Thanks go out to those who have already posted G5 case mod advice and pictures. It was a big help.

First off, mine isn't as pretty as many of the others posted on this site, especially poodle2118's nice job.
I'll get a TIG, and then you'll see something.

I got a bare case from ebay. No nothing, no front panel, no cd door, NOTHING. Not even a latch for the access panel.

My advice for anyone considering this, is to get a G5 case with the all the front panel connections and panel latch. For the front, I mcgyver'd a USB port in there at least.

I arranged my mATX board to the 4 PCI slots. This way, I can put an ATX in there at some point. My goal was to go for quiet, as you can see. The DVD drive and HD drives are all foam mounted to the case, to reduce transmitted vibration noise.

I had to make a CD door cover:
Click to view attachment

I never use the front audio out, so I put the HD activity LED there:
Click to view attachment
Don't have onboard firewire, so a big hole there right now....

I want QUIET!! So lots of big fans@slow speed, big heatsinks, and physics:
Click to view attachment
Note: heatsink is Thermalright HR-01, the (ugly) fans are made by Noctua, power is Antec Phantom 500W

For the back, I just hacked a hole for the USB/sound/Ethernet, which are always grouped together:
Click to view attachment

I still can't believe the color of the fans, they are so ugly. And lets not even mention the orange duct. But when the cover is on....... .

Anyway, not the most satisfying mod, as now OSX actually looks like it is running on supported hardware. Big deal.

But I've achieved my goal of quiet cool. This computer is MUCH quieter than my dual G5. My plan is to eventually use this hackintosh to replace the noisy G5 that is currently in my recording studio. And when I get a conroe, I should be able to (quietly) overclock a bit......

And kudos to all of the builders that did a great job of hiding all the wiring, I still have work to do....

Only the second PC I've built, and this is a work in progress.....

I like it - Right now my mb is in a SuperMac beige case - noisy but its ok. One of these days I want to get ahold of some classic macs and play with them (not that supermacs aren't classic anymore.. lol). However I'll have to ponder doing as you did and hit ebay for a g5 case.

good job!

nice mod, thanks for sharing!

Thats not bad looking at all, you should give yourself more credit!

I am starting to think the front panel connector assembly is worthless the more I work with it. I am looking at other ways to hook the FireWire, USB up.

Too bad your case did not have the hd mounting bay, that thing is just too cool!

I managed to get the rear of my G5 case cut this weekend so I can fit a standard ATX backing plate and PCI "cage" on it.

Made some improvements to the back end.

CPU fan is now on the case, not on the heatsink. Made it all pretty....




Also got the front firewire connected.
New mobo/CPU/VGA on the inside, as per my sig....

Looking very swish, check out: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?...5218&page=7

If thats not inspirational I don't know what is xD

-Fr4nk

^now THAT's an awesome g5 mod

yep







~R

Thanks for that link, Fr4nk. Cyprio and Mr. Bean are doing some great work. Just the amount of hours of work, let alone the expense, is an inspiration. I wish I had that kind of time.

Given my time constraints, my philosophy was to do as little work as possible, and keep it as stock looking as possible.

If I had their time and budget, I would use TIG welding, and anodizing.
I don't like the idea of painting a G5 case. Doesn't seem right....

While not 100% perfect, I'm happy with my results thus far. Certainly is functional, because it is overclocking very easily and quietly on air.

That case mod is awesome. I wish I had the skills to do that

Yeah it would be nice to show up with a 6100 case or something like that but have a couple gigs of ram and a couple Ghz of processing....haha.

No, get an even older case (Apple II anyone) and how about fit in a Core 2 Quad processor and show it to Steve Jobs

Haha yeah! That would be nice to get an Apple II like that and somehow get the first OS to run on it, then press a button and have it morph through all the different OS's until leopard.

Oh, and one more thing....

It didn't look quite finished, but I couldn't put a finger on it.... until I accidentally stuck my finger in the fan.


Put a grill on the fan.

Awsome job. I just got my G5 case but internally it's completely naked I honestly I don't even know where to start.

I have a full ATX motherboard, a giant 8800GTX and 3 HDs SATA II, so even with space enougth I have to plan exactly what I'm gonna do.

Can someone please measure and tell me what are the internal measurements (height, length, width) of both the upper and lower chambers?

Overall minimum internal dimensions 17" high, 17.5" deep (from back of front control panel), 7 3/8" wide
Lower chamber is 14" high, upper is 3".

Hope you weren't expecting units in cm. Couldn't find a metric measuring tape anywhere....

Thanks

I finally got my G5 case but I'm still planning how to fit everything inside. That's wha I got so far (suggestions are welcome):



1) Would be 2x80mm fans side by side and on top of them 2x120mm (one on top of the other) (just like this picture: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?act...st&id=8353)

2) Would be the place for the HDs, probably I'll borrow one from another case and modify it for better coolance

3) Would be the place for the PSU

The case I got came completely naked inside, so I also need to figure it out how to place the DVD drive and the front connections.

PS: Sorry for may bad english The motherboard on the picture is a damaged one, just used for the picture.

Hi Everyone,
I'm a first time case modder and I want to mod a Apple PowerMac G5 case (like the one's above) and stick a Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad in there. But first I need some questions answered, if anyone could answer them it would be greatly appreciated.

1. On a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it to modify the case to fit the motherboard in?
2. What would be better to use, a Micro ATX or Regular ATX motherboard?
3. What is the best components to use inside? Fully (or close to) compatible for Mac OS X 10.4/10.5?

Thanks in advance,
Howie1108

Howie1108:

1.) My opinion is about 6 from 10 (it is not too difficult but it won't work as in ATX cases - put mobo, fit by some screws, and done... nope )
2.) I absolutely recommend microATX mobo, because you will have enough of space in the bottom to put in original PSU chassis (no matter if you have inside real PSU or four hard-drives ; you can't put it in there if you have full ATX mobo. Anyway, many modders here done this mod with full ATX and had no real problem
3.) Can't say, I am not running on OS X, but I am sure that other guys will tell ya.

which psu brand did you use for your mod? I've got myself a g5 case and started to build it up. now it's time for the psu unit...

use an matx board. i can recommend mine. i did a g5 mod also. but mine isnt the nicest. if i were to redo it. i would take nervouschimps approach. but i would use an matx board and mount it lining up with the PCI slots. im sure theres a way to fit all the cables.