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Powermac G5 Build: i5 2500K - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 - Intel HD 3000

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Joined
Jun 12, 2012
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173
Motherboard
Asus Z9PE-D8 WS
CPU
2x Xeon 2680
Graphics
EVGA 680 FTW+ 4GB & 2GB R6870
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
Classic Mac
  1. iMac
  2. Power Mac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Paradigm99's Powermac G5 Build: i5 2500K - Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H - Intel HD 3000

Components


Intel i5 2500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502

Vertex 4 128GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227791

Corsair CX430 Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W2T2TM/

Corsair XMS3 4GB RAM
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZDJ42O/

Mountain Mods ATX Motherboard Tray
http://www.mountainmods.com/mountain-mods-modular-removable-motherboard-tray-p-56.html

Apple OS X Mountain Lion @ Mac Apps Store
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-mountain-lion/id537386512?ls=1&mt=12


Already Owned

Powermac G5 Chassis (Bought from a friend)

2TB HDD (Hitachi)

500GB HDD (Western Digital)

1x 120mm Case Fan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00552Q8IG/

3x 80mm Case Fan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00552Q8IG/

Apple Brand DVD Superdrive - (no link because its from my Mac Pro)


Comments

My build was slightly different than the conventional Hackintosh for a few reasons… Please keep this in mind when attempting this yourself (in other words don't follow these first few steps unless you own another Apple computer - not another Hackintosh)

I owned a Mac Mini as a HTPC and media server, and be can to become very annoyed with its sluggish response… As a result I began to think about building another hackintosh. I had seen some people use the G5 case. Because I LOVE projects, especially when tools are involved, I figured I would go this route. I also still desired an "Apple Aesthetic" so this worked out quite well.
I spent about a week looking for all of the right parts, trying to decide between the i5 2500K and the i3 2105. I Found that I could get a much better processor for an extra $50 shipped if I bought a used i5. So I went to eBay and did just that.

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Power Cord hole cover (BC I mounted the Power Supply in the front of the case)

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An enamel based paint that I "buffed" the plexiglass with

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Finished product came out looking like a decent piece of brushed Al which is great for 2 min of work!

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Fitting in the back... Since this is not even going to be seen as it will sit in the corner of my media room it doesn't really matter... but it is a nice touch!

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Another shot of the back with the cover.

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Prepped the exhaust fans by sanding.

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Painted with same paint. Once again in the back and not seen, but still important

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Prepping the cutting area.

IMG_1145.jpg
Traced the Mountain Mods Aluminum IO onto the back.

IMG_1149.jpg
First cut... (Rasp seen in the picture on the right, used to smooth out the edges)
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First test fit!

IMG_1151.jpg
Cut out the lever for the side panel.

IMG_1152.jpg
Test fit for lever. Used the rasp ALOT to get this right, as it will be in contact with hands the most, no need to get slices by aluminum =/)

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Inside with the Motherboard tray test fit.

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Back with screws all in place. Kept the original ones that same with the tray as they wont be seen anyway, and I didn't want to go to the store. (Already waited a week for the part to come!)

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REAR IO FITS GREAT!!!!

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Everything in the case, with the SSD chill in in the middle hanging by the power cord... only effective way for it to be, and its secure enough that it won't cause any problems.

Thoughts on the build:
I decided to use the CX430 power supply because it was literally perfect for my use. Turns out, it had just enough cables for what I wanted, and even though it was not modular, all the cables except for the Molex 4 pins were used, so it kept everything relatively tidy on its own. Also, since I am using this as a media server, I didn't need the extra wattage of a higher more expensive power supply. I know that I could have gotten a cheaper 430 watt, but I really appreciate the quality of the corsair brand.

I used a Vertex 128GB SSD that is not currently being used by my 16 Core Xeon Super computer… Soon ill buy a cheap Sata II 30gb SSD for the G5, as it only needs to have enough space to boot and run iTunes as my iTunes library is on the 2TB HDD.

While I was waiting for the motherboard tray to arrive, I was trying to keep myself as busy as possible, so I ended up doing everything else I could to make the build go as smoothly as possible, and I am VERY glad that I did…

First, I ghetto rigged the MOBO etc and got Mountain Lion running flawlessly using the Unibeast - Multibeast method, Installed my DSDT, Ethernet, and I was good to go. I used a USB audio dongle as I didn't feel like tweaking the audio settings lol, and it works the same.

A VERY GOOD thing to keep in mind is:
After your system is bootable, before you install extra kexts to get everything working (unless you use a DSDT) is to enable a screen sharing application. Either Logmein or the Mac version (both work fine). I had accidentally disabled by USB ports by improperly installing the kext on a different build. Luckily I had screen sharing enabled for this very reason!

If anyone is thinking about doing a G5 Build feel free to ask any questions in my Customization thread.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/customization/71278-powermac-g5-customization-questions-help.html


As time goes on I will continue to post updates etc regarding this build.
 
Please post only questions or comments here to Paradigm99 concerning about his choice of components and how they play together.

If you have questions about his case modification, see his thread in the The Workshop>Case Mods forum section.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/case-mods/

TIA.
 
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