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

[_Wolverine_]

can someone tell me if i have to cut a lot of it?
specs in sig

[Harloe]

can someone tell me if i have to cut a lot of it?
specs in sig

Depends on your method of modding. Some cut the back of the case and install a removeable motherboard tray (I believe some Lian Li Mobo Trays work best for this). Some cut the back of the case and install there own I/O panel. Some solder female I/O connector cables from there motherboard to the I/O plate. There is numerous ways of doing it!

I suggest sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading every page of this thread

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

got some more parts through today.... one step closer but still 100s of steps away. theres going to have to be a lot of fabrication of frames & supports to hold the components in my case.

i need to support the front rad, which i will do by bolting it to the side of the case, and countersinking the holes so i can still shut the door. however due to my choice of rad, it has no side holes, so i will have to dremel out a front support then bend the aluminium through 90 degrees to attach to the side of the case. i cant put the rad any higher because i am mounting an aquaero above, so unfortunately it will restrict some airflow where the 2nd rad rises into the path of the lower fan. i still need to measure that up, and when i get my aquaero i will do that.

the 2nd rad is easy, i will just fix it to the bottom of the case....

yes that is my behemoth of a psu. it is a 1000w zalman dual heatsink ultra silent psu. its over 200mm long!! man this is going to be a tight fit!! i think this will be the hardest thing to mount...(answers on a post card please) i plan to raise it up above the height of the 2nd rad, A) to allow me to use the power outlet in the case & B ) to fit an air deflector to direct air out the back of the case instead of out the bottom (where the 2nd rad draws air from).

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[_Wolverine_]

thx i already read
i've made some measurement on my father's mac pro and i think i wont have to cut alot
he didnt allow to remove the covers (ex. PSU cover) but i think i will have to cut just the connectors on the back
first i need to convince him to give me one

sorry for my english im brazillian

[FabricioGS]

_Wolverine_,

I'm giving up on my project and I'm gonna sell my case. I live in São Paulo, PM me

[vailancer]

has anyone buy parts or used mac from dvwarehouse.com before? how reliable there are?

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

i managed to get some more done on my case this weekend.

the first rad is mounted in the case, although i messed up slightly, it can be covered up... i mounted the rad using a custom mount made from 2mm aluminium. i screwed this to the case side, countersunk the holes so that the door will still shut flush.

im stuck on where to put my aquaero (fan controller) i want to place it so that i can see it, but i think that it spoils the front. i have no room in the top to mount it through the roof. im thinking on the door, or otherside, but i move my desk round so much.... i dont want it facing a wall or something.... anybody got any ideas?

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[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

due to a slight overlook of mine, i will no longer be able to mount the psu how i originally intended. but its no biggie really! i originally wanted to use the existing power plug, but now i cant and ill just have to feed the powercord out of the bottom of the case... it does make mounting the thing easier though.

i overlooked the shear length of the radeon 4870x2!! oh well, it also gives me a slight headache on the pump mounting but, i think that will easily be overcome.

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

just a quick note.... i cannot believe how much this thing weighs.... its heavier than my old mac pro, and it doesnt have all the parts in yet. i think mac pros are like 24kg too. may have to stay on the floor instead of atop my desk. epecially if you think theres the water loop to fill..... ha

[pirloui]

Yes, it's weird how quickly these get heavy.
Did you keep the exotic PSU placement at the back, by the way?

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

Yes, it's weird how quickly these get heavy.
Did you keep the exotic PSU placement at the back, by the way?

i intend to keep it there, if you look at the pictures you will see why i say intend. its tight! also, because of the cutout for the bottom rad, there is not going to be a lot of "floor" left, so im worrying about strength.

i also had to sacrifice the air baffle, it just wont fit because of the second rad. i could move it across but then i dont think the memory banks of the asus p6t would clear it.

sorry about the crappy iphone camera btw

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[pirloui]

Ok, yes I see it's tight indeed.. Depends how many ports you need, if you get the USB and the Audio from the header pins, you won't have to connect anything to the back of the motherboard...

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

Ok, yes I see it's tight indeed.. Depends how many ports you need, if you get the USB and the Audio from the header pins, you won't have to connect anything to the back of the motherboard...

luckily the mobos i/o ports are not covered up, so i can still use them. i may shave some more off of the pci support frame, just to get a couple more mm's. i dont want vibration noise after i shelled out for near silent parts.

[Wiretap]

Been lurking in this thread for a while, on friday I took home a dead (ram controller failed) 1.8DP G5 from work, and decided to re-case my PC.

The idea was to keep it as true to the original as possible (initially I wanted to use the original front CPU and IO fans, but that wasnt happening.

The powersupply has been fitted within the original apple PSU case, and while it strikes the lid with the primary capacitors (may move those), it does fit. the original PSU fans have also been used. (Pics of all this to come, posting from work).

I havent yet wired up the drive bay fan and blower, all fans are controlled by the Zalman ZM-MFC2 sitting on the bottom of the case. The 'CVS' for that unit is the USB-looking plug on its own on the door-side of the case.





Front panel ports arent working yet as I havent had time to sort them, and the back panel didnt come out quite as I'd hoped, partially due to running out of rivets.

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

i think thats one of the neatest cuts and riveted back panel that i have seen, with the exception of cyprios of course!!

nice job

[pirloui]

I said earlier I would use a G5 mobo part with the connectors in order not to cut in the case.
It's a mix of different peoples methods.

For now, Audio (both) and USB (both) are working.
The part itself fit perfectly, not a mm too much or too little.

Planning to do Firewire 400 and Ethernet aswell, but I couldn't find the pinout between the connector and the motherboard. Ethernet is 8 pins, and there are 10 on the motherboard (G5s). Besides my multimeter didn't get any conductivity between any of them.

Anyhow. I'm most satisfied with the beginning

Thank you amd_sony for the cut and fast shipping



USB and Audio are soldered.. Ugly solder, the small iron didn't warm enough, and the large was large.

Ready with USB header on one, and mini jack on the others. (keeping mobo audio header for other use)

Had to break the old ports in order to make the mobo border flush. Good riddance.

The standoffs are the ones from the case (low ones) sanded down a 1/2 mm


Yeay, nice ports

[Wiretap]

i think thats one of the neatest cuts and riveted back panel that i have seen, with the exception of cyprios of course!!

nice job

Why thankyou, its not as great up close, im going to re-do it at some point as its not perfect, and im a perfectionist
I need to use thicker ali next time (1.0mm not thick enough, too flexible)

Finding an automatic fan controller is proving somewhat problematic.

[Baudouin]

Yes indeed nice ports pirloui, Congratz , great and clean job . Got a full G5 mobo, will do the same later.

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

yeh pirloui, nice work! how hard was the soldering? got any pinouts?

think im gonna start looking round for a dead g5 logic board now.

anybody got one? lol

[pirloui]

The soldering was a little bit hard, but then it's not my speciality, so I guess anyone could manage
I'll add the pinouts to amd_sony's scan a bit later