- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Messages
- 9
- Motherboard
- Z97MX-GAMING5
- CPU
- Core i5 4690K
- Graphics
- EVGA GTX 960 4GB
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
121a’s PowerMac i5
GA-Z97MX GAMING 5 | i5 4690K | HD 4600
ComponentsGA-Z97MX GAMING 5 | i5 4690K | HD 4600
Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5 mATX
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8HNGXS/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128716
Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Processor
]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPRWB9G/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372
Corsair Hydro Series H50 120MM
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009VV56TY/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010
Corsair CX750M Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Modular-Bronze-ATX12V-EPS12V/dp/B00ALK3KEM/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139051
G.Skill Sniper DDR3 2133 16GB (2x8GB)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CMWRW82/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231661
OS X WiFi Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.0 PCI-e X1
http://www.osxwifi.com/review/product/list/id/2/
EVGA GTX 960 4GB FTW Edition (not yet installed)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015MW9D1W/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487164
Crucial MX200 500GB SSD SATA 6Gbps
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RQA6E20/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148949
PowerMac G5 A1047 Case; Modified
Comments
I have always wanted to build a computer using the iconic PowerMac G5 case. I was fortunate enough to have TWO G5s. One had been gutted and parted. The other, which is the one in better condition, had the liquid cooling system (LCS). Unfortunately, this system leaked. A lot. I wanted to rebuild the LCS but snapped off fittings while rebuilding. So, I gutted the G5 case. Having TWO empty G5 cases really helped the build. I used the one that suffered the LCS leak to build this Hackintosh. The other, was used to test fit and steal material from.
I also needed a standard mATX motherboard tray and rear I/O panel. Again, I had a case lying around that fit the bill. Lots of cutting and hacking later, I finally test fit the case modifications in the bad G5 case. A few more tweaks and I was ready to make my cuts on the good case.
I should take time to note that I wanted to preserve a lot of the G5s features. A list of things that carried over from the G5 are:
- CD/DVD Drive is mounted in the same spot, uses the same door, and OEM shields/screws
- Hard Drive Cage is original to the case and is housing the SSD
- Door latch is fully operational (clear plastic cover needs to be cut to fit over existing components)
- Front power button works
- Front USB works
- Front headphone jack should work (cables were not long enough to reach headers on the motherboard)
- Since this G5 was originally liquid cooled, I wanted to harkon back to that by using liquid cooling with this build
Let me continue by saying cutting the aluminum was interesting. The perforations really make it difficult to get a clean, straight, cut. There were a lot of things I would do differently if I were to attempt this again. I overly hacked the donor ATX case, something that made it much more difficult to install later. I also didn’t measure twice, so some of my cuts were off. This wasn’t a huge issue as I cut the entire front off the bad G5 case to patch the rear of the good case, after the ATX conversion was fitted. I finished it off by spraying the edges of the transplanted perforation piece silver.
From here, the rest of the build was pretty straightforward. The motherboard tray is held in with L brackets and high strength double sided tape (its also riveted to the rear panel, which is in turn riveted into the rear perforations). After getting the motherboard in, I mounted the PSU on the bottom. I ran into an issue with the liquid cooling system I wanted to use. I ended up cutting some aluminum and shaping it into a duct. The duct is used to direct warm air from the PSU exhaust, under the LCS radiator, and out the back of the case (similar to the stock G5 PSU). It’s a messy solution until I can find time to get a duct correctly bent. I recently added a PSU plug to the back of the case and wired the PSU connections in.
Finishing it up, I installed all the necessary components. Swapped out the Corsair H50 fan for a dual, push/pull setup. I bought some really nice 120MM fans and do a much better job than the stock Corsair fan. Also, mounted a fan up in front to bring in cool air. It is held on with four pieces of Velcro, so it can easily be removed and the front of the case retains a clean look. All the fans are connected to the motherboard to provide for control via the BIOS.
Installation of OS X Yosemite Using Chimera
This part was the most daunting. Having never built a Hackintosh, I followed the guide on this site. I own a Retina MacBook Pro 15” Late 2013 so I am able to download legitimate OS X installers.
UEFI Board Settings (BIOS Settings)
I had some issues getting things to work properly. To get things working I did:
- Load optimized defaults
- Changed vt-d to disabled
- XMP Memory Profile to Profile 1
Bootflags needed:
-v -x nv_disable=1
The most helpful guide I have found for this board was Spballer's Build:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...ng-gt-i7-4790k-nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-sc.html
MultiBeast Settings
I used the settings in the guide and everything worked for me.
Build Summary
Installation went pretty smooth. Until I ran into not being able to boot off the SSD without the Chimera USB installed. I found out that this was a common issue fixed by following this:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-help/65706-boot0-error-official-guide.html
After that, everything went smooth.
What works, what doesn’t
Works:
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth (even in BIOS)
- USB 3.0 seems to work at speed
- Handoff/Continuity
- Rear audio panel
- iCloud
- Every app I have installed
Doesn’t Work:
- iMessages
- After OS X loading scree, monitor displays a bunch of colored, fuzzy dots before log-in screen
- Sleep/Wake
Going Forward
I have been attempting to update to OS X 10.11.1 and switching to Clover. However, it does not want to do that. I have a thread about the issues I am having here, any help would be appreciated!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capita...eeds-our-allocated-relocation-block-sigh.html
I will be switching out the OS X WiFi card for one that designed to run in a PCI-E x4 slot. The GTX 960 will block my PCI-E x1 slot and a slot relocated is too tall.
I will be adding another Crucial MX200 (250GB) that will either be the new 10.11 driver or a Windows 7 drive. I eventually want to get back into Flight Simulator and OS X isn’t the best option for that, so having Windows 7 would be nice.
Without further delay, here are some pictures!
What needs to be cut shaded
Cut
ATX Conversion mounted
Cleaned Up Rear with perforated material from donor G5
Board Fitted
ITS ALIVE!
PSU Heat Duct
Inside
Recent PSU Plug Addition
Sorry, I don't have pics of it actually running OS X Yosemite, but it does!
Thanks for looking!
I'm looking to forward to follow this thread as I, too, have a perfectly good running, air cooled late 2005 PowerMac G5 (11,2) with 2x 2.0GHz processors.