dsdude123's Budget-Friendly Project PowerHack

[dsdude123]

I have completed my PowerMac G5 build! My new desktop is running quite smoothly and its performance is quite surprising considering its age. Attached are some pictures of the build.

Parts List:
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Quad-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache
Heat sink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 LE
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 480 1.5 GB VRAM
HDD 1: 500GB WD Green
HDD 2: 160 GB WD Apple OEM
ODD: Original G5 DVD Drive
PSU: Forgot the name but it's 530W
Fans: 4x or 5x Arctic F8 80mm Fans

This was quite an easy build for my budget, I received a majority of the parts for free so I only needed at buy the cooling system and power supply as well as some tools needed to put the system together.

The build process took quite a long time. I had a very busy schedule and this build required more time for the cutting of the back and for the front panel wiring so the process spanned over several days. The most difficult part was probably the front panel wiring because I didn't buy a prefabricated cable due to the budget so I had to manually wire the cable. That being said, I many of the pins had to be bent to fit into the cable so I had to be very careful to make sure that none of them would touch each other and that they would be at no risk of doing so.

Everything is running quite well now! Currently I only have Windows 10 Home installed and will add Mac OS X to the second hard drive later this week. Most games I have played so far (GTA V and IV, LEGO Worlds, Homeworld Remastered Collection) have run perfectly at 60 FPS. I'm going to wait on installing Ubuntu as for I may be adding more hard drives and I would like to use all of the 500 GB drive for Windows.

Despite all these achievements, there are a few issues. The most minor of these is the front USB port. I have not been able to use any USB 3.0 drive with it and I have had issues where the port will stop functioning in the middle of large file transfers. I plan on adding a USB 3.0 hub to the top of the case so this is only a small annoyance for me.

The most major issue at the moment is the DVD drive. I reused the original DVD drive that came with the G5 and I am starting to think that was a mistake. I have been unable to get the drive to function properly in Windows. I can put a disc in and Windows does detect it and shows the name of the disc, but I can't do anything with the drive. The drive however works fine if I boot from it in the BIOS. If anyone knows how to resolve this please let me know!

My next plan for this machine is to make some upgrades. I have some USB PCI headers ordered so I can add 8 USB 2.0 ports to the back of the machine. After that, I plan on adding two 160 GB hard drives I have and buying an IDE controller for them. I will detail more about those plans later.

 

[Kingzone]

I have completed my PowerMac G5 build! My new desktop is running quite smoothly and its performance is quite surprising considering its age. Attached are some pictures of the build.

Parts List:
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Quad-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 6 MB Cache
Heat sink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 LE
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 480 1.5 GB VRAM
HDD 1: 500GB WD Green
HDD 2: 160 GB WD Apple OEM
ODD: Original G5 DVD Drive
PSU: Forgot the name but it's 530W
Fans: 4x or 5x Arctic F8 80mm Fans

This was quite an easy build for my budget, I received a majority of the parts for free so I only needed at buy the cooling system and power supply as well as some tools needed to put the system together.

The build process took quite a long time. I had a very busy schedule and this build required more time for the cutting of the back and for the front panel wiring so the process spanned over several days. The most difficult part was probably the front panel wiring because I didn't buy a prefabricated cable due to the budget so I had to manually wire the cable. That being said, I many of the pins had to be bent to fit into the cable so I had to be very careful to make sure that none of them would touch each other and that they would be at no risk of doing so.

Everything is running quite well now! Currently I only have Windows 10 Home installed and will add Mac OS X to the second hard drive later this week. Most games I have played so far (GTA V and IV, LEGO Worlds, Homeworld Remastered Collection) have run perfectly at 60 FPS. I'm going to wait on installing Ubuntu as for I may be adding more hard drives and I would like to use all of the 500 GB drive for Windows.

Despite all these achievements, there are a few issues. The most minor of these is the front USB port. I have not been able to use any USB 3.0 drive with it and I have had issues where the port will stop functioning in the middle of large file transfers. I plan on adding a USB 3.0 hub to the top of the case so this is only a small annoyance for me.

The most major issue at the moment is the DVD drive. I reused the original DVD drive that came with the G5 and I am starting to think that was a mistake. I have been unable to get the drive to function properly in Windows. I can put a disc in and Windows does detect it and shows the name of the disc, but I can't do anything with the drive. The drive however works fine if I boot from it in the BIOS. If anyone knows how to resolve this please let me know!

My next plan for this machine is to make some upgrades. I have some USB PCI headers ordered so I can add 8 USB 2.0 ports to the back of the machine. After that, I plan on adding two 160 GB hard drives I have and buying an IDE controller for them. I will detail more about those plans later.

It looks like you have an air circulation issue. The air being drawn in at the front could be being sucked into the PSU via it's large 120mm fan then the hot air is being blown out at the front where it is sucked back in via the front fans creating an 'air short circuit'

I realise this build has been done on a budget so you have to go with what you have but by using a full ATX motherboard makes modding a G5 case much more complicated in my opinion.

If you had used a MATX board you would not have to have cut the top tray which would mean you would keep the the hard drive cage in place, also the space saved means that you can retain the Apple designed PSU enclosure and converted it to ATX, all you then have to do is shorten the middle tray which leaves the original apple twin front fan assembly available for re-use (with replaced 92mm fans) this also allows for the re-use of the plastic internal air defuser which directs air from the two fans directly where it needs to be.

The heat generated inside the modded PSU does not enter the rest of the case as it is contained in it's own sealed enclosure with it's front-to-rear twin fan assisted airflow. Also the mains input socket is retained for a neat stock appearance.

BTW, the IDE DVD drive is probably shot and as new SATA drives are so cheap it makes sense to replace it with a new one or don't even bother, who uses optical drives any-more? they are not useful as data storage devices since large capacity, cheap USB drives are now available and software can now be installed from them or via digital download, I can't remember the last time I used a CD/DVD for anything. Unless a customer requests one I no longer install an optical drive in a new-build PC.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/latest-g5-conversion-i-could-not-resist.183276/