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[Discussion] Fit a PC in a G5 PowerMac Enclosure!

TribesMan

By TribesMan,
in Mods and Overclocking

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jsz0
jsz0
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I just finished a G5 mod. It's not all pretty & neat like some of the others here so I won't bother posting pics but I will share a few things I learned along the way:

 

-The standoffs indeed come off with a quick twist. Don't waste your dremel blades on them becuase they are hard to cut. (found that out modding a G4 Tower) You can reuse the standoffs to mount your ATX tray. Epoxy them back on in the right spots.

 

-Using an ATX tray is definitely the way to go. It makes the back messy looking but how often do you see the back of your case? You can easily put in a full ATX board using this method and won't have to re-locate the hard drive bays.

 

-Front panel stuff is kinda confusing. Took me 5 or 6 tries to get it right. Get the G5 service manual before you attempt it. I made the mistake of trying some diagrams I found online which were entirely wrong.

 

-5V the drive bay fans if you plan to use them. They're LOUD.

 

-Cutting the rear case is pretty easy thanks to the holes. Easier to mod than a regular solid case. I used some standard dremel metal blades -- only took 2 to cut the entire back of the case out.

 

-If you're going to install the power supply in the bottom front of the case, put some rubber feet under it to avoid vibrations.

 

-If you're going to use the original hard drive bay it's easier to run your own SATA/Power connectors. The ones that come in the case are more work than they're worth. I don't know how the original G5 is but I oriented my drives so the connectors were facing outwards and ran them through the hole in the front of the case near the optical drive, then cut a hole in the plastic fan divder to reach the rear. Much better airflow over your HD's this way and it's easier to take the drives in & out.

 

That's about it. This is a good modding case. A lot easier than the G4 Tower and a ton cheaper than the MacPro tower.

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jsz0,

 

I was curious, did you use the included plug for the drive bay fans, or have to strip the wire and add a new 3pin plug?

 

And as for the front panel, did you get the sound, USB and FW working?

If so, care to share how ? This is my first build, and the front panel is a bit daunting to me...

 

Thanks!

 

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jsz0
jsz0
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jsz0,

 

I was curious, did you use the included plug for the drive bay fans, or have to strip the wire and add a new 3pin plug?

 

And as for the front panel, did you get the sound, USB and FW working?

If so, care to share how ? This is my first build, and the front panel is a bit daunting to me...

 

Thanks!

 

 

I used the original plug. The wire was a little too short to easily strip and I didn't feel like yanking out the whole PCI divider so I soldered on some pins and plugged them straight into the existing fan connector.

 

The front panel stuff is tricky. The G5 service manual will tell you exactly what each pin is for. USB was easy -- just match GRND/USB+/- & 5V. For audio, you proably have to set your BIOS to use "AC97" for its front panel audio connector instead of HD. From there just use an AC97 pinout. I had to do some guessing on the AUDIO_SENSE and AUDIO_COM pins.

 

For the power button & LED, there is a VERY tiny set of wire sconnecting them to the front panel board. You have to cut into the wires there. One set of wires is the power switch, one set is the power LED. The power LED needs power from somewhere. I pulled it off a 5V wire. I didn't document what was what -- just hooked up a multi-meter and figured it out.

 

FW I didn't bother with since I don't have a FW port but it looked pretty straight forward.

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CZ*DarkLight
CZ*DarkLight
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This is my fit :( No drilled holes or cuts on case, just screws in original holes. Backside has no changes, all ports (graphics, usb) are on the brackets, ethernet chord is plugged directly to mobo and coming out from case to box on th wall. Couple of color changes on photo, and that's it O:-)

 

stul.jpg

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Harloe
Harloe
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Hey guys,

 

Been reading through this thread now for a bit and I'm gonna try my hand at this mod after christmas when I get some money aside! I want to work with computers as a job and my college course is teaching no practical work at all, just theory. So I have decided to take matters into my own hands! =P

 

After looking through a few mods, I have decided to perhaps go ahead with cutting out a portion of the back of the G5 case so I can have an ATX Motherboard Tray there hopefully, rather than having to run wires on the original ports. Does anyone have any recommendations on tools for doing this job? I'm only 18 and the only practical building work I have is a Grade C in High School Woodwork! lol

 

For the power supply I have decided to mount it at the bottom front of the case, but here is where I am confused. How am I going to get power to it? Is there some sort of cable extension I can use to travel along the bottom of the case into the cases power socket? One of my friends said something like a 'Female to Female' connector? Is this possible?

 

Another quick question about the Mobo Tray, where will it screw into? (I'm not very metalwork minded and I am {censored} scared of breaking something lol)

 

Thanks for all your help and it's really inspired me to go ahead to mod a case and build my own computer =] A lot of the mods are truly brilliant, especially Aqua-Macs with that metal casing cover within the case!

 

Thanks once again =]

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jsz0
jsz0
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Does anyone have any recommendations on tools for doing this job? I'm only 18 and the only practical building work I have is a Grade C in High School Woodwork! lol

 

Dremel, metal cutting wheels, drill, plyers, metal epoxy, soldering iron, multi-meter, face mask, safety glasses

 

For the power supply I have decided to mount it at the bottom front of the case, but here is where I am confused. How am I going to get power to it? Is there some sort of cable extension I can use to travel along the bottom of the case into the cases power socket? One of my friends said something like a 'Female to Female' connector? Is this possible?

 

Yep just run a jumper. You can find the proper socket on the back of an old power supply or from some types of computer power extension cables. If you don't already have the power supply check this one out -- it's perfect for the G5:

http://www.svc.com/ixm-30-14.html

 

 

Another quick question about the Mobo Tray, where will it screw into? (I'm not very metalwork minded and I am {censored} scared of breaking something lol)

 

Remove all the original G5 motherboard standoffs. (twist them with plyers, don't cut) Then re-use the standoffs to mount the ATX tray. While the tray is still outside of the case attach the standoffs to the corners and a couple in the middle. Apply metal epoxy to the bottom of the G5 standoffs. Place the ATX tray into the case, line it up and push down on the tray to set the epoxy. Stack some weights or heavy books on the top of the tray and let it sit for at least 12 hours. I ended up using all the original G5 standoffs just to be on the safe side. It's in there rock solid.

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CZ*DarkLight
CZ*DarkLight
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Kemmi: Epoxy glue is glue :-D it comes in two tubes - Resin and harder. You have to make mixture of this two "ingredients", usualy in ammount ratio 1:1, then apply on surface, load some heavy things up to keep both parts together for several hours, and then it is its glued together, hard like a rock.

 

And what about dremel - it is just some kind of grinder or cutting tool. I guess that picture will explain.

multipro395.jpg

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jsz0
jsz0
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Dremels are pretty simple. If you can use a drill you can use a dremel. As far as safety goes just make sure you wear safety glasses and some sort of face mask to cut down on the amount of dust you inhale. Don't run it at full speed. I find a 3 or 4 setting is more than adaquate. It takes a little longer but you avoid mistakes and the cutting wheel is more managiable. If you run it at speed 7 or 8 the blade is going to jump all over and run a greater risk of breaking. The other thing to remember is dremels get VERY hot so you're gonna need to give it some time to cool down when you're cutting. Other than that, just be mindful of where the cutting blade is at all times. You'd have a hard time losing a finger but you could give yourself a deep cut.

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Magsy
Magsy
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Just a quick post to make people aware of something with the frontpanel on the G5. I've killed a brand new mobo and I wouldn't want anyone else to do the same :unsure:

 

I have the service manual and it says that pin 1 is +v and pin 2 is gnd. It says pin 14 is Pwr Button.

I connected all the pins on the connector to the mobo, the usb, firewire, audio and power button led. I should of checked the Apple manual was right but I didn't and assumption is the mother of all f**k ups...

 

What appears to happen if you follow the Apple pinout, is that when you hit the power button you short pin 1 (which is connected to firewire +V) to pin 14 (pwr button). In the best case you short the firewire power to ground and in my case you short firewire +v to power switch +v.

 

I am not stupid and don't think I make a mistake, I build hifi amps/dacs/preamps and can solder well but there is something amiss. It looks to me like Apple use the firewire +v as a trigger for the mobo to go live because pin 1 does indeed feed +v on the firewire connector.

 

I've seen other posts telling you to connect pin 1 to gnd and not +v. This will work fine assuming you never connect the firewire header or front port. (because you are then pulling the +v from pwr button to gnd which is correct)

 

My mobo doesn't start now so I'm going to try and rma it :o

 

The solution for me because I want working firwire is to isolate the power button and run seperate wires for it..

 

Hmm are them Dremels easy to use? I don't wanna end up missing a finger.... lol
You cannot really cut yourself with a dremel, I can put the cutting disc on my hand whilst spinning and nothing happens - no blood! The danger as previously mentioned is that you use it too fast that it will skip and jump all over your lovely G5 case :|

Dust is a big issue, the discs tend to wear down as fast as what you are cutting through and that black stuff is choking and gets everywhere. I either use the garage or do it in the bath so you can wash it away. I wouldn't cut inside...

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Harloe
Harloe
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I was only kidding about losing a finger =P

 

I am pretty sure I could use one, I generally like to take areas like D.I.Y sorta slow so not to ruin anything, specially a G5 case. Boy would I cry myself to sleep at night, lol

 

Another question once the back section as been cut out; where will the screws actually screw into? Like into the back of the G5 case? This has been confusing me for a while now... I know it sounds stupid but I keep picturing it screwing into the small holes of the grill-like back, am I right? OR completely wrong? lol

 

Thanks for all your help =]

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jsz0
jsz0
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Another question once the back section as been cut out; where will the screws actually screw into? Like into the back of the G5 case? This has been confusing me for a while now... I know it sounds stupid but I keep picturing it screwing into the small holes of the grill-like back, am I right? OR completely wrong? lol

 

Do you mean the screws for expansion cards in PCI/E slots? They will screw into the ATX tray. This is what a typical ATX tray looks like (although they're usually not as tall)

 

htpc_shot6.jpg

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Harloe
Harloe
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The ATX tray I've been looking at is an ATX Replacement Tray (a Lian Li tray I think) and it looks different to the one posted above.. Hmm.. I think I can do this, it's just the practical metal work I am worried about and trying to figure out how to screw the stray onto the back of the case, will I need some sort of custom frame for it to screw into or can it just screw into the case itself on the back?

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teknojunkie
teknojunkie
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Hi can you guys help me on the one I got this is it http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...c=83104&hl=Is thier is a possible way to use the G5 power supply and fans on this I know the fan is but how about the power supplysorry for all the post but this is my last one for rite now If any one is interested in the motherboard let me know I don't thing it works though

 

 

 

 

 

g5(1).jpg

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ѕӎѳѳ₮ңӌ
ѕӎѳѳ₮ңӌ
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Hi can you guys help me on the one I got this is it http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...c=83104&hl=Is thier is a possible way to use the G5 power supply and fans on this I know the fan is but how about the power supplysorry for all the post but this is my last one for rite now If any one is interested in the motherboard let me know I don't thing it works though

g5(1).jpg

 

The fans can be used, see page 5 or so of tis thread, they involve a bit of rewiring.

 

I had a go at the 450w psu, didnt get too far. To be fair im by no means experienced with psu's, but all the wires are there that would be in a normal 'atx' psu, apart from 2. I posted this information earlier in this thread!

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teknojunkie
teknojunkie
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do you want to reuse the plug from the back of the original apple psu?

 

 

yea I would love to or even open up another and stick it at the bottom where the original psu is located. And use that one because im thinking about selling the original one to get more money for a new video card

 

like this

 

and this

 

this is someone elses

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