glossymexican Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I, like clearly a lot of people, am embarking on a G5 case mod of my own. I feel like I have a good plan. I already have a working hackint0sh as a HTPC but I have gotten bored with it. Someone may have already done, thought of or even posted this idea before but I have searched thoroughly and I have not found one mention yet. Long story short here I believe I have figured out how I am going to utilize my PSU with the G5 case without taking it apart, doing any crazy wiring or anything else. A $4 cable.... [link to buy.com] I'll figure out a good way to mount the 3 prong male end in the current opening in the back of the case. I'll try and make it as clean looking as possible. As for the mod, nothing fancy: OS X Lion Intel Core i3 Sandy Bridge 2100 Gigabyte GA-H67-MA-USB-B3 8GB DDR3 Crucial Ballistix RAM GeForce GTS 250 Samsung 12X Bluray drive This rig is already running great in an HTPC case. My plan is to use the Lian Li micro-atx motherboard tray: [cardboard for now, real deal is coming tomorrow] I'm going to try and keep it real simple. I have ordered a front port I/O to ATX cable from AlohaCab and I already have all my other [planned] components except the tray which is coming tomorrow. I'll post my progress if anyone is interested in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 Alright my Lian Li micro-ATX motherboard tray came and I finally got around to doing something with it. I had some spare time today so I worked on separating the tray pieces. They were riveted together so I just drilled out the rivets and then pried the pieces apart and the rest of the rivet popped off. Plenty of room left because of the MicroATX form factor. It will probably be mounted a half inch or so lower than pictured. The standoffs with the ball at the end were easy to get off. I just banged on them on the side gently with a hammer and they popped right off. Here is where I could use a little advice. I think this is how it is going to fit. There will be an inch or so on the bottom where there will be a hole and the ethernet port from the G5 I/O panel. I may just put a small piece of aluminum there or a banner/logo who knows at this point. I will be mounting the PSU on the bottom so I'll be using the existing power plug slot. I know a lot of others have used the Full ATX Lian Li motherboard tray but I thought the smaller one would be better. I'm not too worried about having a pair of 92mm Fans mounted on the back as I will be running an i3 sandy bridge. No overclocking or anything crazy for this one. Probably going to put one smaller fan on the back. This project is obviously in its infancy but if you have any suggestions/advice I'm all ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 Yeah, I realigned the tray and my previous idea was not going to fit right. Then I got thinking I might as well put a couple 92mm fans on the back, why not? This is my new concept. Bare with me, this is obviously still being planned. [no idea why the image is showing up sideways] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 So far so good. Going to recycle leftover scraps to fill the holes at the bottom. Next step is getting the mobo mounted.\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ehh, a little more progress today. There is a problem though. Since I took the motherboard tray apart in the beginning it does not line up correctly. It is off by very little but it is enough so the I/O ports on the back won't stick out of the case correctly. I'm going to probably have to bend/cut the end off the motherboard tray so it lines up properly. I'm not sure if anyone else has used the Lian Li micro-atx tray and already figured this out. If so, I'm open to suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Really glad I did not make any cuts to the motherboard tray. The tray has slits in the corners and...tada!!!! Fits perfectly. Also, I drilled holes in the mobo tray and used the G5 logic board screws to screw the tray down to the standoffs. I will JB Weld these to the bottom of the case once I am 100% positive it is lined up properly. Everything fit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 JB weld was hard enough by morning. I drilled out 3 holes and bolted them for extra support. Also used hot glue in bottom corners where it needed extra support. Used scraps for the bottom holes. I may cover this up with sheet metal in the future I have not decided yet. Also made a power plug with the existing white plug bracket. Just loaded it up with hot glue and covered the outside. Not the prettiest thing in the world but it is the back so I'm not very concerned. Used the torx bolts from the old superdrive and put them on the bluray drive. Fit perfectly and locked in tight. I also used the screws included with the case to mount the hard drive. I have a spare set for another hard drive if I decide on one in the future. Still waiting on my front I/O to ATX cable from AlohaCab it should be here today or tomorrow. I need to figure out how to mount the PSU on the bottom, this could be a pain. Then I think it will be just about done. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 PSU is mounted. Removed front tray cover of Bluray drive [whoops] and finished installing all hardware. The cable from AlohaCab did not work because I cannot read. My mobo does not have onboard firewire so the wire cannot make a ground to complete the circuit for the switch to work. For now I am just using an old switch until my firewire PCIx1 card shows up. Installing Windows7/OS X now. I'll post pictures of the completed build when the FireWire card gets here and I can get everything sorted. - Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glossymexican Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 I got my firewire PCIx1 card installed and the AlohaCab cable works PERFECTLY! Thank you! This is the setup as it is now. The fans are mounted poorly on the back. It is a "good enough" for now until I have some free time and I'll drill out the holes properly. The Zalman fans are SILENT! I do have a lot of wasted space in the front and I need to figure out a way to mount the fans. I might have to build or find something online. I wanted to use the old rear G5 fan mount but I don't think it is going to work at all. Later this week I am also upgrading to the ATI Radeon HD 5770 because it is supported natively by Apple so the fans will keep quiet. My rig is completely silent EXCEPT the rather noisy GeForce GTS 250. Not the cleanest build by a long shot but I think it looks alright. On a scale of 1-10 it was probably a 4 overall difficulty wise and I'd definitely recommend using a micro-ATX mobo and a mobo tray/back panel as it was very easy to integrate with the G5 chassis. - Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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