM me your address and I'll send you some. If you need six or less that is.

This deserves a sticky!