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[Build Log] Shifty G5/mATX Conversion


shiftysamurai
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I am officially excited again! Can't wait to start actually building instead of just planning and shopping (and shopping, and shopping, and planning, and shopping....). I am giving myself 2 weeks after I receive all of my parts to have it all put together and working (I didn't say "finished"). I plan on having quite a few pictures taken during my build process, hopefully I don't screw up, but if I do I want to be able to let others know what NOT to do. :D

 

GIT 'ER DONE!

 

Seriously excited to see what you put together!! My Laser Hive stuff came pretty quickly, and I even just ordered some audio cables from the UK and they only took 8 days to get here. Honestly with Newegg Super Saver (if you chose it) you might get everything about the same time!

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Shifty, your stuff is on the way.....

:wink2:

 

WooHoo! Still waiting for the front I/O cable, but that's coming from Spain (I think...) and you never know what customs is going to do with your stuff. :/

 

Also, I think I may have ordered the wrong size fan from NewEgg. The link and page title say it's 80mm, but the description lists it as 92mm. Guess I'll find out in a few days.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186076

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Also, I think I may have ordered the wrong size fan from NewEgg. The link and page title say it's 80mm, but the description lists it as 92mm. Guess I'll find out in a few days.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835186076

 

That is weird... take some screenshots and report that to them - especially if you have to RMA because its the wrong size. My cable from Spain took about two weeks. Customs shouldn't be an issue since its listed as a gift and valued under a hundred bucks. It was VERY worth the wait for that cable!

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WooHoo! Still waiting for the front I/O cable, but that's coming from Spain (I think...) and you never know what customs is going to do with your stuff. :/

 

Also, I think I may have ordered the wrong size fan from NewEgg. The link and page title say it's 80mm, but the description lists it as 92mm. Guess I'll find out in a few days.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186076

 

If you bought the F9, it's definitely the 92mm. The F8 is their 80mm fan, and I found another newegg listing for the F8 which had 80mm in the description, so I think you're good. Great fan choice by the way, I review for Arctic and their fans are pretty dang quiet and efficient!

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I debated a while between some SilenX (color coordinating) red fans, but I've used Arctic before and for the pricedifference, compared to a fan that was red, I had to go with Arctic even if it doesn't exactly "match". I went with CO because my system doesn't get powered off.

 

Instead I bought some Rosewill 120mm red fans for the front. Some 2x4gb red highlighted GSkill RAM.. And then I bought 3 (Red) Rosewill Sata cables. All of mine are black or orange. :P

 

Also picked up an SSD (with more red on it, but that is just coincidence).

 

NewEgg is saying Tuesday next week for my parts, I guess being so close to their NJ warehouse cuts "whenever" shipping to 5 day.... /sarcasm

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Their super saver shipping is the reason I don't use Newegg. Now that sounds terribly unfair of me given that it's free, but I decided to go with Amazon Prime instead. $80 a year, and ALL of my purchases arrive two days (sometimes next day). They have about 90% of the stock that Newegg does at very similar prices.

 

I live about 14 hours drive from the main Newegg warehouse, I'm not going to wait 10+ days for such a small distance...lol

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Amazon was my first choice, I am also a Prime member, but when I was pricing the same parts on Amazon (with Prime eligibility) I was closer to $900.

 

I figure I won't have the cable for at least a few more days, and the rear I/O panel for at least another week, so having the free shipping (and $100 less price tag) is better, even if it takes a bit more time.

 

I originally wanted to get the Laserhive stuff first, followed by the PC hardware, and the cable last. Looks like I'll get it in the opposite order.

 

Also, not yet listed above is the front fan bracket that I am getting from Laserhive as well. 2 x120mm fans and I don't have to try to figure out the best way to mount them? Yes please. Still working out where to put my mass storage drives, and the SSD, but that will most likely change when the parts all show up.

 

I feel the need to say that my wife is being increasingly awesome with this project. What started as me upgrading my existing PC for $500 has turned into a completely different project that will end up at least twice as expensive. She's seen me spend hours looking over parts trying to stay within a budget and she says "You are going to have so much time in this, don't cheap out, just make it a great PC."

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Oh snap, a double post! So, I just found out that my good old cordless Dremel (from 2004?) is totally seized up. Looks like it sat in water or something, no idea how/why that would have happened, but it is not besides the point. I'm trying to decide which rotary tool to go with, and what attachment to use to cut the aluminum on the back of my Mac Pro case. Not sure if I should get some EZ406 reinforced wheels, or just spring for the more expensive EZ545 diamond cutoff wheel.

 

Back in the day I used my Dremel with the standard cutoff wheel attachments and blasted through 4 or 5 on what I thought was thin/weak material. Having to remove the broken pieces of wheel from the bit, replacing... Jeesh. The EZ system looks good, but what would be BETTER is if I didn't break a wheel in the first place.

 

Anyone used the diamond cutoff wheels?

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Honestly, the standard (reinforced) metal cutting EZ wheels will be just fine, it's what I use. Diamond-tipped are good, and you can get by with using a single one for your cut, BUT it is still metal, and eventually will wear down to the point of being unusable. I have experience with both, but I'm just not sure that the price premium on the diamond-tipped wheels is equal to its durability.

 

Basically, six of one, half a dozen of the other, but the EZ system is far better than the older mandrel system - I have yet to break a wheel or strip out the inside of one.

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My very first case mod that I did - back in '00, was putting a spec AMD motherboard and Athlon 1GHz proc (that I had won in AMD's online contest when they beat the GHz barrier before Intel) inside my first computer, which was an IBM PC/XT Model 286. You think the G5's are tanks -- the IBM PCs were made out of 1/8" cold rolled steel. My cutting tool of choice (only choice I had really) was a 2 speed corded Dremel from the late '70s. What I loved most about that was using a screwdriver and socket wrench to change out the cutting wheels when they broke - and they broke about every 3-4 inches. That machine was my gaming rig and I used that up until mid 2004 while upgrading the video cards in it about every year. That heavy beast was fun to bring to a LAN party lemme tell ya.

 

I borrowed a friend's Dremel for my G5 mod and used the fiberglass wheels w/o problem... but I am, at some point, going to get a 4000 - or maybe the new 4200! *insert picture of me drooling here*

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Thanks for the input, guys. The local Lowes sells a Drenel with a ton of attachments, including 10 of the reinforced cutoff wheels, so I'll probably just be going with that. It's only a 5 minute drive, so if I do end up needing better/more discs, it won't be an issue.

 

Also, I have been seriously considering dual booting OSX and Win7. I know that my ATI 7870 isn't supported, but the Intel 4000 video should work under OSX, right?

 

Obviously the BEST case scenario would be if Apple put out support for the 7-series, but if I can get OSX to not see my PCI video card and go with the inboard stuff... I have multiple inputs for my monitor, so switching it over isn't a problem.

 

I do not have a Mac in which to prepare a disc for a Hackintosh build, more study is required. Feel free to drop some knowledge bombs on me if you have some. Stayed up until 4am reading over guides and feel more confused than I did before I began reading. :S

 

Ohhh, last bit of news: NewEgg is showing my package(s) in Cary with an expected delivery on Monday. That's only 4 days on super saver shipping. Not too bad.

 

But seriously, any help with getting info as to how I can get OSX onto the hardware in the first post would be GREAT.

 

EDIT: I guess I got a 7850 instead of a 7870... :/

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stuff.jpg

 

What's this? The UPS guy came by? I wonder what is inside of that box... (please note the rest of the Mac Pro pieces and Dremel box sitting in my "Computer Corner" as the wife calls it.)

 

image.jpg

 

Oh my! There's PC hardware? I wonder what all is inside?!

 

allofit.png

 

While I am not surprised that they jammed everything into that one litle box, I am a bit disappointed. I guess this means I need to do a hardware test and make sure it will post.

 

I may have mentioned it before, but Yes, I did buy red SATA cables. IT ALL HAS TO COLOR COORDINATE! Damned you Modders for making me see how awesome stuff can be by being all anal about hardware and cable management! Not pictured: $13.79 SATA LiteOn DVD+/- RW drive (purchased through Amazon Prime)

 

Also, why the heck is that last picture so much bigger? All were taken on my iPhone... No idea.

 

Pre-Posting Edit: I didn't see my CPU cooler in there, so I went back and it turns out I never ordered one. :wallbash: Guess I'll make due without OCing for a bit, but it is the reason I got that many fans with that CPU and MB. I don't trust stock coolers.

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You'll be fine for now on the stock cooler. Having talked with the chief engineer at Intel Support several time, I can tell ya that those stock coolers will get you to 3.8 no problem. The CPU runs a little hot, but the 3rd gen core chips are designed to handle higher Tj. Max temps.

 

That MB box looks really really familiar... almost like a cousin or sumthin'

IMG_0068.JPG

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Looks like the only differences between the boards are the following:

 

The Extreme4m has two PCIe 3 slots whereas the Pro4m has one.

 

The E4m has "premium gold caps".

 

The E4m uses the Realtek 898 codec and the P4m uses the Realtek 892 codec.

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I went with the e4m because of the two PCIe 3.0 slots - if I ever decide to run a dual card setup one day, that'll come in handy.

 

Know any issues with either of the audio codecs?

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Doing a quick search doesn't show anything about any issues with the audio codecs. I'm not sure why the change from 892 to 898 unless my board is an older design.

 

Also, I am fairly impressed with the sleeving that was done on both sets of fans, as well as the PSU (though it's easy to see through the main MB connector). The MOST impressive piece of sleeving is on the FPB cable that BlackCH did. By far the best looking piece I have right now.

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Nice update :D

 

You shouldn't have to worry about damage during shipping - if there isn't any obvious physical damage, you probabaly won't have any issues. Now if you had a mechanical drive in there, different story, but everything else is pretty dang durable if protected from direct knocks to things like capacitors etc.

 

Looking forward to more updates soon!

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Small Update: Everything was tossed together on my coffee table (don't judge :D )and it posted. It's also much more quiet than I expected (PSU, CPU, and GPU fans, no case fans yet). The power switch on the case lights up, but only when it's pressed, as soon as you let go it goes dark. I must have done something wrong there.

 

I did some more layout planning now that I actually have all of my parts, and I've come across one small issue.

 

I do not know if my PSU will fit on the top shelf. I have three... standoffs(?) that currently reside in the area, and I could cut them out, but haven't people mounted the PSU in that area without heavy modification (cutting the shelf in half)? I can do with cutting a hole in the shelf, I just don't want to chop it in half.

 

I could have sworn that I saw a G5 with the CX600M PSU in the same place I was wanting to mount mine. I just don't want to cut anything if Im not sure it will fit. :S

 

It will fit on the bottom, but that puts it right under the CPU. I will have 2 x 120mm fans moving air across that area, and 2 x 92mm fans ripping it out, but still... I don't like it.

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Small Update: Everything was tossed together on my coffee table (don't judge :D )and it posted. It's also much more quiet than I expected (PSU, CPU, and GPU fans, no case fans yet). The power switch on the case lights up, but only when it's pressed, as soon as you let go it goes dark. I must have done something wrong there.

 

I did some more layout planning now that I actually have all of my parts, and I've come across one small issue.

 

I do not know if my PSU will fit on the top shelf. I have three... standoffs(?) that currently reside in the area, and I could cut them out, but haven't people mounted the PSU in that area without heavy modification (cutting the shelf in half)? I can do with cutting a hole in the shelf, I just don't want to chop it in half.

 

I could have sworn that I saw a G5 with the CX600M PSU in the same place I was wanting to mount mine. I just don't want to cut anything if Im not sure it will fit. :S

 

It will fit on the bottom, but that puts it right under the CPU. I will have 2 x 120mm fans moving air across that area, and 2 x 92mm fans ripping it out, but still... I don't like it.

 

Hi Shifty,

Pretty sure it'll fit on the shelf a 600 Watt psu should hopefully not be oversize. Easy to check though - take the shelf out and then do a trial run. If the fan grill on your PSU sticks up from the case then remove it for the trial fit as they tend to go in there pretty damn snugly. You can then always fit the fan grill under the shelf as that would help to finish off the look of the hole you'll be cutting and also fix the PSU in place (not that it is likely to be able to move....).

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The only "issue" is that I can't test fit because of these standoffs (circled) and I don't really want to rip them out for no reason.

 

yC8XNZX.jpg

 

This will probably be one of those, "too bad, just do it" instances where I end up cutting them out. :D

 

No need to cut. Screw in a longer M3 screw or a standoff to make them taller and then give them a sideways knock and they will pop right out.

 

Edit: But can't you see how close you will get with them left in?

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