G5 or Mac Pro Case?

[CoopDaVille]

I have a few questions on moding a G5 or Mac Pro Case.

 

1. How much bigger is the Mac Pro then the G5?

2. Is the Mac Pro worth the money over the G5?

3. Which is harder to mod? I dont have alot of tools or space. Tool I got is the normal stuff.

 

If someone could answer these questions that would be great.

 

Thanks Coop

[pocots]

Hey,

 

I'm actually trying to find out the differences as I'm building mind from ground up.

I'll be conducting research tonight.

Please let me know when someone provides these details before I do.

 

Pocots

[CoopDaVille]

Thanks for replying. I havent bought anything yet either. I and gonna start with the case. I want to get the easier case to mod due to not having to tools to make all the things. I see on ebay.com that the G5's are dirt cheap. I seen 2 for like 50-80 bucks. But the Mac Pro case is like 175 and up for 1 case. I want the Mac Pro case but if there is more modding then its not the case for me. If you find some usable info please post links. Thanks

 

I found this by doing a google search.

 

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=416283

 

If thats the case that there the same size then, whats the difference in the case's? Mac Pro on Left G5 on Right

[Swhay]

I have modded both a G5 and a Mac Pro case. I found the Mac Pro case to be easier in the long run. Both cases are about the same size in overall dimensions. The inside layout is much different though. The G5 has more overall room for the motherboard, but since the power supply is a special shaped one, it makes it more difficult if you want to keep the overall look as close to a mac as possible and if you plan on keeping the hard drive cradle, you can only fit 2 hard drives.

 

The Mac Pro case I like better overall because it is easier to fit a standard size power supply cause it is roughly the same size. I was able to take out the guts of the power supply that came with my case and just put in the guts of my antec power supply, it was a very easy mod. I also like the slide out hard drive trays, but you have to be careful with what motherboard you choose, you will be ok with a micro atx, but watch out for a full size atx. I was able to fit in a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 full size motherboard but only had about 2/16th of an inch to spare on the top and bottom and the back 2 hard drive sliders have to be modified if you want to put hard drives in them. I am pretty happy with my mac pro case mod.

 

good luck

[CoopDaVille]

Talking about the G5 psu. Is there a way to use it? I just found a G5 in my city for 40 bucks. I think I am going to buy it and save the money.

 

Parts that I am plaining on buying.

 

PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GT VCG98GTEE1XEB Video Card

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS 24X DVD Burner – Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Intel Core i7-860 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W Power Supply ( If I cant use the G5 PSU )

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Hard Drive

 

Would this be do able?

[Swhay]

Talking about the G5 psu. Is there a way to use it? I just found a G5 in my city for 40 bucks. I think I am going to buy it and save the money.

 

Parts that I am plaining on buying.

 

PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GT VCG98GTEE1XEB Video Card

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS 24X DVD Burner – Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Intel Core i7-860 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W Power Supply ( If I cant use the G5 PSU )

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Hard Drive

 

Would this be do able?

 

 

You can't use the power supply from a G5, you can use the enclosure though. You would have to take it apart, take out the PSU in it, and find a regular PC power supply that will fit watch the height of it, find one with a fan in the top that usually means that the height of the power supply guts are fairly low and you will have to use the front fans on the G5 power supply case to cool the power supply. This is the way I did it when I built my G5 (sold it about a year ago). If you do use a G5 power supply enclosure, your ATX board might not fit. You would be better off going with a micro ATX and then you won't have any problems fitting it in.

[CoopDaVille]

Do you know of a motherboard that is micro that will take a i7?

[Gatorman]

Talking about the G5 psu. Is there a way to use it? I just found a G5 in my city for 40 bucks. I think I am going to buy it and save the money.

 

Parts that I am plaining on buying.

 

PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GT VCG98GTEE1XEB Video Card

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS 24X DVD Burner – Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Intel Core i7-860 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W Power Supply ( If I cant use the G5 PSU )

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Hard Drive

 

Would this be do able?

 

 

That setup should work just fine! You'll have a "Scream Machine" with that stuff. As SwHay said, it's pretty much a dead end to use the G5 PSU. You'd really need to do a lot of rewiring and soldering. I would suggest what I'm doing. I got a dead G5 PSU, have stripped it and am modding the enclosure to fit my ATX PSU. It's not too hard to do. Just involves a little cutting and fitting to put the guts in there and a spot for a new fan (along with the existing G5 PSU fans). A standard ATX PSU should fit in there.

 

You WILL be able to fit your current ATX motherboard in there. You'll have to put it in a landscape layout, though. There's PLENTY of room if you have it in that orientation. (Around 11 X 16 inches of space). You can't have it vertically. Thus, the ports won't match up with the rear of your case. This is also an easy fix. While it'll cost a little more money, you can just add extender panel mount cables from your motherboard to the rear of your case. This has two benefits. Gives you a little more room to finagle your motherboard and preserves the "natural" look of the G5 case, if that's what you're going for.

 

I'm going for the purist approach, so this is what I'm doing. It's a little more work involved, little more money, but I think more fun to put together and rewarding in the long run. If you're willing to put some time in, then go this route. You'll need not worry about the mATX board and can use your current desired setup.

[CoopDaVille]

@Gatorman

 

Thanks for your post. Can you post a link to the thing I need to buy?

[Gatorman]

@Gatorman

 

Thanks for your post. Can you post a link to the thing I need to buy?

 

 

What thing are yout talking about?

 

The rear-panel mount cables can be found here (you can just google for them too, to see if you can find them for cheaper):

 

http://www.frontx.com/store/order_p.html

 

If you're looking for a dead G5 PSU, your best bet would be to go on ebay. I got mine for around $20. That's a good price considering all I wanted were the fans and the enclosure.

 

If you're looking for something else, just let me know.