eelhead's G5 X58 Sabertooth

[eelhead]

eelhead's G5m X58 Sabertooth

ASUS Sabertooth X58 Newegg || Amazon

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz Newegg || Amazon

Kingston HyperX 12GB (3 x 4GB) Newegg || Amazon

SAPPHIRE 100314SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB Newegg || Amazon

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II Newegg || Amazon

SAMSUNG Spinpoint 1TB 7200 RPM(x2) Newegg || Amazon

Thermaltake Black Widow W0319RU 850W Newegg || Amazon

Scythe Mugen 3 CPU Cooler Newegg || Amazon

Rocketfish Rf-Mrbtad Micro Bluetooth Adapter Amazon

Mac OS X version 10.6.3 Snow Leopard Apple ||Amazon

OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive Apple

Microsoft
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM Newegg

Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac 1 User for System Builders - OEM Newegg

Refurbished Apple LED Cinema Display (24" flat panel) Apple


G5 Modded materials

Mountain Mods Modular Removable Motherboard Tray Mountain Mods

Mini PCI-E to PCI-E Wireless adapter +3 antenna WiFi Amazon

APPLE Broadcom BCM94322MC Dual-Band 802.11N Mini PCI-E eBay

Power Mac G5 Case Mod

Comments:

Would like to say thanks to Tonymac, Macman, Lnx2Mac, Notshy, and Andy. With out people like you working like you guys do to give people like me the opportunity to build my own computer running OSX it just wouldn't be possible. I can't stress enough of how grateful I am that there are people like you that do this and offer your work out there for us to benefit from.

There is really a poop load of people I want to thank as well but I will just say that the community on here is awesome! So many people willing to help out. Everybody I have communicated on this site weather in a post or PM has been awesome. So many people that always lead you in the right direction if you need help. I just want to thank all of you guys as well.

Backstory,
I stumbled across the Hackintosh thing actually not that long ago. My iMac is about 6 years old and in need of a video card. I wanted to fix it but I only have two options for it and no upgrade. Well I was all over Apple checking out replacements for my ailing iMac. I would of loved another iMac but the whole not being able to upgrade put me off on that idea. Then there was the awesome Mac Pro, with its beautiful design and imperial stance. That would be awesome if I had the money for the exact model and specs. Still with a Mac Pro I could change what, the GPU and memory and the prices of that stuff is outrageous as well.

So I started looking at alternative solutions to my dilemma when I came across a Hackintosh posting on youtube. I was amazed lol. There in front of me was my answer, to build a computer that ran OSX but was completely upgradable. So that is what I set out to do. In my searches I cam across tonymacx86.com and was in my glory! All of these tools and my disposal to create my machine. I read and I read some more and I read a poop load. I figured that once I got comfortable I decided to make a parts list and do like others before me and see if it was a safe bet. I quickly got advise and help, it was great.

Then I got overzealous and while looking at Mac Pros for basic specs I got to thinking why couldn't I use one of those cases. So I got to looking at used G5's thinking that that couldn't be so hard lol. Of course searching all of that thinking I had an awesome Idea I can across a crap load of people who had already done such a thing. We I thought that means that there is a resource pool of modders out there that I could bank ideas off of. SO I dove right into that head first, not having a clue of ever putting together a PC let alone a hack. So I learned by fire and I learned a lot.

Now,
OK now enough of that, lets get into the nitty gritty!

I started out building this mod with the thoughts of just using the original logicboard standoffs. I changed my mind after a saw a couple of mods with motherboard trays in them. They looked clean and nice so I went right out and got me one and never looked back. I also originally used a GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard, after issues with bios and Lion install fails and continued bios issues I swapped it out for the Sabertooth. I won't get into a full install guide but I will say it was easy to install OS X on this system, even on both boards.

I am running 10.7.2 with no issues what so ever, full audio and network. I also have Windows 7 working fine and Parallels set up for when I want to use PaintShop Pro. I play numerous video games in both OS X and Windows and most of the time on Ultra or high res settings and my GPU handles all just fine.

I can say that I am always running the current version of Multibeast and have a re-writable CD that always has the current iBoot on it as well.

I did use xMove and installed Lion right over my Snow Leopard like a real Mac just upgrading Snow to Lion. You can also do this with UniBeast. The tools on this site are very easy to use and do work. You just need to make sure you do your homework and read read read. Also if you end up doing a case mod take your time and have fun doing it!

Home Made AirePort Card
Also went with my own Airport mod as well
It was nice and easy and works OOB with it recognized as AirPort Extreme* (0x14E4, 0x8E). I used a APPLE Broadcom BCM94322MC and a Mini PCI-E to PCI-E Wireless Adapter 3.3v.
Part#1
Part#2

So far so good!

So I also followed Lnx2Mac's guide on Moving OS X /Users to a separate partition!!
This guide was easy and if you are like me and running my OSX on a small SSD this works great. I followed the guide and moved my Users folder to my partitioned 1TB HDD so now I have my SSD back down to only 20GB
Here is the Easy to Follow super badass guide!

Be sure to check out the Customization section as well

 

[Stork]

eels, you're my hero!

 

[eelhead]

eels, you're my hero!

Thank you sir

 

[ElectronShaper]

You, sir, are an inspiration to us all.

 

[eelhead]

Thank you very much

 

[jpa]

woww new machine

 

[the_gael]

Nice one eelhead!

 

[Haxx187]

Nice and clean, i like it mate. Good job getting it completed

 

[eelhead]

Thanks guys!
Now I just need to build another one that is a Mac Pro case mod and a Cube, then I'll be happy lol.

 

[eelhead]

Dude.....just incredible.....I haven't been around much due to work, but to come from your worklog post to this is just an amazing leap of progress!

Fantastic work!!! I'm working on G5 mod part two right now, and after seeing how well the mobo tray worked I am set on using that now!

Congrats!

Thanks man!!!! Yeah I haven't seen you in forever! Hope all has been well.

Yeah after all that and then some I finally got what I liked and took my time and I think it came out awesome!
But now I will move onto the next project as I just sold this case lol. I want to do a Mac Pro now but first I have a G4 Cube to do and I also will be building a case from scratch that we had complx draw up.

So much to do and so little time