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I finally got some time from school and my internship and my wedding to get started and complete my G5 case mod over the past few weeks. I got my case on ebay for about $100 back in march and couldn't wait to get home from school to cut into it. All i wanted to do with this mod was put my Athlon64 machine inside and make it look as plain G5 as possible with the exception of the back of the case. I have done two other mods where i used a lot of plexiglass and mirrored plexiglass so i wanted to stray away from that and just work with aluminum on this case. After this post, if you have any questions just feel free to ask.
Here is when i started to cut out the back of the G5 to accomodate my old motherboard tray from a Kingwin case I modded a while ago.
As i continued my process and deciding where i wanted things to go inside the case i quickly discovered i would need to cut out the whole back and put my motherboard tray at the bottom while leaving room for my power supply at the top. So here's a picture of the back completely cut out...
I know most people here like to see some carnage...this is only minimal and maybe more serious to mac fans everywhere.....the massacre is almost over at this point....
I was stuck for a while on how to build the back of the case in to accomodate the mobo tray i planned to use. My stepdad, who just happens to be a professional window installer, was cruising through the garage at this point and looking over my case. I had some sheets of aluminum i purchased and he said why not just use his brake that he uses to bend and cut aluminum coil while installing windows. I had done this many times the summer before so it was a very easy fix to my problem. So here is the newly constructed back of the case before i cut the hole for the power supply.
This next picture is after I cut the hole in the back for the power supply and i constructed a shelf for the combo drive and power supply. Again for the shelf i used an aluminum sheet and bent it on the brake, attaching it with existing screw holes on the case, after i ripped out the old standoffs of course. the shelf has a 120mm hole for the fan in my power supply as well.
So skipping pictures of a lot of intermediate type things this is the final picture inside. There are lots of wires everywhere which i intend to clean up somewhat. I'm not as worried about it as i was in my kingwin case with a window and mirrored plexi so i'll probably leave it for a while like this.
This is the area at the front on the bottom of the case. I made small mounts for the 120mm coolermaster silent fan and the hard drive, mounting it 3/4" off the floor of the case for air travel all around it.
This is a shot of the top at the front with the combo drive mounted so it pushes through the original apple slot. i had to remove the faceplate to get it to fit. Also mounted here is my floppy drive / memory card reader using small aluminum angle.
Here is the most difficult part of the project in my opinion. It took me a while to come up with an idea to get the power supply all the way to the back because of the curve of the G5 case at the corners. I finally ripped open my power supply to replace it's 120mm fan with the same silent one i used at the front of the case. While inside the power supply i thought the wires connecting the backplate seemed kinda long so i decided to just remove the backplate. I made a small piece of aluminum to help keep the power supply together where the backplate should have been and i just pulled the backplate through my back piece of aluminum on the case and bolted it in. It works amazingly well and i'm satisfied with it.
So here are just a couple outside shots of the finished product. the power switch on the front works thanks to a slick wiring trick i found at this link
I have yet to clean the case fully but it still looks pretty good in normal light, the flash brings out lots of bad things...
So like i said any questions just post and i will answer them shortly....
Here is when i started to cut out the back of the G5 to accomodate my old motherboard tray from a Kingwin case I modded a while ago.
As i continued my process and deciding where i wanted things to go inside the case i quickly discovered i would need to cut out the whole back and put my motherboard tray at the bottom while leaving room for my power supply at the top. So here's a picture of the back completely cut out...
I know most people here like to see some carnage...this is only minimal and maybe more serious to mac fans everywhere.....the massacre is almost over at this point....
I was stuck for a while on how to build the back of the case in to accomodate the mobo tray i planned to use. My stepdad, who just happens to be a professional window installer, was cruising through the garage at this point and looking over my case. I had some sheets of aluminum i purchased and he said why not just use his brake that he uses to bend and cut aluminum coil while installing windows. I had done this many times the summer before so it was a very easy fix to my problem. So here is the newly constructed back of the case before i cut the hole for the power supply.
This next picture is after I cut the hole in the back for the power supply and i constructed a shelf for the combo drive and power supply. Again for the shelf i used an aluminum sheet and bent it on the brake, attaching it with existing screw holes on the case, after i ripped out the old standoffs of course. the shelf has a 120mm hole for the fan in my power supply as well.
So skipping pictures of a lot of intermediate type things this is the final picture inside. There are lots of wires everywhere which i intend to clean up somewhat. I'm not as worried about it as i was in my kingwin case with a window and mirrored plexi so i'll probably leave it for a while like this.
This is the area at the front on the bottom of the case. I made small mounts for the 120mm coolermaster silent fan and the hard drive, mounting it 3/4" off the floor of the case for air travel all around it.
This is a shot of the top at the front with the combo drive mounted so it pushes through the original apple slot. i had to remove the faceplate to get it to fit. Also mounted here is my floppy drive / memory card reader using small aluminum angle.
Here is the most difficult part of the project in my opinion. It took me a while to come up with an idea to get the power supply all the way to the back because of the curve of the G5 case at the corners. I finally ripped open my power supply to replace it's 120mm fan with the same silent one i used at the front of the case. While inside the power supply i thought the wires connecting the backplate seemed kinda long so i decided to just remove the backplate. I made a small piece of aluminum to help keep the power supply together where the backplate should have been and i just pulled the backplate through my back piece of aluminum on the case and bolted it in. It works amazingly well and i'm satisfied with it.
So here are just a couple outside shots of the finished product. the power switch on the front works thanks to a slick wiring trick i found at this link
I have yet to clean the case fully but it still looks pretty good in normal light, the flash brings out lots of bad things...
So like i said any questions just post and i will answer them shortly....
