Another G5 Case mod!

[maximusprimus]

I think I'm only the millionth person to do this, but I've learned a lot and have some things to share.

Here goes:

Dremel magic

I traced the shape of the opening of the rear IO plate. You'll see in later pictures that I miscalculated this - I didn't anticipate the height of the standoffs that I plan on using. I plan on using the original standoffs which vary in height.

After a little Dremel magic...

A different angle.

Back inside: placed the tray in place to test the opening. I was able to screw some computer screws directly into some of the ventilation holes - obviously not a permanent solution but it gave me an idea of what to expect.

As you can see, the standoffs were a few millimeters higher than I measured. I revisited this with the Dremel tool.

Motherboard Tray

I wanted to use the original motherboard standoffs to attach the motherboard tray. In order to do this, I attached a blank piece of paper to the standoffs. I was able to feel around and just screw the screws into the standoffs through the paper. I did this so I would have a traceable blueprint of the standoffs. I then drilled holes in the motherboard tray exactly where they needed to be. Easy as that!

It turns out I did this upside-down. I'm not sure how I managed to make that mistake, but luckily this isn't much of a cosmetic mistake. I didn't photograph the tray on its own right-side-up, but that should give you an idea of what it looks like. The photograph above doesn't have all of the screws in place, as well.

Now we're just about ready to start the migration!

Here's the motherboard in place, and the rear I/O. I was pretty excited, but surprised when the power supply didn't fit! After staring at Eelhead's G5 mod for a while, I decided to try and fit the PSU into the G5's PSU case.

Power Supply (fail!)

And it fits!

But it barely fits! I might consider getting a thinner fan, as this one blocks the RAM modules' eject levers. It will do for the time being.

I'm happy with this, too. The only thing is - I'm a little nervous to plug it in and turn it on - I'm yet to test it! There's something about messing with a power supply that makes me... scared...

***********************

As you can see in the later posts, I had every reason to be scared. When I plugged the PSU to the wall, it literally exploded. At the time, it was nerve racking and scary, but looking back on it (this one needed a month or two) it was pretty funny. My father happened to be in the room, and I said "hey, check it out, you're about to watch the moment of truth" and he replied "I have total faith in y-" BOOM sparks started flying everywhere and smoke billowed from the exhaust holes. It was after that that I put the project down for a couple weeks and cooled off. Blowing a (really nice) 1000W PSU is not something to take easily. That said, I got back on my feet and finished it.

I purchased a used 850W modular PSU, which was the same make and model as my old one, only a different wattage. As I only have one video card, and not too many peripherals, the 850W should be plenty. I've left this PSU be, as it's smaller size fits cozily in the bottom.

I'll skip the majority of the details of the build, because there's nothing really "new" to report there. In the last two segments of the build, I feel like I might have something to offer to a potential G5 modder.

***********************

Front panel wiring

The products I used for the front panel wiring were the following:

Mini IDE to IDE (2.5" to 3.5") adapter (temporary ebay link)
25 12" jumper cables (I used only 21)
IDE cable

I cut a notch on the adapter so that there were only 18 holes on the side without the molex ground adapter (removed before photographed)

As you can see, it's almost exactly the same size as the original front panel cable...

...only now, there's an IDE connection!

The IDE cable is routed throughout the case to make for a closer connection to the headers on the motherboard. This is handy because it requires shorter jumper cables (I still opted for the longest ones Pololu sells) and it also allows you to use the jumper cables. Using just the front panel connector or cable, the jumper cables are too big - they need more space, which the IDE cable can offer.

The mini IDE to IDE adapter maps the connections in the obvious way.

For some reason I didn't photograph the jumper cables attached to the IDE cable. They look nice, as I taped the plastic bases from the bunch together, giving it a solid feel. The white electrical tape goes nice with the white cables

The USB header. This adapter happened to come with my motherboard. Totally unnecessary but such a sweet treat. Definitely want to pick another one up for the firewire header.

A bit messy... I haven't bothered to sleeve it yet.

Hard drive caddy

I decided to make my own caddy out of plexiglass. This way I was able to attach the lone PSU into the chassis and therefore secure it. I also added a fan, and some I/O ports for the power cables.

After making the caddy, I integrated the original G5 caddy, since it's so nice

Shhh Noctua...

And we're done! I'm pretty happy with the cable organization but it could use some work. When I get some time I'll sleeve the jumper cables and try to route them somewhere.

Never been so happy to press a power button!

 

[maximusprimus]

It's been a while but I've made some progress on this mod. Today I was able to fit my power supply into the G5's power supply case. I was skeptical about this at first but I'm very pleased about how it turned out.

As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to use the original motherboard standoffs to attach the motherboard tray. In order to do this, I attached a blank piece of paper to the standoffs. I was able to feel around and just screw the screws into the standoffs through the paper. I did this so I would have a traceable blueprint of the standoffs. I then drilled holes in the motherboard tray exactly where they needed to be. Easy as that!

It turns out I did this upside-down. I'm not sure how I managed to make that mistake, but luckily this isn't much of a cosmetic mistake. I didn't photograph the tray on its own right-side-up, but that should give you an idea of what it looks like. The photograph above doesn't have all of the screws in place, as well.

Now we're just about ready to start the migration!

Here's the motherboard in place, and the rear I/O. I was pretty excited, but surprised when the power supply didn't fit! After staring at Eelhead's G5 mod for a while, I decided to try and fit the PSU into the G5's PSU case.

And it fits!

But it barely fits! I might consider getting a thinner fan, as this one blocks the RAM modules' eject levers. It will do for the time being.

I'm happy with this, too. The only thing is - I'm a little nervous to plug it in and turn it on - I'm yet to test it! There's something about messing with a power supply that makes me... scared...

To do:

Wire the front I/O and power button
Mount HDD tray
Cut the rear IO panel (it's blocking the side door release lever)
Cut and re-attach second level
Mount the disk drive
Get some rear fans
Turn it on!

 

[doctorevil30564]

You may want to purchase one of the better atx power supply testers that give you full info about all of the voltages being outputted by the power supply. as an added bonus you'll be able to power it up using the tester and put it through it's paces before you hook it to your motherboard. If the voltages look good and it doesn't catch on fire, etc. then it should work just fine for you. it looks like you did a good job on all of your internal connections from what I've seen if everything is soldered and covered in heat shrink wrap tubing you should be fine if it passes the power supply tester's test

 

[maximusprimus]

Thanks for the tip doctorevil. I'll certainly pick one up for my next power supply...

Turns out I have every reason to be nervous. I plugged it in yesterday and it exploded! Straight up sparks flying everywhere and smoke billowing out of the exhaust -- my worst fear. I'm really upset about it, as it was a pretty nice power supply and I think getting another one is out of the budget; I'm going to have to downgrade.

Maybe it's for the best, anyways - I found that the HX1000W was a little large, and fitting the whole PSU in there was a bit of a puzzle. Not only that but 1000W was a bit overkill; one graphics card and very few peripherals should be okay on even a 500W supply.

I'm pretty discouraged, but I guess that's part of the whole process.

 

[doctorevil30564]

Thanks for the tip doctorevil. I'll certainly pick one up for my next power supply...

Turns out I have every reason to be nervous. I plugged it in yesterday and it exploded! Straight up sparks flying everywhere and smoke billowing out of the exhaust -- my worst fear. I'm really upset about it, as it was a pretty nice power supply and I think getting another one is out of the budget; I'm going to have to downgrade.

Maybe it's for the best, anyways - I found that the HX1000W was a little large, and fitting the whole PSU in there was a bit of a puzzle. Not only that but 1000W was a bit overkill; one graphics card and very few peripherals should be okay on even a 500W supply.

I'm pretty discouraged, but I guess that's part of the whole process.

Holy crap!, I hope your motherboard and other components survived ok

 

[maximusprimus]

Holy crap!, I hope your motherboard and other components survived ok

I hope so too! I think I'm going to pick up another power supply today and test it out. Feeling really stupid about this one!

 

[powerpcg5]

Did you put any insulator at the bottom? How did you mount the PCB?
Also, did you put any insulator on top? Those capacitors could have touched the top cover.
You also have that small daughterboard PCB, how is that mounted and protected? I just see it standing on it's side, touching the bottom panel.

 

[maximusprimus]

Did you put any insulator at the bottom? How did you mount the PCB?
Also, did you put any insulator on top? Those capacitors could have touched the top cover.
You also have that small daughterboard PCB, how is that mounted and protected? I just see it standing on it's side, touching the bottom panel.

I used the same insulation that was in the original PSU enclosure - basically just a piece of plastic. I did not insulate the top. The main PCB is attached with the original screws, screwed into some standoff screws that I drilled into the G5 PSU enclosure. The daughterboard is basically just floating - I hadn't planned on mounting it until later - in hindsight this is all pretty stupid of me.

I should point out that I had it working (when I say working, I mean plugged in, and not exploding... it even made the normal faint hum that it usually does) for a few minutes - but I had the cover off. It wasn't connected to anything but the wall.

Do you think the PSU is toast, or is it worth another shot? I'm starting to think it was the lack of insulation on the top, and the lack of insulation of the daughterboard.

 

[powerpcg5]

I'm starting to think it was the lack of insulation on the top, and the lack of insulation of the daughterboard.

That's what I suspect. You case will be GND, and the top metal part of that cap could have made contact... Maybe the heatsink too (but usually, heatsinks are insulated from the component mounted on it.) The daughterboard is also suspect since it wasn't mounted and secured properly.

You've already released the "magic smoke" out of your PSU. So I don't think it's safe to use it anymore. -- You know, It's the magic smoke that keeps our electronics working. Release it, and it's finished. Sorry, time to buy a new one.

 

[maximusprimus]

I found out what was wrong.

After all, I did have insulation on the bottom - I left the original insulation there. The daughterboard was fine lying on it, none of the contacts or capacitors were touching anything. The wire was stiff enough to keep it in place away from everything else.

What set it off was the heatsink. There was contact with the heatsink and the screws holding the fan in place (they went from the inside out). I say this because I have pretty strong evidence:

^^^ And that is where the screw touched. The heatsink fins were perfect before this, now they're bent out of shape. The screw is even welded to the cover!!

Time to get a new power supply I guess...

Live and learn!