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G5 case mod on a budget


haggus
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I started a little project after seeing it being done by a few others. I really want to keep the G5 look as OEM as possible. I am pretty good at working with my hands and there is a ton of info on how to do this mod.

 

I really love the the G5 case it is such a nice clean looking case. 

 

I do not have a ton of cash at the moment so the 1200.00 price tag for an i7 quad setup with all the new hardware is not an option at the moment. However I did get a deal on a Core 2 Quad from a friend who was upgrading his system.

 

I currently have a old Pentium D 2.8 GHz with 4Gb of ram 2 500Gb SATA drives and 1.5 Tb external usb running SL 10.6.8 

 

The G5 was acquired for 50.00 with a 20" Apple Cinema display, I started taking out the G5 internals today. I must say that these machines are put together really well everything is very secure. 

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I did some more removal . I removed the power supply and I plan to replace the "Tesla Converter" internals with a 650W top cooled power supply with the fan removed. Also I need some molex connectors to wire the fans I plan to use the G5 fans running at 5V.

 

 

 

 

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I think for the purpose of this build the G5 case is a good fit. I am doing this on a budget with 350.00 to work with and hoping to complete it as inexpensively as I can.

Bit of a price diff though eh !

 

Im happy to see how this mod plays out ... like the look of it so far :)

 

 

smooth

Thanks

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It seems my budget is going to have to grow.

 

ASUS MB Core 2 Quad 75.00

Cooler Master and 8 Gb RAM 80.00

G5 case  20" Apple Cinema Display 50.00

Apple DVI to ADC 95.00

 

Total 300.00

 

Parts still needed

 

PSU 90 -140 I missed one for 40.00

SSD 150 -250 there is one for 90.00 local

 

Seems the parts I need are going blow my whole budget. I was trying to stay within the 350 range and it was looking good but even if I gow with a 600W PSU and 250 Gb SSD it still looks 200.00 which puts me in at 500.00.

 

Going to have search for sales and deals to bring the price down

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:)

 

top for G5

 

-Sapphire HD 7850/1024 to 65 € (end new series)
-MSI B75 MA E33 to 42 (mATX)
-RAM 2x4 go to 80 € (LP)
-SSD 128 GO 60
-Xeon E3-1245 v2 -Processor 200 (used)
-Cooling liquid COOLMASTER 120M 50

-Alim ATX 600 W 80 + à 42 €

 

 







 

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That dvi to adc price seems steep.. eBay will have them cheaper.. For $95 a new monitor is better value I'd say..

 

 

:)

 

top for G5

 

-Sapphire HD 7850/1024 to 65 € (end new series)

-MSI B75 MA E33 to 42 € (mATX)

-RAM 2x4 go to 80 € (LP)

-SSD 128 GO 60 €

-Xeon E3-1245 v2 -Processor 200 € (used)

-Cooling liquid COOLMASTER 120M 50 €

-Alim ATX 600 W 80 + à 42 €

 

 

 

Ebay price was 75 + 25 shipping for a tested unit. I know it seems steep and I might have got it from the UK for 50 Quid but exchange and shipping are about the same. Plus you have to be careful you don't get that 220V plug then you need a new plug.

 

That being said I like the Apple Cinema Display.

 

I like that list of parts not sure what Euro to Cdn conversion is seems about what I am looking at now. There will probably be a sale or two I can keep my eye on I was looking at 256Gb SSD 128 would be cheaper and most likely serve the purpose. Keep the OS on the SSD and all other files on an external HD I could always put a 500Gb HD in alongside the SSD as I have several of those. Power supply I was looking at was a corsair 600 CX600 runs about 85.00

 

I aquired the metal for my backplate a nice piece of 1.5 mm aluminium now I just to need to mark the layout and I should be able to get it cut out and fitted. I will add pictures once I get a little further.

 

 

 

 

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I had some time to start marking out the back plate for my G5 project. The aluminium is a little marked up but once I get it cut out I will wet sand it and try to work the worst scratches out and give it a cleaning as well.

 

Started to label some wires for making the front panel harness work with the atx board.

 

This weekend I will order the PSU and SSD.

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I rough cut the back panel , cut the HD tray, and PCI divider on the weekend just temp fitting all the pieces before assembly.

 

Things to do 

  • finish labeling the front connector for splicing
  • need connectors for the fan modules(local source or online order)
  • mount the cooler master heat-sink to the CPU
  • re-use G5 cover over the MB
  • power supply fitted into Tesla Converter tray
  • need IEEE 1394 front panel cable

Some more parts are on order but I have to go away for work so I will make more progress when I return. I took pictures and will upload them later.

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  • 5 months later...

I returned to this project after a bit of a delay 

 

Things completed 

 

I have the front panel connector marked up and ready to attach.

All the internal parts are mocked up ready to go

 

I have a free donor PC also

 

Parts I am using 

 

The power supply

USB,FIREWIRE, and AUDIO cables to attach the front panel connector

I think I have 6 different SATA HD sitting there from 80Gb to 500Gb

 

Things I need 

 

Thermal compund to mount the new heatsink.

SSD is still desired but the budget and the amount of useable HD I have might eliminate this for now or it will be small and just for the OS.

 

 

I'll get some pictures up after I download them from the camera.

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Got the front panel cable done. It connected to the MB and reaches all the connectors. The firewire cable could have been longer. The MB is sitting roughly where it is supposed to go. Everything connected.

 

Tomorrow is either fans or power supply work.

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  • 1 month later...

I have to start my case mod too.

Macpro ppc G5 watercooling.

Dell optiplex 780

Dell poweredge r200

Total price: 0€

 

I surely create something cool.

Do not want to cut the case.

Surely find a way to use extension cord to keep the backplane.

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Well G5 is still a work in progress 

 

Here is the Precision 690 workstation

Was it troublesome to get the precision 690 to run Os X? I hear that there's a specific model of motherboard version that you have to have in order to do this in order to run the 2x processors.  Is that true?

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