21 replies to this topic

[Mustachio]

Hi guys,

I never put together a computer myself. I never even thought about doing a case mod myself.
But this forum was such an inspiration i couldn't resist any longer and just had to give this thing a go!

I will try to update and keep you guys posted of any progress. I am not a native English speaker, so hopefully my english will not be all too bad.

A few weeks ago i got myself a G5 case with a dead mobo. It was 50 euros. And in an overall good condition. Not too many scratches . I still have all the internals if there's anyone who needs a mobo/processors/HD drive... i give them away, maybe they can help a real G5 to survive.

I stripped the case down and now I am reading and enjoying the worklogs of many great mods that have been posted on insanelymac.com.
I'd post some pics here, but i guess everybody knows what a stripped G5 looks like.

from mr. BlackCh (on this very forum!) i ordered the front i/o cable, and i am expecting it to arrive pretty soon. This guy is really helpful and fast to order from, i recommend.

from the laserhive i ordered the mAtx conversion kit + mobo tray.

Today i ordered an OCZ modxstream 600w psu and a dvd-burner (LG).

I stripped the original PSU housing and was considering to place the internals of my new PSU in the G5's housing. But i am a bit uncertain of electronics getting to hot or just doing something dangerous. So maybe i'll be putting the OCZ psu in the top or bottom in its original housing. In fact i am still not sure about how getting this done.

I also got 2x92mm fans  http://tweakers.net/...m-pwm-92mm.html to install them in the back of the G5 to keep things smooth and cool.

currently i am looking at asus' Maximus V gene mAtx board, a 3570k i5 and asus' gtx 660ti.
Don't know yet how to keep the cpu cool, i will have to see how much space i have left and how i can install intake fans.
Do you think this is a good way to go?

If anyone has good options for mounting fans in front of the case, or can confirm a top-mounted PSU is ok in terms of heat/temperature, i am interested to read about them.

Thank you guys and until next time!

[bonestonne]

You likely wont need any intake fans. Most computers don't, especially those with tower coolers. The G5 case has a width of 20cm roughly, and that means that depending on how much internal clearance you have, tower coolers about 160mm tall should fit without any problem at all. That said, you should pick your cooler wisely, and plan out the whole system, not just one thing at a time. Measure twice, cut once, always.

As far as top mounting the PSU, you just need to make sure that the fan inside the PSU has clearance for breathing. 5mm is enough, but obviously, a little more would be ideal. Cutting out part of that dividing section to have a hole for the PSU fan will ensure you will be able to have proper temps. On a side note, if you go with a PSU that has an 80mm fan rather than a 120mm, you can let it rest directly on that plate and not cut any holes. There will be plenty of breathing room for you to work with, no doubts at all.

As far as components go, the GTX660ti is a great card, I use one. The i5 is a great CPU, but if you're not going to be overclocking, save your money and get the non K model. I don't have any experience with those specific Be Quiet! fans, however I'd be tempted to try undervolting the stock fans, or looking at some Scythe or Noctua fans. Phantek is actually really good quality as well, but I have only worked with one fan from them, and I don't know much about their whole selection. 600W is definitely more than you'd need, but should work fine.

For the GTX660ti, I would really only look at the MSI Twin Frozr, Gigabyte WindForce, or Asus Direct CU models. They will have the best stock cooling by leaps and bounds over other reference models (I would also look at the different cards in that order).

Hopefully that helps you out!

[WhatTheTech]

Mustachio - the best of luck to you! It seems as though you are making some good choices regarding the front panel and motherboard tray - for a first time mod it will be a very pleasant experience!

Regarding the original PSU housing - I highly recommend it. I have had no problems with heat, and your 600W PSU will be fine. Take a look at my PSU mod here (starts there, keep reading down) : http://www.insanelym...d/#entry1881590

Finally, the G5Modders.com website is launching today with resources and guides. I hope you'll stop by and get some inspiration!

[Mustachio]

hi bonestonne & WhatTheTech, thank you guys for your advice and input. I already knew WhatTheTech's work btw . I am following your build log with great interest.

Today I had a little time left so I continued on this little project of mine. I finally managed to get the top shelf out. That wasn't very easy! I had no Torx 8 so I couldn't go on for two days....That blower/fan combo in the top is really something cool don't you think...


bonestonne, I like your idea of rewiring the original fans. Or some of them at least. I will try to find the correct molex connectors and check out what those fans have to offer in undervolting @ 5v or 7v. Again a new challenge... Concerning the tower cooler, I think it is best to wait a bit with those things.
I am waiting for the LaserHive kit. When it is installed I will have a better view of what space will be left. (ps my psu fan is 135mm, if I only knew... :-) I'd gone for an 80mm version.

Thanks for confirming on 660ti an i5 choices. I never overclocked a cpu. But I was thinking, why not try that out some day as well? So I am going for the K version. It that angle I'd like to keep good cooling options in mind.

As far as mounting the PSu goes, I am not sure what I must do.
Top-mounted is safer, and I will not lose guarantee.
But how routing the power cable to the bottom of the case? This  can be messy cable management.
If I had more knowledge of electronics I definitely would go with WhatTheTech's idea of mounting it in the original G5 psu case.
I have the 2 original intake 60mm fans. Can they be re-used? And will 2x60mm move the same amount of air as the Ocz's 135mm?
How about connecting both of the 60mm's to the psu pcb when my new Psu only has one 135mm fan? (Must be a dummie question, i know).
I already borrowed a soldering station and some other needed stuff to try it. Now I just need some guts and actually do it.

In the top of the case is a small card glued with double sided tape, as well in the bottom on the inner side of the case. Are these cards in anyway interesting to keep? My guess it's some bluetooth or wifi thingy?

Goodluck with G5modders.com it looks great and a great resource for us!

Again, thanks guys and see you soon.

[Mr.D.]

Those cards are temperature sensors for the original G5. I saved all of mine, thinking that maybe somehow I'll be able to reuse them. I have no idea how, but they are there just waiting for me to figure it out.

 Open PSU.JPG   100.75K   21 downloads

With regards to the PSU - I highly recommend the bottom option. Yes, you will void your warranty if you modify the new PSU enclosure. It felt great when I did! Once you break that first threshold, everything becomes easier. WTT cut the case for the PSU to fit it into the TeslaConverter shell. I gutted mine completely, bought some standoffs and attached the PSU PCB to the TeslaConverter shell that way. My way required very little cutting (the reason why I chose it). Either way is a good route to take - its all preference. If you do decide to mount the PSU up top, you'll almost assuredly have to make cuts in that top shelf for the cables, and might have to cut for a fan, depending upon - as Bonestone said - if you have enough clearance. I cant think of a single mod that I have seen where someone moved the PSU up top and did not cut a hole in the shelf for a fan. And, you'll also have to seriously consider cutting a hole in the top back of the perforated aluminum for the power plug. The only two fans that I have thus far re-used are the TeslaConverter fans. I made a mistake when I ordered new fans and forgot to order that size. I will eventually replace those, but they work for now. I, personally, replaced all my fans because the old fans are not only noisy, but don't move as much air as modern fans do. Reducing the voltage to the old fans just means that they are moving even less air. You wont need to move a lot of air in your proposed setup so it most likely wont be an issue - again, it all comes down to preference!

I have an ASUSRock board and the i5 3570K as well. I haven't overclocked yet, but I like to give myself some future options. If you have the money now, buy big. 9 outta 10 times when I hear about somebody buying small, they never upgrade, they just hang on as long as they can and replace everything later anyways.

Good luck with your mod and post pics when the works starts!!

[SirKeldon]

Hello mustachio,

My PSU is mounted on top, only thing i had to do is to cut a hole for the fan. Regarding the cable management i was able to use the original holes of the HD/DVD plate to manage them. I routed the 8V cable under the motherboard (as SATA power, SATA data and the power connector for the PSU that gets out of the cage via the original hole plug), unfortunately, AFAIK if you're gonna use TheLaserHive kit, you're not gonna have enough space under the motherboard to route any cable. Your best shot if that cable is not reaching the power connector (which i'd try first) is to get a 8pin extension like this: http://www.nzxt.com/...um_cables/cb_8p

Regarding the PSU, honestly, you don't need much idea with electronics to house an ATX PSU into the G5 PSU cage, all you have to do is remove the ATX cage, then cut it properly and stick, no re-wiring/soldering/sleeving is needed at all if it fits, just to cut out the ATX metal cage to fit within the G5 one and to remove the original fan being aware you're not touching the capacitors while manipulating it. The only thing involving the cables is to hookup the 220V/230V plug into the original one, which you can accomplish with a cable, not directly manipulating the ATX PSU plug if you're unsure.

About the 60mm fans, i think they can be reused and using 12V original plug, you can always connect one of them into a normal MOLEX connector coming out directly from the PSU and molex->12v adaptor. Also you can buy 60mmx25mm fans from Vantec, Revoltec and other brands if you want to swap them.

Good luck and i hope to see pictures soon!

[WhatTheTech]

I just modded my PSU and SirKeldon is correct.

Just plug in your 60mm fans to a molex connector or any other 12V source. Heck, put them down to 7V for a more silent operation.  I would say that sleeving my PSU with single-sleeve cables was harder than fitting it in to the enclosure, all you have to do is cut some metal and make sure you have enough clearance with your heatsinks. No rewiring need seeing as the 60mm's can run off of molex adapters.

Best of luck to you, whatever you end up doing.

(If G5 PSU enclosures weren't so expensive, I would be selling pre-modded PSUs for sure)


Edit: PSU enclosures aren't actually that expensive...hmmmm...

[Mr.D.]

As a note, I ran the fans from the TeslsConver shell right to my new PSU fan input. The nice thing about that is I now get temp readings from the PSU, while you wouldn't if you just converted them to molex. I soldered two things - the power plug (I like the apple grey plug so I kept that and spliced it into where the plug for the new PSU was) and the wires for the fans. Not a one of those require soldering. You can go to an auto-parts store and buy crimpers and joiners if you don't want to solder. I originally did this, but didn't like to look - again, its all a matter of preference! If you reuse the original TeslaConverter fans, you'll need to adapt them either way (molex or the new PSU). If you buy new fans for there, almost all of them come with 2/3 wire to molex adapters. If you don't want to solder or join wires with a crimper, you can just get a 6 foot extension cord with the correct female end, plug that into the socket on the new psu and have that cable run out the back. I saw a guy on YouTube do that. Its fully functional, requires no modification at all, and pretty darn easy. I don't like the look, personally, but -again- all comes down to preference!

[SirKeldon]

Nice one Mr.D,

I'm thinking into reusing an original G5 PSU cage for a future mod as well, and besides WhatTheTech's work and article, your comments are very useful as well. I was planning to replace the fans completely, but since you're using them wanted to ask you a thing ... i know the "grey" stock fans are pretty loud at 12V, the PSU ones are acting the same? If they do, are you running them undervolted in any way before hooking them up into the PSU PCB?

And one more thing, could you post that youtube video if you find it? Wanna take a look at the aesthetics look before i get into cutting/soldering ... at the end, that part is gonna remain hidden, so i'm really interested in the "cable quantity" that i'll have to manage inside the PSU cage to not compromise the airflow if i decide to go w/o soldering.

Thanks in advance!

[Mr.D.]

I was just looking for that video - its a 3 part series and the relevant part is 11 minutes in on part three, see below:



Yes, the fans are loud - that is the only reason why I'll eventually replace them. All the other fans I bought are nice and quiet. The original TeslaConverter fans are actually black, so there is no ascetic value to keeping them. I have thought about under-volding, but I can get new fans that move more air and are quieter - for like eight bucks.

A big suggestion - go with a modular PSU. That will help immensely with cable management. I had never used modular before this and I wouldn't go back to non-modular now. Either way that you go go - hacking the original TeslaConver case or mounting it up top, modular will be a big help for keeping that interior clean looking, and helping with air flow management as well.

Glad we can all help! My G5 mod is here if you are interested...

[SirKeldon]

Oh man, i got you wrong, i thought you were showing a guide of that thing but inside the G5 PSU cage and fixing it to the original spot. What the video shows it's what i did for my current mod, though my PSU is at top and i run that cable under the motherboard and gets out by the same spot as the video.

Yeah, i'm a big fan from Modular PSU's since years ago, i always liked mid-tower case and cable management/hidding is a PITA, so since 2008 i'm using them. Current G5 mod is running a Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W which is modular. Problem is current budget and specifically to cut/adapt it (specially if i want to reuse that PSU in other rig) ... so i was thinking to go with a low-wattage one (400-550W) and with the minimal connectors and going with extensors, such as some SFX form factor ones or some other standards, since i'll have to unmount the cage in both scenarios. I'm in doubt yet.

Thanks for sharing your mod, very nice and inspiring, the way you kept the original PSU, as well as the fan mountings and GFX plate is exactly the way i want to go in the future project, trying to keep loyal at Ive's inner design. Good work!

[Mr.D.]

Haven't run across a video of putting the new PSU into the original TeslaConverter shell - but G5modders.com has a good step by step, or you can look thru this sub-forum and find all sorts of pics where people did that. The nice thing about here is that there are a plethora of ways to go... and I'm betting that somebody has already done what you want to do, or close enough that it'll inspire you to do what you want to do.

[SirKeldon]

In fact i did, past year before starting the mod i read a whole bunch of posts (insanelymac, bit-tech, xtremesystems ...) regarding that, but i saw no video, that's why i felt curious.

I was also trying to find a decent wattage FlexATX/1U PSU available in Europe, because at the end, i must tell you, if i can avoid to open a new PSU, cutting it and soldering ... it will be even better. I found this and this which will fit my needs, unfortunately i saw no method how to buy them from here.

By the way, i know the guide that you mention, it's the WhatTheTech one, but now that you talk about G5Modders, my current mod is posted there if you feel curious too, here is the link.

[Mustachio]

Hi,
Here's some pics of the stuff I received last week.
 foto(7).JPG   140.01K   9 downloads
Yes this is the beauty I am working on.
 foto(6).JPG   151.31K   11 downloads
some goodies arrived
 foto(4).JPG   212.73K   14 downloads
So thanks to the advice of you guys I opened my new PSU case and tried fitting in into the G5 psu case.
It's a close fit but it will fit!
I detached the original 135 mm fan. Still i am about to order two new 60mm fans to replace the original ones.  The original 135mm fan is connected with a 2-pin molex connector to the psu. I'd like to know if it's possible to connect 2x60mm fans to this 2 pin connector? If so, can I just connect (solder) the wires from two fans together at 1 cable and connect this to the 2 pin molex from the new psu?
 foto(5).JPG   153.52K   9 downloads

This week I should receive the backplate-kit.... exciting!
Thank you for your input/comments, guys. Very intresting and usefull.

Greetings....

[WhatTheTech]

Woohoo!!! It's great to see someone else reusing the original PSU enclosure! For me, it's the best spot for the PSU, but only on a personal taste level.

So, as far as the fan question, if the replacement 60mm fans are 12V, you should be fine (i.e. they won't blow up). Whether they will run too loudly or something like that, only you can tell us - the original PSU fan can run at higher RPMs and make less noise, simply because of aerodynamics. Test it out, and see what sound levels you get. You may want to do what I did, and connect your 2x60mm to a 7V reducer, and then just plug them in to a standard 4-pin molex from the PSU cables.

Thanks for the update!

[Mr.D.]

That is exactly how I wired up my original fans to the new PSU- I cut the wires for the big new fan and spliced the wires for the two old fans to that.

I have a better picture than the one above, but this stupid file uploader keeps rejecting it. *UGH!* I'll try posting it online and linking to it.



EDIT:
Hope this works:

[Mustachio]

Nice! I'll try it and follow your example on this. Thanks for posting your pic, now everything seems a lot more clear.
Of course I'll clean out the 'almost vintage' dust that is piled up into the G5's psu enclosure.
Going out to buy a dremel of some kind tomorrow.

The yellow wire is important when keeping the original psu fans? Do you have to connect it?
Where did you connect it to? I know they might be noisy, like WTT said, but I'd prefer giving it a try at first.
Once I have them running I can swap them by some quieter onces afterwards. And start looking into the 7v reducer. If I know where to find one here.

I think it's great that now I am thinking about giving soldering a try and start cutting into the G5's case soon.

[WhatTheTech]

Mustachio, on 17 February 2013 - 07:19 PM, said:

I think it's great that now I am thinking about giving soldering a try and start cutting into the G5's case soon.

I think it's great too. I learnt how to solder in 2003 when I first started actually modding the insides of computers (rather than just spray painting the outsides and installing hardware). I learnt from a VHS video import someone posted on a modding forum, and further learnt some tips and tricks when Youtube launched and people actually started adding content. It's a good skill to have, not as hard as you might think, and totally necessary for modding computers

[Mr.D.]

Yellow wire is the thermometer. If your PSU supports thermal monitoring then that should be a three wire plug - or you might have a sensor hard wired to the new PSU somewhere (that's what I had). You can choose to ignore the yellow wire (I did), tap into the thermal sensor that's on the PSU - or if you have the option with the three wire plug, join it there.

PS - sorry for the picture disappearing and reappearing act. FYI - don't use iCloud PhotoStream to serve up pics as the URL is constantly changing (as I found out to my dismay today). Should be fixed now (knocks on wood).

[Mustachio]

Hi guys,
Time for a quick update. Hope you're all doing fine.
Today I grabbed my new and first dremel and started cutting the case of my new Ocz-psu. As you can see now, the internals all fit nice and easy in the G5's enclosure. Isn't that nice. Thank you guys for getting my on route with this!!!



Untitled by throw1n shapes, on Flickr

What was really cool, actually,is that after a bit experimenting with soldering I managed to get the original fans spinning again! woohoo.
Defenitely need to pick up some isolation tape to cover things up nicely.
I didn'y know what to do with the yellow wire. So I just left it untouched.





Finally I'd like to share with you guys that I recieved my backplate and mobo tray combo today. Can't wait to start installing the goodies. I will follow the true insanelymac advice: measure twice, cut once ;-)




Have a nice weekend!

Cheers