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[Discussion] Fit a PC in a G5 PowerMac Enclosure!


TribesMan
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I'm currently working on my G5 mod and ran into another problem I want to reuse the original sata power cable however there only seem to be 4 cables on the G5 sata power while a normal have 5 so I don't know which cable should connect to which cable on the ATX PSU and which cable I'm supposed to skip.

 

I soldered at needle to my multimeter tip and made the measurements myself. So for anyone who might need I decided to put the "pinout" here.

 

I'm calling the cable closest to sata power pin 1 for #1 and going up to right.

 

 #  Color code	  Description
#1 Black		   GND for sata power pin 4, 5, 6
#2 Red			 +5VDC
#3 Black		   GND sata power pin 10, 11 ,12
#4 Yellow		  +12VDC

 

It's the orange +3.3VDC that's "missing".

 

I hope this is helpful for someone.

 

The orange lead isn't used for harddrives, only for hotswapping according to my info.

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I'm also working on my G5 Mod.

 

Unfortunately the superdrive in the G5 doesn't have sata.

What's the better option? Get an adapter IDE=>Sata or a new drive?

I'm looking for best compatibility, I don't really care about speed or something there

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I'm also working on my G5 Mod.

 

Unfortunately the superdrive in the G5 doesn't have sata.

What's the better option? Get an adapter IDE=>Sata or a new drive?

I'm looking for best compatibility, I don't really care about speed or something there

 

Check to see if the "old" IDE reads Dual Layer DVDs. Working with some of these older machines such as the G4 Cube that I found it a real annoyance to work around not having the DL read capability.

 

neil

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  • 2 months later...
Here's my build- Tried something different with the PSU. As far as I know, no one has done it like this. No destruction of the PSU, and it's mounted firmly by the friction of the stock case for the PowerMac PSU.

 

 

I did something very similar in mine, but I mounted the PSU a bit closer to the back of the case to leave room for the original fans. Also, I used an aluminum bracket with a thumbscrew and a magnet on the bottom to hold the PSU in place.

 

p4040756.jpg

 

With the rest of the hardware:

 

p4080820.jpg

 

I left the stock PSU casing in there so that the original G5 CPU cover can still fit on. There are pictures of it like that a page or two back.

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Greetings All,

lots of great info in this thread.

 

I am currently gutting the G5 for an i7 PC build. As of now, I have removed everything except the logic board - I have removed all the screws, but the thing is not moving at all (I even cut myself twice in the process).

 

The G5 is a dual 1.8, late 2004. When I try to move the board to a side, it gets stuck on the large standoffs, and when I try to lift it, it gets stuck on the small round pin standoffs. I tried removing the round pins, but they are not going anywhere.

 

Any suggestions how to proceed?

 

Thank you.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Greetings All,

lots of great info in this thread.

 

I am currently gutting the G5 for an i7 PC build. As of now, I have removed everything except the logic board - I have removed all the screws, but the thing is not moving at all (I even cut myself twice in the process).

 

The G5 is a dual 1.8, late 2004. When I try to move the board to a side, it gets stuck on the large standoffs, and when I try to lift it, it gets stuck on the small round pin standoffs. I tried removing the round pins, but they are not going anywhere.

 

Any suggestions how to proceed?

 

Thank you.

 

Remember to remove the screws/inserts for the processor cooling ribs :)

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I've done some wiring for mine now, for the HDD and Optical Bay I've soldered some molex sockets on to the wiring harness down near the PSU, so that I can use the original connectors and keep the tidy look of the G5.

IMG_0050.jpg

 

For the Optical bay, I've added a SATA power plug to the existing wiring, this allows me to plug in the burner without an adapter, and leaves a free molex for fans or whatever

IMG_0052.jpg

 

To achieve this I used a punch-down sata power connector. just put the wires in the plug and snap it shut, it cuts into the cable to make the connections. easy! you can buy them here for instance: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2X-SATA-Punch-Down-Power-Plug-ATX-PSU-Hard-Drive-/160580402839?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2563567e97#ht_2579wt_1221

 

Got some Left angle and right angle SATA cables coming in to match the stock ones but longer, still need to mount the mainboard and psu

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the early stages of converting a G5 case to accept an atx mb. I'm planning to mount the mb to a 1/4" thick sheet of plastic.

 

Should I have any concerns with static elect if the mounting pins are not touching (grounded) to the case?

 

Advise is appreciated!

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Plastic + Heat = slight shifts that may cause drooping over a long period of time. If you have to use a 'non-standard' mounting material, use cardboard or something.

 

I'll post my Lian Li mod in a few days, then update when I have fitted the front fan array :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've begun this project as well but plan on making no cuts to the exterior of the case. I can have some pictures up in the next few days. I have two more things left to do: find somewhere to mount th HDD cage and modify th original fan to work with the new PSU.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Hey dudes :)

 

I also started my own G5 Mod project and now i have a big problem…

I have no idea how to fix the motherboard backpanel plate into the g5 case...

 

as you can see on the picture below it fits great into the g5 case but i don't know how to fix it :(

 

post-966911-0-19449100-1331577076_thumb.jpg

 

don't want to screw it into the case because i don't want to ruin my side cover.

 

Hopefully anybody has an idea for me.

 

And sorry for my bad english ^^ i need more practice :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello G5 Modding-Folks! I have a question that is rather important for me, as I'm planning to mod a G5 myself soon.

 

It's about the cable management inside a G5 with the use of a motherboard tray (in my case a Silverstone-TJ07-tray). Is the space that is created by the original G5 standoffs (I want to use them to secure the tray in place) enough to rout all the cables under it (PSU-cables in addition to the SATA-cables)??? I don't have access to a standard ATX PSU and thus can't test the thickness of the cables... However I have already seen Mods that use this kind of cable management but I don't know if they might have used additional spacing to accommodate their cable management.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Greetings.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I'm going to mod some G5 cases-A Powermac G5 late 2005 for my dad, and a earleir G5 case for myself (Or a iMac G3/eMac) i think i'll enter it in the macmod contest when they set it up again it's going to be a gaming machine :D .

Edited by Hacker Pro
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  • 2 weeks later...

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 :)

 

G5-back-1.jpg

G5-back-2.jpg

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

G5-back-3.jpg

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

G5-back-4.jpg

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

G5-back-5.jpg

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

G5-back-6.jpg

 

Yeay, nice ports ^_^

 

Hello pirloui,
 
I really admire modders such as you with the mind set of a "non-cutting" or "less-cutting" design.
This way, the G5 case stays a Mac on the outside, even if it's a bit different inside.  :)
When I will be ready with hackintosh both understanding and budget, I think follow this respective approach.
 
Keep on your good work
 
Niko-Studio
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  • 1 month later...
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