Oh wow Pirloui, looking good so far ^^
Are you going to cut the back for the ports? or wire them like some of the others have?

Thanks
I don't want to cut the back, it looks so nice as it is right now.
Planning to do something like TorqueOSX86, essentially make a separate rail that would hold the receptacles at the right place. This way the case isn't definitly "attacked" and it will be easier to work on outside..

Yes I do, I'm from belgium pm me

Hi, does everyone here can explain to me is it a G5 case from mid 2004 able to fit in ANY/ALL g5 logic boards that intro before year 2005? i have the case and planning to built a cheaper costs G5 because my country distance, i cant buy any ready-system from ebay. Thanks

-vailance

http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=12600

Here`s a mod history from a guy from another forum I frequent.

It`s a great looking build.

hmmm, the case looked bigger than this im sure....

*scratches head*

how to fit two 240 radiators, pump, reservoir fan controller and the rest of the pc stuff in.... doh!

Those are the best pictures : http://aquamac.proboards106.com/index.cgi?...&thread=321

Hi guys
im thinking of modding my pc into a MacPro or G5 case...
probably i will have to cut the back of the case but how much of it?
and do you guys know where i can get one? im in brazil

Hi _Wolverine_.

I'm also from Brazil (São Paulo) and I bought my online in this site: http://www.allmac.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=4157

There were a few problems though:
1) I didn't came with any internal parts like it shows in the photo and I'm still looking for some of it here in Brazil (that's why I didn't finish my yet)
2) I had to pay 60% taxes over the US$200
3) My wife is still mad with me about it

You can try to call a "Non-Apple" store here an see if they have one availible, but it will be probably as expensive as if you import one like I did.

Here is the log and some pictures: http://www.casemodbr.com/forum/gabinete-ap...-pc-t43227.html

thanks a lot!!!
i didnt expected to find someone
Oo 60%???? ill try to get someone to bring to me
what do you think of my specs? do i have to cut a lot?
my problem im only 16 im trying to get my father to buy one for christmass hahahahha

I found one but its missing a small part

can someone tell me if i have to cut a lot of it?
specs in sig

Depends on your method of modding. Some cut the back of the case and install a removeable motherboard tray (I believe some Lian Li Mobo Trays work best for this). Some cut the back of the case and install there own I/O panel. Some solder female I/O connector cables from there motherboard to the I/O plate. There is numerous ways of doing it!

I suggest sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading every page of this thread

got some more parts through today.... one step closer but still 100s of steps away. theres going to have to be a lot of fabrication of frames & supports to hold the components in my case.

i need to support the front rad, which i will do by bolting it to the side of the case, and countersinking the holes so i can still shut the door. however due to my choice of rad, it has no side holes, so i will have to dremel out a front support then bend the aluminium through 90 degrees to attach to the side of the case. i cant put the rad any higher because i am mounting an aquaero above, so unfortunately it will restrict some airflow where the 2nd rad rises into the path of the lower fan. i still need to measure that up, and when i get my aquaero i will do that.

the 2nd rad is easy, i will just fix it to the bottom of the case....

yes that is my behemoth of a psu. it is a 1000w zalman dual heatsink ultra silent psu. its over 200mm long!! man this is going to be a tight fit!! i think this will be the hardest thing to mount...(answers on a post card please) i plan to raise it up above the height of the 2nd rad, A) to allow me to use the power outlet in the case & B ) to fit an air deflector to direct air out the back of the case instead of out the bottom (where the 2nd rad draws air from).

thx i already read
i've made some measurement on my father's mac pro and i think i wont have to cut alot
he didnt allow to remove the covers (ex. PSU cover) but i think i will have to cut just the connectors on the back
first i need to convince him to give me one

sorry for my english im brazillian

_Wolverine_,

I'm giving up on my project and I'm gonna sell my case. I live in São Paulo, PM me

has anyone buy parts or used mac from dvwarehouse.com before? how reliable there are?

i managed to get some more done on my case this weekend.

the first rad is mounted in the case, although i messed up slightly, it can be covered up... i mounted the rad using a custom mount made from 2mm aluminium. i screwed this to the case side, countersunk the holes so that the door will still shut flush.

im stuck on where to put my aquaero (fan controller) i want to place it so that i can see it, but i think that it spoils the front. i have no room in the top to mount it through the roof. im thinking on the door, or otherside, but i move my desk round so much.... i dont want it facing a wall or something.... anybody got any ideas?

due to a slight overlook of mine, i will no longer be able to mount the psu how i originally intended. but its no biggie really! i originally wanted to use the existing power plug, but now i cant and ill just have to feed the powercord out of the bottom of the case... it does make mounting the thing easier though.

i overlooked the shear length of the radeon 4870x2!! oh well, it also gives me a slight headache on the pump mounting but, i think that will easily be overcome.

just a quick note.... i cannot believe how much this thing weighs.... its heavier than my old mac pro, and it doesnt have all the parts in yet. i think mac pros are like 24kg too. may have to stay on the floor instead of atop my desk. epecially if you think theres the water loop to fill..... ha

Yes, it's weird how quickly these get heavy.
Did you keep the exotic PSU placement at the back, by the way?

i intend to keep it there, if you look at the pictures you will see why i say intend. its tight! also, because of the cutout for the bottom rad, there is not going to be a lot of "floor" left, so im worrying about strength.

i also had to sacrifice the air baffle, it just wont fit because of the second rad. i could move it across but then i dont think the memory banks of the asus p6t would clear it.

sorry about the crappy iphone camera btw

Ok, yes I see it's tight indeed.. Depends how many ports you need, if you get the USB and the Audio from the header pins, you won't have to connect anything to the back of the motherboard...

luckily the mobos i/o ports are not covered up, so i can still use them. i may shave some more off of the pci support frame, just to get a couple more mm's. i dont want vibration noise after i shelled out for near silent parts.

Been lurking in this thread for a while, on friday I took home a dead (ram controller failed) 1.8DP G5 from work, and decided to re-case my PC.

The idea was to keep it as true to the original as possible (initially I wanted to use the original front CPU and IO fans, but that wasnt happening.

The powersupply has been fitted within the original apple PSU case, and while it strikes the lid with the primary capacitors (may move those), it does fit. the original PSU fans have also been used. (Pics of all this to come, posting from work).

I havent yet wired up the drive bay fan and blower, all fans are controlled by the Zalman ZM-MFC2 sitting on the bottom of the case. The 'CVS' for that unit is the USB-looking plug on its own on the door-side of the case.





Front panel ports arent working yet as I havent had time to sort them, and the back panel didnt come out quite as I'd hoped, partially due to running out of rivets.

i think thats one of the neatest cuts and riveted back panel that i have seen, with the exception of cyprios of course!!

nice job

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



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

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

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

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


Fitting



Tight in there...

Yeay, nice ports

Why thankyou, its not as great up close, im going to re-do it at some point as its not perfect, and im a perfectionist
I need to use thicker ali next time (1.0mm not thick enough, too flexible)

Finding an automatic fan controller is proving somewhat problematic.

Yes indeed nice ports pirloui, Congratz , great and clean job . Got a full G5 mobo, will do the same later.

yeh pirloui, nice work! how hard was the soldering? got any pinouts?

think im gonna start looking round for a dead g5 logic board now.

anybody got one? lol

The soldering was a little bit hard, but then it's not my speciality, so I guess anyone could manage
I'll add the pinouts to amd_sony's scan a bit later

what put me off was what mspr said:



did you have to remove these parts?

also have you stress tested the USBs? Hows noise on the audio lines?

I did remove them for safety, but since you really don't need to unsolder them, just pry / scrape them off. In the end, what counts is the conductivity between the connector and the plug. With a multimeter you can also check that there isn't any accidental conductivity between pins.

Both USBs are tested, one of them have copied about 100GB, seems stable. Once I had it working I drowned the area with a glue gun, to protect it from diverse..

Audio seems normal to me, but my ears aren't exactly HiFi

Will post the pinouts I got in a couple of hours..

im worried as im {censored} at soldering!!

so anybody got a dead g5 logic board, on the cheapside??

lol

Soldering smal stuff isn't much fun, but until someone produces the part we try to make (cheap and easy for "them") we're out of luck.. Anyhow, it's really not that difficult, just not exactly pleasurable

Here is my lousy pinout schema:

I looked for USB atx pins correspondence, but never figured out if the view was from the front or the back. The order is +5V; Data; Data; Ground. Check it out to be safe. (I had to turn the plug)
Audio is as shown.

Ethernet should be doable although a little difficult, however I didn't get any conductivity between the pins in the connector a d the pins on the motherboard.

FW800 is close to impossible, the pins go somewhere inside the PCB, and are extremely tiny.

FW400 is like USB: what's lowest in the connector is closest to the border.

USB, as mentionned

Audio , as mentionned

Optical: Easy to solder, pins probably standard (personnaly no use)

There is a layer of some protecting coating in the solder, it's better to scrape it off before soldering.
If your solder connects to another pin, you can always cut / separate the two with a tiny saw or a box cutter.
Floppy or IDE ribbons, (old thick ones) makes nice flat and flexible cables with any number of strands.

I'm an expert at nothing in this domain, so if someone is more knowledgeable, please correct me.

Good luck, it's very satisfying when it's done

PS: amd-sony's scan:

id probably only wire up usb, firewire and ethernet, which i hope somebody manages to figure out. it would just be nice to have the port holes in my case filled perfectly.

It is normal, the ethernet connector inside have inductors you probably need remove them since that original ethernet connector in your motherboard already have a similar circuit, in others words you need takeout the conector, make internal jumps and then put it back.

It sounds terrible, but thanks a lot for the information

doh! not looking forward to that!

update!!

********WARNING********

if you are a g5 case "purist" such as nervous chimp, do not read/look/think about this post


so today i made the cutout for my aquatube.... if you dont know what that is, its a reservoir for my w/c setup.

its gone in the roof, where the fans were. i have reused the flatter fan, so the HDDs still get a bit of air movement, and i will probably try and get a bit more air movement up there later on.

Looks good to me.... remember, the true purists laughed at me for the G5 Skate, and raping the underside.... I've often thought of adding a multy-port panel to the top of my G5.

Go smoothy, go !! As long as it works and suit to you. Why bother the negative pure-ists, if your build seems pure to you ?

^^thanks for the kind words guys!!^^

today i soldiered on with my G5. it was bitterly cold here in the UK, never really got above 1 degrees. i finished the 2nd rad mounting, so i have also 'raped' the bottom of my g5 nervouschimp. all thats left now is my psu, and jb welding the standoffs to the case.

it was your psu mounting, nervouschimp, that gave me the idea for mine, but as my 2nd rad draws air from the bottom i didnt want the psu dumping its heat there. so i was going to mount it about 75mm off the bottom of the case, and create like a deflector to send the hot air through the rear perforations of the case. however, due to the colossal length of my graphics card it wouldnt fit so i thought i might just have to let it dump the air through the bttom. after looking at it though, i think i may be able to manage it, and re-use the power cut out also. ill show you in pictures sometime in the next week!

also dont use your dremel to drill holes in your index fingers!

Good luck!, and try and hang on to all ten fingers. I just checked, and a fair amount of heat does get dumped out the bottom, but some of that might be CPU heat, I've installed 2 exhaust fans on the PSU mounting plate, and they are right under the CPU.

I thought to insert the digital controle screen from my WCooling system up there, but that's not high enough.

i too had that thought, but there was not enough space. i am going to add it to the shelf, in front of the hdds, then eventually mill out a slot in the door so i can see/control it. its not desperate that i get it done though, just mount it first, i want to try and get a running system for the christmas break

below hopefully is a photo showing the complication of re using the cut out for the power plug. unfortunately my psu is about 4mm too big to fit in the space between the bottom of the pci outlet slots, and the poweroutlet slot. so for now, i am just going to raise it as far as i can using perspex sheets, cut out to shape and stacked up and bolted together. i will eventually cut the cage of the psu, but i want to keep the warranty for a while. i believe i may have secured the use of a laser cutter to make my perspex profiles, fingers crossed. if not im open to suggestions, perhaps threaded rod bolted to the case floor, with some locking nuts for my psu to rest on? ill cross that bridge when i come to it

oh and if anybody does have a g5 logic board... please let me know!

Looking great pirloui!
I'm taking the same route as you, but doing it a little bit different :]
I need to order my motherboard so i can start to wire everything up.

Oh, Smeethy, I recently ordered 2 dead logic boards and im only going to use one.
I can sell you the other if you want it.
Send me a pm and we can talk it over.

you are the man/woman!!! pm'ing now!!!

I'm having problems wiring front, I follow this diagram, usb works but power led and switch doesn't work.

I try with ground and without.

Edit: I play with cables, I find how to boot using : Pow led - , power sw + , pow switch - , Pow led +

But led only works when pushing button