Project PowerMac G5/X86 - SLI you bet!

[rogue_jedi]

I'm not sure how well your plan for cooling the hard drives will work. I believe that hard drives are designed to dissipate most of their heat from the sides, not the top or bottom - so I don't know how well pushing air over the bottoms will work.

Also assuming those are the 7200.10's, they're almost as fast as the raptors anyways.

the black knight always triumphs!

 

[MrBean_Oz]

I'm not sure how well your plan for cooling the hard drives will work. I believe that hard drives are designed to dissipate most of their heat from the sides, not the top or bottom - so I don't know how well pushing air over the bottoms will work.

Yes, I realize this fact, that is why I do not believe in using rubber dampers to silence drives......I always bolt them securely to metal rails, which will do a great job of sinking the heat from the motor and platters.

I will use same methodology here, where I will manufacture my own caddy's to bolt drives to floor of the G5 case, but, the only effective way to get rid of heat from electronics is to have airflow accross the component board.

No better way for this

So, my solution is actually better than ave hard drive installation - I will remove heat by both conduction, and convection ....

Thanx for the feedback though! Appreciated.

 

[Bbq]

Actually, the bottom of the drives are the hottest, right by the motor. That heat goes into the metal and conducts itself to the sides. So if you want truely good cooling for a drive, something like those koolance drive waterblocks with the fluid pouch seem to be the best choice.

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Actually, the bottom of the drives are the hottest, right by the motor. That heat goes into the metal and conducts itself to the sides. So if you want truely good cooling for a drive, something like those koolance drive waterblocks with the fluid pouch seem to be the best choice

Yep, I agree, and I actually have 2x Asetek 3.5" hd waterblocks lying here,brandnew, unused....there is just no [lace for them in this mod, as they will look totall out of place, and they won't fit under the floorplate, as I have only 35mm space there, with the drives being 25.4mm (1" ) high, that leaves me 10mm (approx 3/8") to play with.

But, as I said, I had a nice plan for the drives, I actually have some of those white thermal pads that will cover the whole electronics side of the drive, including hot motor area.....

So, I have found some nice amplifier heatsinks that will be bolted down to the drives, with the thermal layer sandwiched between heatsink and drive....this way we have very good thermal transfer to side of the drives, and main G5 case bottom, and via conduction/convection to top heatsinks, which will protrude (maybe) through bottom cover plate.....

Hope this all makes sense - rantings of a madman

Thanx for your input though, valuable info to have

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Hello Everyone,
Ok, another small, but important update.....

I have finished the bottom tray, need to secure it to the motherboard tray, but here are a few shots to show how it fits into the scheme of things....

Sideshot......

Reaching all the way to the front of the case, exact same length as the motherboard tray.....

a Cutout to accommodate the rear i/o-port plate....

and showing it goes all the way to the back too....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Here's a few shots of one harddrive, and some heatsinks I picked up this afternoon - I got 4, some extras are always welcome.

Will consider carefully how these will fit into the mod, especially wrt the harddrives, but they will be used

another one...

and a last one for tonight....

 

[0ptional]

I've been wanting to do something like this with a G5 case ever since they were introduced. I think the new Xeon Mac Pro's would be a lot more x86 hardware friendly though so I'm going to look into one of those during my journey through college.

 

[indokyne]

let me know if you're not going to end up using those asetek HD coolers...

might be interested : )

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Hello Everyone,
Got some work done again tonight, not to much, but still important stuff. What I am busy with is fitting the sheet panels to the inside of the case, and securing them to each other, with countersunk allencap screws.

Going to look very neat, I must add

First I have to figure out a way how to secure motherboard tray to bottom tray, on the top of the case it will be secure like this, to original G5 threaded inserts....in total there are 5 screws on tiop securing motherboard tray to side of G5 panel....

and these two here, in the middle......to the right there's another 2....but you get the idea....

Well, at the bottom it's a different story, as there are no threaded inserts I wanted to use, they were staggered, and not what I had in mind anyway....

So, I came up with this idea....angle iron would do a good job of at least bolting bottom- and motherboard trays together.....

Mark and drill angle iron, and then mark, drill and countersunk holes in mobo tray.....like so....

And do the same for the bottom tray, take note the holes in that tray are not countersunk yet, will do that the weekend....

and then they fit together like this.....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

and over here.....

and here......

and another one from this angle.....

and here, to give you a good idea.....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

To get it inside the case, undo the 2 panels from each other, and 1st install the motherboard tray......

and then bolt the bottom tray down.....

for a very decent, and modular effect - no pop-rivets in this one.....

This is testfit only, the other side of the bottom tray needs to be secured as well, but I have a plan for that too. Remember the harddrives will go under there too.....

Finally, a photo of the ready-to-go backplate, all cleaned up, holes countersunk, deburred etc....all panels will get this treatment.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[CrimandEvil]

Wow! Qucik question: how thick is that metal?

 

[el rolio]

looks great!

where can i get a de-burring tool?

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Qucik question: how thick is that metal?

It's standard thickness of PC70 sidepanel, around 2mm

where can i get a de-burring tool?

Any decent toolshop selling drillbits should have it, I got mine at Cost Less Bolts and Nuts close to Vermont in Melbourne.

I will take a pic of it tonight, but you can ask for a quality countersunk bit, for aluminium/soft metals.

Let me know if you manage to get one....

 

[el rolio]

hmm yea lemme see a pic, i'll print it and take it to these not so smart hardware store attendants... i can never seem to get anything but a blank stare of confusion when i ask for it. i gotta think its my accent, even tho i try my best to say it clearly.

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Hehe @ El Rolio - I know all about accents, I am a South African in Melbourne

I will post you a pic tonight then....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Ok, so I decided to not use the old cheapie I/O-Plate, but rather gutted one from an old Lian-Li PC70 spare case I had lying around....

On the left is old plate, on the right new....

New one the top one here......looking more quality than old unit, and made of substantially thicker aluminium.....

So that meant I had to make a new backplate, as mounting holes do not line up - I did not expect them to either....

New backplate on the right....

Same here.....

and here are the old Back-I/O plates left, and new right.

Take note I still have to drill mounting holes etc....but there are also some very small cosmetic improvements on new plate....

Spot them if you can....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

The pc70 i/o-plate have an extra tab, in the right pic, vs old i/o-plate on the left....

This will add rigidity to the backplate setup.....

Then, the small cosmetics I was refering to.....

I made all corners on the new plate round, to blend in better.....old plate on the left had square corners, and some round ones too....new one looks much better in real life.

 

[MrBean_Oz]

hmm yea lemme see a pic, i'll print it and take it to these not so smart hardware store attendants... i can never seem to get anything but a blank stare of confusion when i ask for it

As promissed......hope this helps you....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Ok, here it will be more clear.....the 1st shot is the old i/o-plate cutout....

and this one is the new one, with more rounded corners, which imho looks a lot neater.

The edges are supersmooth, it's the pics that are saved as jpegs which loose some resolution.....that's why funny edges.....

 

[el rolio]

As promissed......hope this helps you....

thank you man! so lemme get this straight so im not totally off base. this is a bit for my drill that i use to soften edges of metal i jsut cut into? or does this thing countersink lil holes?

so of course what im looking for is the way that when i make beautiful striaght or circular cuts like you, i run something along the edges to remove the lil shards, strips, bumps etc to make the edge mostly smooth, then i can optionally sand it a bit if necessary. i thought that a form of this tool looked like a potato peeler then for instance. lemme know if i even know what i want!

 

[MrBean_Oz]

This tool I posted is for countersunk holes.

To get edges straight like me, you have to file with finetooth file...and use patience, and care

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Ok, an update:

Reserved a few hours today to fit backplate to G5 case, and also securing Lian-Li I/O_plate to the backplate, as well as the motherboard tray.

Herewith some photos of my work.

First needed to accurately mark and drill holes in new backplate - accuracy is essential...here the plate is fitted (temporary), and looking good.

Then I marked and drilled holes in new backplate, to mount I/O-plate....

and here a view from the "inside".....

I wanted to secure the I/O-plate to the motherboard tray too, to add rigidity to overall rear section, so I drill these holes into motherboard tray....they go through the side of the I/O-plate, right throught he motherboard tray incase you wondered...

Then they get tapped in the motherboard tray, with 3mm 0.5 metric thread to receive std metric 3mm allencap screws.

and here is another shot showing the same..

Here it is mounted, with bolts screwed into motherboard tray....

another shot showing the rear....

Here's another 1, with screws highlighted...

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Area marked show how motherboard tray extends right under the I/O-plate to the rear-wall of the case....

Another shot showing the inside rear - came very neat...

Well, this area here is not complete - this is a tab which is part of the backplate of the priginal PC70 case, so when I removed the I/I-plate, the tab stayed on the backplate....

this is the area of concern....

Another angle.....

and viewed from the inside, which will look incomplete if left like this....

So, what to do?

Well, with all the sidepanels I have been hacking to bits to do this mod, I was bound to have some off-cut I could use as a "donor"

Cut to size, in each raw state....

and after intricate measuring, filing, fitting, more filing, I eventually came up with this.....

and fitting it here, securing with 1 bolt, for now....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

looking very good here.....

and a better idea of complete rear.....inside shot....

Another one with all bolts in place....

One shot hre showing rear semi-complete - I still have to mark out and drill/cut holes/blowhole for 120mm rear fan.....that will happen soon - not a priority at this point in time, as tomorrow I will fit motherboard, drill and tap holes for standoffs, and getting board aligned to testfit cards....

One small step at a time, but I'm getting closer and closer

and here is a closeup of the latch area, someone mentioned it looked weird......

not at all......

 

[Geo Fry]

Congrats on the front page man!

Seems like lining up motherboard mounting holes to match the back I/O plate and PCI slots will be a pain. Good luck with that.

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Seems like lining up motherboard mounting holes to match the back I/O plate and PCI slots will be a pain. Good luck with that

Mmm....how do you like these shots for a teaser

Motherboard all lined up, and fitted....

From the rear - take note no port-plate fitted, this is just prelim....

From the side....

And a close-up shot of the Asus WS-Pro workstation board I picked for this mod, it allows easy overclocking, and you can also note the X6800 Conroe fan peeking at you.

Of course it will be watercooled, but I need to test the wiring/power switch etc before I dunk water on it.....

Nice...making progress.....

 

[Darkside]

mAN..I LIKE YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS...

 

[CrimandEvil]

Awesome job, man.

I was wondering, how are you mounting the PSU?

 

[OC_LeGeND]

very nice

 

[MrBean_Oz]

Thanx for the feedback Guys. PSU will be mounted top-back, where they go in conventional PC's

a Small update....Finally managed getting around measuring harddrive hole centers, and marking them where they must go....

and here....

and another one from the inside...

And then bolting the 2x Seagate 320Gb's into place.....fitting like a hand in a glove

Showing that I am not cheating, they are really bolted down...

and over here, an inside shot....

 

[MrBean_Oz]

And, I made some temporary standoffs to correctly space the bottom plate from the floor.....and bring it inlione with angled mounting plate on motherboard tray....

These are just temporary, some hollow alu tubing, in which I pressed some 5mm stainless nuts....

I will machine 4 new ones, 35mm high, x 20mm dia. Sturdy mounting posts they would be...

and a close-up shot, showing them a little better....

Once these are complete, the bulk of my sheetmetal work is complete, I need to machine some receptor-slots on the motherboard tray for the bottom of the pci-cards's brackets, and then slots for the atapi-ide as well as SATA and ATX power cables....

This won't take much time, then assembly can begin, hopefully next weekend.

Still need to make a mod to the area where the psu will be located, which will be at the normal place for a conventional pc, top-back, or in this case where original G5 harddrives were located.

Let me know what you guys think so far.

On a side note.....the Harddrives won't overheat, I will be fitting white thermal-sheeting underneath, so all the heat get's dumped to the alu chassis. Will work 100%, I have used this method before in my 1st Vapo-Li project, with Maxtor Slimline drives, and those things survived, I still have both running today - and it's been a few years

Kind regards,
Beanie.

 

[filthysanchez]

you should probably put some o rings inbetween the screws and hard drive, to reduce the noise, and let air get under them to cool them off.

 

[winuser2000]

How well does OSX run on ur pc hardware? Are you able to use osx as primary if you wanted to?

 

[0ptional]

How well does OSX run on ur pc hardware? Are you able to use osx as primary if you wanted to?

A lot of the OS X x86 hack projects run very well on the core duo's and stuff. I've only had issues with my wi-fi internet on my older p4 notebook when i gave it a try, back a few weeks before i purchased a real macbook, amazing upgrade but still ran on my p4 enough to give me a platform to practice before getting the real thing.

I've seen a few PC projects that use OS X as a primary OS with no hitches, just a few hacks and it's good to go.

 

[MrBean_Oz]

you should probably put some o rings inbetween the screws and hard drive, to reduce the noise, and let air get under them to cool them off.

Nope, I am putting thermal transfer pads between each harddrive and the case, so conductive cooling setup. I have done it before, harddrives stay cool

How well does OSX run on ur pc hardware? Are you able to use osx as primary if you wanted to?

I have only tested Mac OSX on my previous motherboard with AMD 939 4800 cpu.

All indicators are it should be even more compatible to this Conroe setup though, but I will give feedback if/when I try.

There are some legalities involved in this, and I would luv to get Apple's permission for the sake of the mod, if only for photo-shoots, to do this.

I have legal copy of Mac OSX though, but this is still illegal...

 

[winuser2000]

How much did you spend on the actual computer components (excluding monitor)? I would love to build this type of box and dual with osx and windows.

 

[TSS Modder]

beautiful job.

definately is the best G5 Mod project ive ever seen.

and im jealous of the 30"er....

truly amazing.

 

[OC_LeGeND]

its coming together nicely

 

[khanable]

SO GOOD!

One of the few projects that I cannot wait to see finished.

(FINISH IT YOU BASTARD!)