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MacBane - A worklog/modding guide for a new way to convert G4 Towers to ATX


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Congrats, your mod is awesome !

And inspiring me :)

I'm thinking seriously to give a new life for my QuickSilver case…

 

At last, I think flat colour paint, is the beter way to paint plastics…

 

Painting was one of the hardest parts of this project, just take your time when doing it and you will be rewarded. Glad i could inspire you, my next Mac Mod will be a Quicksilver too. Mine is still in near mint condition so I will leave it looking stock for the most part.

 

As for my project:

 

The 5770's have finally arrived so I can get back to work on this, all I am missing now are two 24" SATA cables to reach the RAID array up in the top of the case. And yes, the cooler on these cards looks a lot like the 1989 Batmobile.

 

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And they actually fit!

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And with enough parts to keep moving ahead I have started wiring the case:

 

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Had to cut the top LED strip down by a centimeter to fit properly:

 

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And Back panel wiring has started too:

 

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Excellent work so far. You should consider a side job building custom cases / systems. I've been wanting to do a Mac Pro case mod but looking at the quality of work you do I would strongly consider buying a modded case from you if the price was right.

 

Keep the pics coming, I want to see the system fully assembled and buttoned up.

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First off, congratulations on a very impressive project. I'm stunned by your skills!!! Learning a lot, thank you!

 

One request: could you measure the space available to fit the motherboard. I'm thinking of getting a G4 case, but am hesitant, since I would be using a motherboard that measure 30.5x21cm (full ATX)

 

I've read other posts where people claim to have gotten a full ATX board to fit, but haven't seen any pics so far.

 

I would think the motherboard would have to be recessed further inside to fit, am I correct?

 

Any thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated.

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Thanks everyone, I have some good news...

 

 

 

 

 

It's done!!!!

 

And here is the final result of my first case mod and three months worth of hard work:

 

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I will take some real photos sometime by the weekend and post them, thanks for looking :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Beautiful job! I'm blown away. As I myself am nearing completion of my own G4 build, I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping you could help me with.

 

First, you said that you kept the original front power/reset switch. Could you provide me the pinout that you used to make it work with your mobo? I found a few how-to's online but they're not working for me.

 

Second, what did you use to cut out the motherboard support holes in the plastic internal latch? I tried drilling the holes, but ended up cracking the thinner part near the top. Now I have to hunt down a new one online *grumblemumble*.

 

Thanks for any support you can provide, and again phenomenal job.

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:) Thanks everybody, my next Mac mod will be starting sometime soon over at Overclock.net once the summer is all wrapped up.

 

incredible.

 

wanna sell it?

 

Make me an offer, and I'll let you know if that works for me ;)

 

Beautiful job! I'm blown away. As I myself am nearing completion of my own G4 build, I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping you could help me with.

 

First, you said that you kept the original front power/reset switch. Could you provide me the pinout that you used to make it work with your mobo? I found a few how-to's online but they're not working for me.

 

Second, what did you use to cut out the motherboard support holes in the plastic internal latch? I tried drilling the holes, but ended up cracking the thinner part near the top. Now I have to hunt down a new one online *grumblemumble*.

 

Thanks for any support you can provide, and again phenomenal job.

 

I didn't use the original pinout from the front panel switch as the G4 used a common ground unlike ATX boards so I simply soldered the wires that attach to the motherboard directly to the old switch terminals making sure to sever the old circuits to avoid any shorts.

 

The plastic latch was cut using a Rotozip cutting tool, makes a lot of chips going through plastic but it fairly easy to work with even when cutting brittle material.

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  • 3 months later...
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Fantastic mod!!!

 

One question - Where's the hole for the power cable? I cannot see it on any of the pictures. Since the power supply is on the front, it has to come out somewhere.

 

Papus96!

 

It plugs in from the bottom of the case ;)

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  • 5 months later...

I stumbled upon two of these cases on craigslist and have stated one with your exact paint scheme. Love it love it and its coming along quite sick. If i keep and use both cases I may do the other in opposites (white front, black sides) if so i'll def post. Great job man

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