How to fit PC in a G5 PowerMac enclosure :> Options

[nervouschimp]

I was playing around this morning, and realized that the G5 case will accept 2 complete shuttle G-series computers, with a little room to spare.



While 2 discrete machines would be impractical for some, it is perfect for way I work. I create game content on the mac that ends up in a game editor in windows. Game editors, and games in general don't run well if at all in parallels, and there is too much back and forth to boot into windows.... so for that, and many other reasons.... I think this will be an interesting project worth pursuing. My hack will be called the Powermac dual-G2 project. My back panel already has 2 lans and 2 antennas, and with the addition of an internal KVM, and firewire 800 adhock between the 2.... this should be fun.

[olinboy1]

Is that iPhone or Touch? If its iPhone what is that very cool case?

Indeed it is an iPhone case. I bought it a few weeks ago and I like it a lot.
Switcheasy iPhone Case




:: UPDATE ON MY G5 CASE ::

I have my new standoffs made (I'll post the pics when I get home later on). I modified some standoffs that were too long that I picked up at RadioShack, set them into 1 inch squares of clear plexi, and bonded them down to the case with metal epoxy from Home Depot. After the first 24hrs, I'm happy with about 6 out of the 9 total being completely solid. The remaining 3 that were loose needed to be re-applied (I think they were set on parts of the epoxy that weren't a good 50-50 mix to bond/harden correctly)

[nervouschimp]

So, it can be done..... the question is, SHOULD it be done? I'm thinking this is kind of silly.

[teknojunkie]

yeah it is kinda silly but pretty cool I would suggest getting the skulltrail board and sticking 2 quads 16 gb ram 4 video cards 4tb of storage 1000 PSU Watt and your good. lol

[nervouschimp]

yeah it is kinda silly but pretty cool I would suggest getting the skulltrail board and sticking 2 quads 16 gb ram 4 video cards 4tb of storage 1000 PSU Watt and your good. lol

the skulltrail platform is serious coin. a real mac pro would be a better choice.

skulltrail is rubbish.

price/performance ratio blows.

fb-dimms are slow, and don't belong in a gaming platform.

very few apps will benifit from 8-cores.

etc.... total waste of money.

[HacOSXuser]

so just build an amazing gaming pc. i think the 2 shuttles wouldn't be very practical.

[teknojunkie]

the skulltrail platform is serious coin. a real mac pro would be a better choice.

skulltrail is rubbish.

price/performance ratio blows.

fb-dimms are slow, and don't belong in a gaming platform.

very few apps will benifit from 8-cores.

etc.... total waste of money.

yeah it is pretty pricy but wait soon it will go down yeah I would get Mac Pro 100 Times than the SkullTrail just my thoughts. Good luck with what your going to do.

[nervouschimp]

OK, I finally pulled the trigger at newegg, and the parts should be arriving soon (knowing newegg).

The components for my new system:

ASUS P5E WS Professional LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
SYBA PCI-Express 1394b FireWire Card Model SD-PEX-FWB
Thermaltake W0131RU ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 X 2
Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD7500AYYS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S
ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Fan 9 (AF9) 92mm Case Fan X2
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

I think it'll be a fairly decent rig if I can get the Q6600 to 3.2GHZ, and with the supported FSB of this board, and the flipping awesome Xigmatek cpu cooler, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm feeling good about this build.

[HacOSXuser]

seems like a solid build

[nervouschimp]

with my parts on the way, it was time to figure out a solution for the new power supply.



the PSU will actually exhaust out the bottom of the case. there is plenty of clearance, thanks to the G5 feet. a 90 degree power jumper will run back into the case through the bottom, and back to the rear of the G5.



that is my cut. a little filing and i'll be done.



there i have the psu plate installed using 1/8" rivets. just to the right of the psu plate is the power return hole. i have installed a radio shack rubber grommet into the through-hole.



there is the psu plate from the inside. looks nice and neat IMO. i will be installing exhaust fans there, as they will help prevent warm air from building up under the G5, and help get the CPU heat out.



that's an old PSU serving as a stunt double to demonstrate the arrangement since i don't have the real PSU yet.

[zonoskar]

Dumbfounded.... why would you go through all that hassle of sparing the rear panels and then cut up the bottom.

[teknojunkie]

looking good nervouschimp

[dark4181]

Dumbfounded.... why would you go through all that hassle of sparing the rear panels and then cut up the bottom.

gotta agree with this

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

well the bottom isn't going to be seen at all, where as the back will be sen at points even all the time depending on the positioning of the case. plus if you dont do the back right it can take away the integrity of the case.

lookin' good nervouschimp!!!!! keep it coming!!!

[teknojunkie]

nervous chimp are you going to be running Mac on this because alot of things dont work with your motherboard

Kalyway 10.5.1
BIOS version unknown, Rev. unknown
SATA Work
IDE Doesn't Work
Audio Doesn't Work
LAN working out of the box
iAtkos 10.5.1
SATA Work
LAN working after patch

takin from the wiki.

Sorry Nevermind it works

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...=80885&st=0

[nervouschimp]

OK, so why restore the rear ports, and then cut the bottom? I didn't rewire the the back because I am afraid to use a dremmel. The back, like the front is perfect the way it is. The only legacy port on this case that was stamped out way back in 2004 is the modem port, and that port can be converted to a 2nd LAN. I want this to look like a G5, not a G5 with a ATX tray stuck on the back. If you are going to be dumbfounded by anything, it should be that anyone would take the time to convert a powermac to ATX in the first place.

The bottom of this case is an empty canvas as far as I'm concerned, it's the under carriage, and it's not like I butchered it. It's a clean mod. Besides, I have been trying to aquire a G5 skateboard, which would mean the bottom would never ever be seen, but they are impossible to find in stock anywhere, even ebay.

I'm actually dumbfounded when I see people chop out the whould backsided of their G5, just to use their one expansion card, and expose the PS2/parallel/serial legacy crap connectors on their motherboard. Maybe I'm just weird.

[teknojunkie]

did you make that thing to hold your PSU.

[nervouschimp]

did you make that thing to hold your PSU.

it's from a big old Lian Li case that a coworker didn't want anymore. lots of good parts on it.

[HacOSXuser]

nervouschimp when are your parts coming in?

[nervouschimp]

nervouschimp when are your parts coming in?

Hopefully the first of them will arrive tomorrow. I got to work on my tray mounting tonight. I originally wanted to bolt the tray to the G5 standoffs, but ran into a couple issues. The heads of the standoff screws are so big that they will touch the motherboard, and mounting it this way will make it harder to work on the motherboard. So I am attaching 3 tabs to the tray that will secure it to the G5 chassis. This will allow me to mount everything down outside the case. I'll post pictures of that when I'm done.