I did think about doing that! The cases construction is of 2 pieces: front & top and bottom & back. I thought about replacing the rear and bottom part of the case. However the aluminium does not like being bent. The anodizing cracks along the plain of bending and looks messy! I dont have access to do custom anodizing to this quality! Then there's the question of creating the threads for the side screws to scew into. If I get time and money in the summer months I may consider this but for now the current option looks ok and it always leaves the "gold" option open!!

Cool, look forward to the photos.

I am really confused about my Q6600 temps. Some claim they get idle temps down in the 30s on air and over-clocked up over 3ghz. Either they are using an inaccurate temp software, or my cooling situation is only average. Intel list these chips as running safe up to 71c, but I'm not aware of an accurate temp monitoring software for osx86 to test my peak heat levels.

On another note, I feel bad because I had my boss test his new mac pro 8-core against my hack-G5, and he only scored 160 vs my 217. That's just crazy. Maybe we should run geekbench instead for more accurate results. Isn't 160 low for an octo-mac?

I have tried one, it is very difficult and I was not so happy of the result. Maybe I wil do it again without the mistakes, miscalculations from the first time. I will post some pics tomorow after my night shift.

I am glad I followed my suspicions on the Q6600 heat issues. I am on a xigmatek exposed heat-pipe cooler, and it really is a different beast. I took it off, cleaned off all the arctic silver from the cpu and sink, and then I put a tiny drop of thermal compound on each pipe right where they meet with the cores following the arctic silver diagram of where the cores are on a core 2 quad. So basically 2 tiny drops per pipe for a total of 6 itty bitty droplets.

My idle temps dropped down into the 30s after reseating the xigmatek!

So, with my temps in check, I went up to 3.6hz, and so far so good!

Do you think you can get more? I'm thinking of getting that CPU, but I dunno whether to wait for the new intel stuff. I will be water cooling mine too so I'm hoping for the holy Grail of 4ghz!!

I wouldn't want to go higher than 3.6. Right now I'm at 1600fsb, and with a divider my ram is running at its rated 1066. X38 unofficially supports 1600fsb so everything is running within spec exept for the q6600, but my v-core is just barely over spec, and I think I could run it here for years.

Which figures are you using ?

My Q6600 is overclocked @ 3.27 GHz with watercooling.

Those are the figures I used in the BIOS :

CPU Clock Rate : 9x (max that can be used)
CPU Host Frequency (MHz) : 365
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) : 100
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) : 2.50
Memory Frequency (MHz) 800 : 913

Normal Overvoltage for all : DDR2, PCI-E, MCH, FSB; CPU Voltage
and Normal CPU Vcore : 1.3000V

asus p5e ws pro with q6600
clock: 9x400
ram divider: 3:2 = 1066 (8gigs gskill)
auto voltage for all
vcore: 1.4

temperature monitor app actually works with my board/cpu, but reads all 4 cores in the 30s... seems low for 3.6.... not sure I trust it.

Thanks nervouschimp. I will try to push the Vcore to 1.4V and upgrade the clock frequency as high as I can.

olinboy1, I connected my G5 front panel audio last night according to your diagram, and it works..... but.... I've got noise on my audio lines. Is it possible that by connecting to the ground pin on the mobo header we are actually creating a ground loop here? Might we be double-grounded? I will try it tonight without the ground and see if it cleans up my audio... if not, I've got RF interference on my cable, so I will test further and get back to you.

ok, did some messing around with the front panel.... and the ground is def needed for proper audio, it works without the ground, but there are issues, and audio artifacts. My board actually has a feedback problem that many users have encountered.... but I fixed it! After grounding the com wire to just about every open ground pin on my board, I was ready to RMA the board when I decided to inspect the audio from the rear-out for the high-pitched squeal. Under the audio prefs I set my output to line out instead of headphones, and plugged my cans into the back. No squeal! So, I immediately switched back to the front panel, and the feedback on the front panel was gone too.... weirdness but I am happy now.

nice so you have the full front panel working, glad you got it fixed.

yep, fully working.

So far my only issues are that the machine will not wake from sleep, and sometimes hangs on shutdown. Restart has been working everytime.

I do not know why sleep doesnt work well you can try the Kalyway 10.5.2 dvd with sleep kernel and all that. Im looking for bare silent cpu fans with no LED lights on them I like the Zalman but they have lights on them

I'm just bummed that I'll prolly have to run a modified kernel. I may try that.

I can highly recommend the xigmatek HDT-S1283, it has mixed reviews, but I think it's because if you don't do the thermal paste just right with this cooler, then it is not very effective, but if you do get it right, it rocks.

thanks well you can you run 2 different kernels just at different times like press F8 and vanilla for that kernel and the vice versa with sleep.

will check the link out for the fan

Wish I had the money and knowledge to create something like this! nervouschimp I see you have cables running into the back I/O plate for USB, FireWire, Ethernet etc. I just wanna know what those cables are and where I can find some? I want to do as little modification to the case as possible (not confident in metalwork or using a dremel) So I DON'T want to cut anything

Anyone got some insight of how I could build a cheap Hack in a G5 case with NOT cutting the case at all!

Thanks

Well unless you already have a g5 case, with us living in the uk nothing is cheap especially g5 cases!! and what nervouschimp has done isnt the easy way either!

I would do what nervouschimp has done, with cheaper comp parts. I got my motherboard tray from www.kustompcs.co.uk, its never instock so you have to request it. I'm not sure about the 'booster' cables nc has used but im sure google will bring something up!

I just don't know whether to go with this or just build another PC and put OSx86 on it for fun. Or I could do with others have done and just save up money, and build a MacPro! It'd work out cheaper.

Ahhh the choices =[ I'm confused by reading all the wiring posts too.. Don't really have a clue there lol

lol, im leaving that till last! basically the wiring diagrams will correspond to what your motherboard manual says about the corresponding headers (usb, firewire etc). before i owned macs i just wanted this case for my comp anyway because its such a nice case. i take it you dont have a case yet....

Nah because I am thinking of either building a Mac Pro or another PC, not to sure yet!

My cabling is a combination of frontpanelexpress, datapro.net, and ebay. My wifi, and bluetooth antenna jumpers were the hardest to source.

I'll be the first to admit that my mod is not that practical. I wanted to take my G5 in a different direction than the others.

I chose to mount my PSU the way I did because it was the easiest, and most secure way to mount it. There are other ways to do it.

Dremmeling is very easy. The newer metal cutting disks will run though your G5 case like butter.... and if you position a shop vac at the cutting area there is very little mess.

The back panel of the lian li pc-a05 is pretty damn good fit for the back of a G5, and it even includes the power jumper. Anyone willing to dremmel would do well marry these 2 cases. The entire pc-a05 case is only 1-inch taller than the logic board compartment of the G5. I would even re-use the front power supply mount, and have the PSU exhaust out the perforated front of the G5. IMO, it would work quite well.

After experimentation, I would like to report that on my board, I would get recurring horrid feedback on my audio lines, and for me the solution has been that the audio sense line has to be connected to pin 7 SENSE_SEND in HD front panel mode.

nervous chimp did you get your designed back panel from frontpanelexpress

can anyone give me any tips to organize the wiring in a G5 case and how to solder thanks

I'd like to introduce the result of many months of hard work.

Here's my case mod. Very soon I'll open a thread with all the process.

As you can see all the ports have been kept with full functionality. Even the Airport antenna. And I think it looks good in the inside too

I hope you guys like it. Soon a full review.

You got some nice photoshop skills

dude that is nice didnt know if it was a G5 or PC

You real nailed it man this is good man.
I guess most ppl always have problems with the back, you did it nice there, keep it up!

Sorry to disappoint but no Photoshop involved here

Here's an internal shot of the connectors.

As you see it is possible, you just need to pick really this receptacles.

Update:

Started a new thread with loads of pics and infos: HERE

I guess order is your middle name, you should see my work place, At time I spend have of the time looking for my tools hk hk hk hk hk. This is neat

Haha, trust me, it was mostly just for that photo! My bedroom looks like I'm building a bomb now that I'm redoing my wiring.

any have a G5 power supply enclosure

Does anyone know where to pick up a side panel? I have a G5 case and a lot of the internal mounting equpiment, but no side panel.

not cheap

http://www.applepalace.com/scripts/prodVie...?idproduct=4010

i got mine off ebay. they're up there, and you can usually get them cheap

thanks yeah watching some right now.

Wow, I have to say that I was absolutely mesmerized by all of the beautiful G5 case mods. I have yet to build a hackintosh as I am busy doing research. The more I read the more I am inspired to go further to reach the pinnacle of hackintoshism. This is obviously the holy grail of hackintosh builds. I especially appreciate all of the work that went into using a G5 case without having to cut it up. Now I wonder if it is possible to use the original hard drive mounts to achieve the same type of slide in and out functionality? If i am able to pull something like that off I might just be able to get my wife to kiss me after I am done instead of curse me. You see she is a bit of an absolute mac purist and doesn't really care for the hackintosh concept. I have been considering using an Asus P5K3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard. It seems to provide great functionality right out of the box. It includes built in wifi, dual gigabit lan, and a built in hardware raid controller that works like a charm. It is on the HCL as being one of the most compatible boards available. The only thing is that it is a full size ATX board. Do you all think it is worth doing a G5 case hackintosh if I want to get it as nice as possible? What are the possibilities here? Thanks for all of your input. BTW, I have read through this entire thread, so all of the information is swimming in my head and I probably need a bit of time to calm down and gather my thoughts. Any pointers would be very helpful and appreciated.

sure im using a full case in my G5 hack and its all good look at nervous chimp he has used a full atx and his G5 hack and kept the original port really impressive.

Hmm, well I have been looking around and the only G5 case I found was one on ebay that was totally trashed to hell. Does you all know where I can pick one up for under $200? Also, I have seen the amazing work you all have done, but what kind of tools are being used? Obviously a dremel, pliers, perhaps a hacksaw, and glue are used, but how did you guys bend the metal of those custom parts so nicely?

applepalace.com
mac-pro.com
and you can wait for some on ebay

Hey, thanks for the links. After I found the part numbers for the enclosures of the Mac Pro and the G5 Powermac I did some searching. I least expensive G5 case I was able to find was a refurbished one from welovemacs for $200. I was able to find a really good deal on a mac pro case here.http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Apple-Case-for-...EW-p-35381.htmlThat is right, dvwarehouse.com is selling brand new Mac Pro cases for $199! So I have to ask, why settle for a G5 case when you can buy a Mac Pro case for less? The Mac Pro case is more versatile, so that seems to be the direction I am heading in unless I find a much better deal on a case somewhere else. I wonder if it is easier to fit a non Apple powersupply in a Mac Pro enclosure? I will be doing some research to find out. I am sure I can find some good diagrams and take apart pictures around.Ok, I looked around and the Mac Pro case is WAY better than the G5 case. The internal layout has a much better plan. The mounting design for the SATA drives is way cool. I don't think it would be too difficult to actually set up a hackintosh similarly to the way the internals on a Mac Pro are set up. Now, wouldn't that just be a hell of a twist. It would be rad if someone opened up your hackintosh and thought, wow that is a different looking Mac Pro, but a Mac Pro none the less. This possibility is quite fascinating. I think it deserves a try. So, what do you all think?

go for it. make it nice.

nervouschimp did you ever get your wiring and your G5 finished.

I want to see some pics lol

Not yet.... tons of crazy real-life stuff lately keeping me too busy. I hate the motherboard I chose for this hack. It's unstable with DDR2 1066 at 1600fsb. The onboard audio has a recurring loud ringing sound that is the right pitch to melt human brains. I am currently running @ 400fsb X 8 for 3.2 with ram @ 800 for stability.

Need a few new cables, a better board, and some spare time to get this finished.

Looking for an X38/X48 board with support for 1600fsb, DDR2 1066, ICH9R, fully working audio in/out (mic, line, optical, front panel), firewire.... I'm willing to pay for X48 if it will give me stability.... but I must have decent onboard working sound! Any suggestions?!?!?!

this is the only one i could find

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813127033

Well, I've experimenting with my ws pro board some more, trying to make it work for me. It looks like 8gigs of 1066 can be a challenge on a lot of boards, as its really hard on the memory controller to run 4 banks @ 2gigs each at such high speeds. Dropping the ram to 800 has allowed me to go back up 9X400fsb to run @ 3.6 24/7 rock solid. I was having random KPs, and it looks like it was the memory controller crapping-out.

As for the onboard audio, I reinstalled my patched appleHDA kext, and before I even rebooted the high-pitched ringing returned. Leaving my headphones plugged in, I plugged a second pair of headphones into the line-out port in the back and the ringing cut out. I have rebooted 10-times so far with headphones on the front and back, and the problem is gone for now. I'm not an audio engineer, so I have no idea what's wrong with the audio implementation on this board, but if this continues to work (I'll just keep a speaker system on the line out), then I'm not going to shell out for another X38/X48 board.

I have faith that in the next year we will see some affordable pcie sound cards with intel drivers, and I might also get a really nice firewire audio solution in the future.

I can live with 8gigs running @ DDR2 800, now that my board is stable. I can also live with the onboard audio bug, as long as I can keep it away.

This is a quirky lil board, but I think I'll keep it. It geekbenches in the 700s, and that's not bad. I just need to find something to put in the pci-x slot.... that's what makes this board unique.

im using the creative sound blaster external sound card and it all works never bothered to connect the audio on the front panel.

I sat up till 5 in the morning reading this whole topic, word for word.
I thought i was the only one doing this mod and thought i was being original but decided to google it before i did it.
I am going to go with the idea of not chopping my G5 case to bits and have got a list of all the things i intend to use help me do that:

dell inspiron 530 slim = £483.99
PowerMac G5 Case = £50.00
big firewire to mini firewire x2 = $5.80 = £2.94
dvi to dvi+vga splitter x2 = £21.98
3.5 extension cable x4 = £3.96
ethernet extension cable = $4.18 = £2.12
graphics card 2x dvi = £106.93
wi-fi adapter = £14.00
bluetooth adapter = £12.00
usb hub = £14.99
usb extension cable x4 = £3.06
mighty mouse & keyboard = £64.00
kalyway 10.5.2 = £0.00

Total = £779.97

still need a few things like a firewire hub and/or a firewire express card thing for the back

thanks for posting all the pictures, they all look the tits and thanks for all the info in the last 27 pages.

Hello Guys,
Here is my G5 Worklog, the last few pages probably the most interesting.

I am fitting the newly released Asus "Skulltrail" derivative, with 8gigs ram, 2x Xeons, SAS harddrives etc.

If there's someone here that's keen, I can open a worklog here too.

I am currently bidding on a MacPro case on ebay, and that will be used for a second project.

Enjoy.

Kind regards,
MrBean