My Apple G5 Case Mod

MERKMAN

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 7, 2004
Messages
226
Greetings all. While I'm aware this will not be this first mod of this type, the circumstances are just about perfect for me to attempt this. A buddy bought an empty G5 case JUST before he bought his new house with his wife. And rather than take ALL his PC crap with him, he threw a bunch of it out. Though he DID offer to GIVE me the empty G5 case, and word is I'll get that Monday.

Since then, I've been looking, plotting, and coming up with ideas for the PC to go in the case. At first, it was gonna be a "free" project. As not only was my buddy giving me the case, but my sister and bro-in-law were said to be done with the Athlon 1800+ system I built for them a few years ago. So I figured I'd mod the case enough to make that ATX motherboard fit, and BOOM... cool PC. But they have decided to use that PC in their new home since, and I'm left looking.

Was gonna get an "el cheapo" Sempron 2600+ and ECS motherboard at Fry's for $69.99, but despite a price tag still being up they appearently were sold out. So after debating for 20 minutes, and waiting 30 for a clerk, I left with nothing.

Since then, I'm plotting bigger... MUCH bigger. I'm thinking I'll replace my custom Shuttle SB61G2 setup with the G5 case AND...

Intel 630 CPU
ABIT IG-80 mATX Motherboard
2x512MB of Corsair or Crucial DDR Memory
256MB PCI-X 6600 video card
Enermax 24-pin power supply
Scrounge the HD out of some of my other PC projects
Buy fans and such as necessary

Haven't done a final price on this setup, but I'd guess about $225 for the CPU, $80 for the MB, $100 for the memory, $150 for the video card, $50 for the PS, and $20 for "spare parts". I'm supposed to be on a budget and paying off my debt, but really... that's pretty cheap for a top of the line PC.

The biggest concern will be cutting out the "backplate" space the correct size and making the MB "form" fit first try. I also haven't decided exactly how to do the spacers. I have a mental plan of "tapping" really small screw holes and using brass standoffs with the usual screws and holes. But I wonder if there isn't a "safer" method for mounting the board. Perhaps plastic MB "stands" that stick to the bottom of a case, so screwing into the Aluminium wouldn't be necessary. And that would minimize the possible problems of messing up the look of the case, drilling holes in the wrong place, etc.

Any or all suggestions are appreciated. I haven't had a single look at the case with my ideas in mind, so maybe I'm missing something. But I'm hopeful to make this project a great success.
 
tapping doesn't work quite so well. if you want, get a chunk of al from the hardware store or from scrap and try it... needs to be very precise on this case.

personally, I used JB weld to re-attach the stock standoffs. worked well, only had to re-set one standoff that didn't make good contact when it was setting up.
 
So you dremeled the existing standoffs as close to the case and evenly as possible, and then the JB Weld works like a "super glue" to put them where you need them? Interesting.

How did you mount the motherboard? Attach the standoffs without mounting them, position the board to confirm the "fit" is right, flip over the board and use the weld, then put it back down and let it "set up"?

I'm not so worried about the dremelling the motherboard "backplate" correctly, since going slow and taking my time... I hope to get that right. But besides how tough "tapping" the case is, if I make a mistake... :(
 
i think he means he dremeled the existing apple proprietary standoffs off and then JB welded tem back on the CASE in the correct positions for an ATX motherboard...i could be wrong on either what you meant by what you said...or what meant by what he said
 
i didn't have to dremel them off. take some pliers and grab them at the top. if you give some force to either side and pull they will come right out without any damage (you have a little indention in the case where the standoffs were, but imo it looks better than dremel marks). then i flipped the mobo and mounted the standoffs, covered the backside of the mobo with some aluminum foil and masking tape, tested the fit and then jb welded the standoffs.

the backplate was a bit more tricky since the mobo sits in the case a few CM since the expansion ports are indented. make sure you line up agp/pci for video before mounting unless you want to go the way godspeed did which should work well if you have the time.. currently, my backplane is just a square hole. i'm working on creating an aluminum backplate for the mobotherboard that matches up to the case mostly seemlessly.

hard to say in words, i'd show pics if i were home. i'll try to remember when i get back.
 
Whatever you do don't put a window in or install lights, just takes away from the case and looks shit.

That guy who did the other G5 mod with a window and a blue light totally ruined the case and made it look so tacky and crap, use that as an example of what not to do :p.

Just my small input heh. Not really related to the question but its just bad seeing people ruin the best PC case ever designed with lights and crap.
 
Being a bondo and plastics/plex man , found modding a G5 case for Dual Watercooled Xeons Very challenging, like you the delema i face was how far to take the mod.

I ended up completely stripping the case down, turning the inner cage 180 around redrilling the 50,000000 connectiing bolt holes and turning the whole case around :eek:

you will find when you mount your board it will mount "updside down" :(

a legacy or right side opening cases, ala lianli.....

I then had to make all new internal back top and bottem panels...... fab up a new rear plate from an old chassis and new alu plate.

In the end i was very happy with the overall result and it matched my 2 x 20" asd's and my 30" asd and was an over all classy looking setup.

Ive since sold the Xeons and retired the modded G5 to the wall of shame in the workshop.

but it was a lot of fun :)

Good luck with yours i'll watch this thread and offer any help i can :)

Cheers.
 
Wow man good luck with that, I think you should make the G5 look as much like a Mac as possible, then that'll be a clean setup. :D
 
Well first off, thanks to each and all for the comments and suggestions. I'd tried posting on 3DGameMan with limited replies. Seems most of the folks I used to "know" there aren't posting anymore, and so I got little insight from that page.

I then wrote Steve, because he and I had kept up for a while when discussing how we loved the "newer" alienware cases, but neither of us wanted to buy an Alienware PC. I guess there are "knock offs" of the case in Asia, but no one has managed to bring them to the US. In any event, it was late Friday when I e-mailed him. Maybe I'll hear something Monday.

As E_Rage, aluminum foil? Really? I mean, as I think about it... I guess it makes sense. Aluminum shouldn't be conductive, so in theory it would prevent shorts if you put it on the "underside" of the motherboard. But does it look ok? I just can't imagine actually putting it on.

Funkstar - No worries about lights, etc. That stuff seemed cool a few years ago when modding was "new" to PC's. But since then, the lights just annoy my eyes, and most of the "fancy" stuff doesn't impress much. I think the clean aluminum design of the Apple case is why I'll bother to try and make it work. Hopefully I won't make any obvious mistakes, and I'll have a true, clean look when I'm done.

Defyant - Wow. Definately sounds like you put a TON of work into yours. Must admit I'm having a hard time understanding some of the mods you did. Don't suppose you have any pics online somewhere or that you could share here? Would love to see what all you've done. Don't suppose you'd be willing to sell yours, would you?

Art - Thanks man. As mentioned, the more Apple the look, the better. I considered trying to find the "Apple" parts and make a REAL Apple PC from this, but I'm missing so much it would be REALLY tough. And a Mac mini would be easy to install, but being able to use the optical drive would be a real B!t@h. Besides, I think I'm gonna use this mod as an excuse to upgrade my primary. The CPU and motherboard I've mentioned really do seem like a fun and powerful way to go. Though buying ANOTHER video card so shortly after getting my 128MB 6800 AGP is gonna suck. :(

More after getting the case tomorrow and making more decisions.
 
i just got a G5 case about 2 weeks ago and haven't had much time since I just got my wisdom teeth cut out and i have an internship starting on monday....

i'm planning to keep it as simple as possible. i'm just going to mount my motherboard by re-glueing the motherboard standoffs where i want them and matching my vid card up to the existing slots in the back. i'm going to go ahead and cut out the back piece for the other mobo slots but i plan to make my own for that to match a little at least. other than that i'm just going to try to make it smooth looking and nice for the most part...
 
I was going to post a workog :p but didnt think it was much of a mod,

i dont wanna hog your thread but heres a few random piccys :)

If you guys think its worth it i'll do a proper post in the worklogs.

soz if the pic sizes are out :(

DSCF0227.jpg


IMG_0191.jpg


DSCF0013.jpg


DSCF0020.jpg



DSCF0021.jpg


DSCF0046.jpg



DSCF0071.jpg


DSCF0312.jpg



DSCF0077.jpg


IMG_0095.jpg


DSCF0078.jpg


IMG_0490.jpg
 
Defyant said:
I was going to post a workog :p but didnt think it was much of a mod,

i dont wanna hog your thread but heres a few random piccys :)

If you guys think its worth it i'll do a proper post in the worklogs.

soz if the pic sizes are out :(

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0227.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/IMG_0191.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0013.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0020.jpg[/IMG]


[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0021.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0046.jpg[/IMG]


[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0071.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0312.jpg[/IMG]


[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0077.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/IMG_0095.jpg[/IMG]

[.IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Defyantmods/Project%20FUSION/DSCF0078.jpg[/IMG]

IMG_0490.jpg


i'll bet she cooks. :) specs?
 
First off, don't apologize. I REALLY appreciate your pics! :D

That is a GREAT job you've done! Really impressive work! The custom motherboard back is a GREAT move. Dunno if I have the ability or patience, so I'll probably stick to getting my motherboard to "mount" in the existing spot. Sounds like some have managed this nicely.

I am having second thoughs about the components to use. Some reading seems to indicate that an Athlon 64 3200+ would probably be better for average PC tasks and gaming, than the Intel P4 630 would be. I figured the new Intel processor with 2MB of cache would be pretty cool, but the reviews seem to indicate it's rather average.

I wish I could justify an Athlon X2 CPU, but I just don't have that kinda money. I figured about $200 was the max. I could justify for the CPU, and $100 for the motherboard. Seems like a Athlon 64 3200+ and a ABIT KV-80 Motherboard should be right around that number.

The other nice thing, is the KV-80 has AGP instead of PCI-X. I wanted to go PCI-X, but I don't really have another $200 plus to replace my 128MB 6800 AGP card. So I'll just reuse my existing card, and that should be plenty for now.

Wish I could find someplace to read reviews on the KV-80. Seems like most mATX boards just don't get the love the full size boards do. And I'm not sure where I'd look for coverage on those.

Anyone with G5 case mods, please feel free to post here. Your pictures, plans, thoughts, and experiences are all welcome. :cool:
 
MERKMAN said:
[snip]AGP...PCI-X...PCI-X...AGP
you mean AGP and PCI-E. PCI-X is server stuff.

you might want to look at the MSI mATX motherboard with the ATI chipset if you want PCI-E.

Defyant - post a worklog. i'd like to see how exactly you did that... looks really awesome too.
 
Okay. I got my case last night, and took a [H]ard Look at it this morning. ;)

I now realize why so many people cut a "hole" and leave it open for the "backplate". The apple design has the PCI slots IN from where the keyboard, mouse, and other items "plug in" to the motherboard, in an L shape. An aweful example follows...

____________________________________________
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | _____ Area for USB ports, etc. ______
_________

PCI SLOTS

So with the motherboard perpendicular to the PCI slots, the "ports" on the backplane won't reach the back of the case. Just one more reason Defyant's mod was necessary and awesome. With my situation, I'm likely now just to dremel a hole as others have done, and run any device connections inside the case to the motherboard.

The one thing I don't quite understand from Defyant's mod is where the power supply is. I can't see it in the complete and operational pics, and though it will be different than what I'm doing... I'm still curious.

Finding a way to use the exact hole the Mac case has looks to be tough with a full size power supply. And since I'm planning on using an Athlon 64 motherboard with my 6800 at this point, an Enermax of some type would be preferable per my tastes.

I'm a little less sure of the whole mod, looking at things now. But I'm mulling it over.
 
Ok... here's a question for anyone and everyone who's done this mod.

My G5 case has a three wire cable that comes off the power button inside the case. Many may have this cable covered, but my case is SO gutted that the cover is no longer there, and a simple 3-wire connection is all that's left.

I'd love to establish the pin-out diagram for this, so I can get the power button to light up when the case is on, and use the button to connect directly to the power "switch" connectors on whatever motherboar I purchase. (Kinda important to be able to turn a new PC on.) :D

Any help on this is appreciated!!!
 
i like the mod, nice man... it would be real nice if you could post a work-log with some bigger pics to
 
MERKMAN said:
Ok... here's a question for anyone and everyone who's done this mod.

My G5 case has a three wire cable that comes off the power button inside the case. Many may have this cable covered, but my case is SO gutted that the cover is no longer there, and a simple 3-wire connection is all that's left.

I'd love to establish the pin-out diagram for this, so I can get the power button to light up when the case is on, and use the button to connect directly to the power "switch" connectors on whatever motherboar I purchase. (Kinda important to be able to turn a new PC on.) :D

Use a multimeter to determine which two pins stay open until the momentary switch is pressed(assuming its a momentary switch, eeek). All the power switch does is temporarily short two pins on the mobo. Even if its not a momentary, you can always just doubletap it or press it down just enough to short but not click into position.

As for his PSU, Look at the big pic:
Look direcly below the last PCI Card. See that 120MM fan filter, that is the PSU Air intake fan. See those sleved cables to the right, those are the PSU power cables coming from under that plate and going behind the mobo.
 
Found the PS finally. Thanks for the tip. Can't say I think much of the placement, but it wasn't my case.

As for the power switch, I've found some info about it in Godspeed's mod. Sounds like it IS a momentary switch, but it seems to get power from somewhere so it glows green when the PC is on, and white when it's in "sleep" mode. I'll be happy if I can just get it green. ;)

Meanwhile, my CPU and motherboard search has gone completely upside down. I'm thinking I'd rather go 939 than 754, and I have no idea if the original AMD Athlon 64 CPU's are typically better or worse for gaming than the new ones. I'm gonna post in the AMD board and hope for answers there.

Meantime, I still hope to order the motherboard, CPU, and RAM soon. May get a cheap video card, since I think I'm out of 9500 128MB cards for all but my primary PC. I'll have to figure out what the best "inexpensive" card I can find is. (AKA about $100 or less)
 
Defyant - Did you have to mod your optical drive so it would fit in the case with the full size ATX MB? I'm still a little confused about that. And I assume when you mounted the optical drive, you created a custom way to get it in there? Any info on that would be apprreciated, as it looks to be one of the only possible "stumbling" blocks I can "predict" having while completing my case.

Mind you, there are bound to be a TON of others that show up once I get started. ;)

Opinions on Venice Vs. San Diego processors, and whether the current San Diego IS or ISN'T an FX CPU would be appreciated!!!
 
Greetings all. Been ages since I first mentioned this project here. I apologize for it taking me so long to get anything going and have more info. I have some reassuring news, and some that scares me.

First the good news. The "Lian Li Ripoff" that has received post after post arrived from Dealsonic. For just over $34 shipped, it was in great shape with no scratches, and has lots of spare parts that should help meet my projects needs. This is the first case I've EVER bought that has a motherboard tray, and it seems to be a nice one. So I'm hopeful to intergrate this into my Apple.

Now, to figure out the fit, I removed the motherboard tray from the case. I then took two pieces of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, overlapped them all but about 4" inches, taped them together, and then taped them over the empty motherboard tray hole OUTSIDE the case. I then laid the case on a TV tray, and used a pencil to "sketch" the tray opening onto the paper. Finally, I removed the paper from the case, cut it out with a pair of scissors, compared my "template" with the hole in the back of the case, and then put that template on the back of my apple PC.

It appears I can remove the motherboard "rails" from the old case by drilling out three rivits each that hold them in place. Then with the correct alignment, I should be able to dremel out the motherboard tray hole in the back of the G5 case. With correct positioning, I'll completely remove the motherboard "handle" that doesn't work in my stripped out case anyway, and end up removing the power plug hole in the bottom of the case... hopefully leaving a nice, clean look.

Then I "mount" the rails in the G5 case (presumably using some spare metal to lift them to the right height, then maybe some JBWeld to "mount" them, since screwing through the G5 case is unthinkable. Finally, I'll slide the motherboard tray in, drill some screw holes for the thumbscrews that hold it in place, and it should be in good shape.

One of my primary concerns that this point is the power supply. I'm thinking I want to make this into a Dual SLI capable rig, now that I'm replacing the backplate and will have 7 "PCI" slots, etc. However, there is only about 3 1/2" of space between the motherboard and the case top. Even less when the motherboard rail is using some of that on one side. To mount a power supply at the top "back" of the case is tough, because there are some "screw heads" holding the G5 case "mesh" together. I MIGHT be able to mount the power supply slightly further forward than at the VERY back of the case, but then I'll need to create an "air dam" so the hot air from the power supply doesn't recirculate back INTO the case. And that could be daughting...

I also still haven't worked out how to mount and optical drive so it will function and not move within the case (which is very important).

I think I'm making strides, but the final design isn't complete... so I haven't started cutting yet. More as I decide more...
 
So measured outside the case, the Apple G5 is 17 7/16", just like the "lian li ripoff" I bought. BUT... since the G5 case has rounded corners, I loose a good inch or so from each side. Enough to make my power supply mounting that much more daunting.

I see a couple different answers:

1) Go with a smaller power supply - This will likely remove any chance of a 500w+ unit that is SLi capable, and prevent me from building the system I'd LIKE to install in that case.

2) Mount the power supply in the "front" of the PC - As I sit here and think about it, I suppose I could mount the power supply "on its end", cut a hole in the bottom of the case, and have the airflow and plug for the case come from underneath. The obvious problem with this situation is the poor placement of the power cord (could look ok, but would never be the "ideal place" for it), and even more importantly... without modding the power supply, I'm likely going to be taking the "cool" air from the bottom of the case, and blowing it out the bottom. Where obviously mounting the power supply up high, and having it blow HOT air OUT of the case is preferable.

Of course, I expect to put my optical drive at the front of the PC, remove the "bezel", and mount it with some sort of "mod" holding it in place. I don't have the Apple "media shelf", so I'm not exactly sure how I'll make that happen. But honestly, it's less of a concern to me than getting the motherboard and power supply into the case how I'd like.

Does any company make a power supply that DRAWS air into it from the back, and pushes it out the other side? It's probably not a difficult mod, since it's just flipping around a fan and screwing it back on... but I've never bought a $100+ power supply before. So I have no idea if they are as easy to "open" as less expensive models. And I'd sure hate to destroy my warranty 5 seconds after opening the box.

Think I may go examine this prospect thought. If I can mount the power supply in the front of the case, and get "cool air" moving up through the power supply and into the rest of the chassis, maybe all the holes in the G5 will do a bunch of the rest in removing hot air from the PC. I'm DEFINATELY looking at getting some of the cooling products mentioned in the Silent SLi PC article from Friday, June 17th, article 7 I believe. Keeping this thing quiet and looking nice will definately enhance the Apple theme.
 
i'm just finishing up my G5 mod.....i just have to drill some holes and put in my floppy drive / card reader inside then i'll post pics and what i did. one thing about the power supply....i obviously ran into the same problem so i took my power supply apart and the wires were long enough to stretch the back plate of the power supply to the new backplate of aluminum i made. it will be easier to see when i get pics....i should have a post in the mod gallery or maybe worklogs in the next few days...
 
Hmmm. I'll definately look forward to seeing them. So are you saying you made the power supply "shorter" and "longer", kinda like the G5 power supply these cases use stock? If so, I'll be interested to hear which power supply you used so you could make this happen. I'd assume there is a high-power, SLi capable, 500w+ power supply out there that has some "extra space" due to fans, etc. And obviously being able to "re-create" the unit, moving the fans to the "ends" and making it shorter and longer would be just what the doctor ordered.

Sounds like I should post in the power supply forum and see what kinds of non-ATX shape power supplies might be available and fit the bill first though.
 
i would think any PSU with fans on both the top and the bottom would be able to do it...with the way you said it
 
Quick update while I finish a PC here at work:

My parts list is just about final. Going into the G5 will be:

AMD X2 4400+ CPU
DFI LanParty SLi-DR Motherboard
BFG 7800GTX Video Card
Enermax 600W SLi-Ready Power Supply
NEC 3540 Silver DL Optical Drive

Just need to make a final decision and purchase the memory and hard drive. The memory is likely to be 2x1GB sticks of Crucial PC3200 from New Egg per Eclipse's suggestions here. For the hard drive I'm thinking of getting a Seagate 250GB SATA unit, which will be my first system with a SATA drive. The price point for the 250GB versus larger drives seems to make this the sweet spot, and I can add more later if I decide to go with RAID-5. ;)

I really just need to spend some time on the case, as I need to use the JB Weld I bought to build the mount for the motherboard drive rails, and then do the final positioning and mount it in place. After that, I'll be modding the PS into position in the front of the case, and working on adding the drive racks for the optical drive and hard drives. Once that's complete, I'll load everything in and decide what accessories I need such as case fans, memory cooling, etc.

I look forward to documenting more of the process and including pictures on my web site as I get closer to finishing this project!!!
 
Merkman, I'm also doing a G5 case right now. Something that has helped me A LOT is the G5 Service Manual. I have all the pinouts of all the power connectors and the front panel. I'm re-using as much of the original Mac hardware and wiring as possible to preserve the G5 look. I'll be reusing at least one of the SATA cables(the longer one), all the HDD and DVD power cables, and rewiring the top shelf fans.

Here is the setup I'm doing with mine, very similar drive arrangement and PSU placement. Just different orientation on the PSU. Plus my motherboard tray will not be removable, that is just too much of a pain to work out.

Heh, we even have similar systems for the G5. I have an overclocked Venice 3000+, A8N Sli Deluxe, 7800GTX, NEC 3520A, etc. I'll even be purchasing a pair of 250GB Seagate SATA drives next month.
 
Dew,

Thanks for the post and the link to your pic! I wish I had more of the case parts to work with, but this one is SO gutted... I don't have the "media shelf" for the optical drive or hard drive, the bottom plate the Apple PS was under, or nearly ANY cabling. The front power button has three wires running off it, and I'm hoping to figure out the right configuration to power on my system and get the green light working.

So your going to try and direct the hot air out the front of your system? Interesting. I had not heard of that approach before. I'm leaning toward having my power supply pull cool air out of the bottom of the case, and blow it toward the back of the case. The CPU will use it's stock heatsink and fan, and once I've got the optical and hard drive racks mounted... I'll decide if I need to add hard drive or case fans for better airflow as needed.

Last night I went home and wanted to try and get my drive rails figured out and started, but it was already after 7pm, I was tired, and the parts just weren't co-operating for me. After a few minutes of fooling around, I decided to wait till tonight or this weekend. But I'm hopeful to get my motherboard tray figured out soon, since MOST of my parts that haven't arrived yet will be here by early next week. And with the power supply coming Wed, and the motherboard Thursday, I have PLENTY of parts to work with now. ;)

Maybe I'll shoot you a private message soon and see how your doing, or ask a question or two if you don't mind. Good luck with your mod!!!
 
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