- Joined
- May 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H
- CPU
- i7-2600K
- Graphics
- 2x HD 6870
Hi everyone. This post details my Power Mac G5 case mod. I had never intended to post my experiences online, so the only photos I have are the ones that I just took on an old camera. I had wanted to do such a G5 case mod for quite a while, so when I finally had some money in the bank AND Sandy Bridge had just come out, it seemed like a sign from above. 
So, without further ado...
Parts list (prices are from memory):
CPU: Sandy Bridge Core i7-2600K 3.4 GHz – A$330
CPU cooler: Thermalright Archon – A$89
Mobo: Asus P8P67-M PRO (uATX, B3 stepping) – A$176
RAM: 4 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (borrowed from work, soon to be replaced)
PSU: A-Power (never heard of them) 680 W (I know that I should replace it, but it works really well) – A$50 on eBay :S
Graphics: Palit GeForce 9800 GT (old, will probably replace this with an AMD something; its fan is easily the noisiest part in the case) – A$126
HDDs: 160 GB and 1 TB Seagates, nothing special – A$(no clue)
Case: Power Mac G5 1.8GHz DP with electronics inc. PSU removed, but fans included – A$150
OS: Retail Snow Leopard, of course, assisted by MultiBeast and BridgeHelper. (BTW, I would love to see some edited DSDTs in the Database for Asus LGA 1155 mobos – I see that Gigabyte DSDTs have just been added.)
I was considering using an old full-ATX mobo, but that would require some huge changes to the inside and outside of the case. Micro-ATX on the other hand, is almost perfect for the case. G5 standoffs were pulled off with pliers, the repositioned in the layout defined in the uATX datasheet easily found from Wikipedia, using the rear PCI slot positions as a guide. I used copious amounts of epoxy to keep them in place.
Here is the motherboard itself, with the (massive) Thermalright Archon cooler attached. The Archon lends itself well to the G5's "zoned" approach to cooling. Air is sucked in the front by the CPU fan, and exhausted out the back, practically unobstructed. You will notice that I did not use the front or rear G5 CPU fans, despite them being supplied with the case. They are very well suited to cooling a pair of G5 heatsinks in specific positions, but in this mod they are neither suitable nor necessary.
The power supply was held in place by screws through the bottom the case, a little below the CPU heatsink. Mains power was connected by using one of those PC power extenders, the male end of which was epoxyed into the little grey plastic sleeve, which in turn was epoxyed to the case. Used vaseline-impregnated paper to keep the surface of the glue at the back flat, and to keep glue from leaking into the connection area.
Next – back panel. All that I really did, with the help of my brother Sam, was cut out a portion of the G5 back panel with the Dremel, to expose the motherboard connections. Here, without motherboard:
And with motherboard:
As for the graphics card and its associated cooling, I have a bit of a gripe. This 9800 GT, although a fast-for-its-time card which I have overclocked by flashing the ROM of, seems to enjoy running its fan at full speed dring boot, before drivers are loaded. Very annoying. And even when the fan slows down, it is easily the loudest component in the case (perhaps a worn sleeve bearing?). I can't wait to get rid of this thing – I recently tried a Radeon 5750 in the case, and my machine was suddenly whisper quiet. So, the GPU sits in the rightmost (bottom?) PCIe slot of the mobo, where it rests directly on the Archon, insulated with some thin card. Almost a perfect fit, although Thermalright state with the Archon, the expansion slot in that position should be left empty. Poor research on my part, but it luckily worked out in the end.
The front fan which blows air into the PCI thermal zone is operated at 5V, "borrowed" from one of the unused PSU power connectors. I won't bore you with details on how to get the stock fans working – pinouts are easily found on Google. The fan (and unused speaker) assembly is supported by an abbreviated G5 thermal zone separator plate, cut to fit fairly snugly around the mobo, and to stop short of the Archon.
The front panel was easy. Just picked the connector contacts out of one end of the supplied front panel connector, and soldered them to appropriate cables which connect to headers on the motherboard. Note that FireWire ground is needed for the power LED and button to work. I actually made the FW cable too short (duh), so I have just extended it with a pair of wires to connect to the mobo's ground pins for the time being. Piece of cake.
Finally, the drive bay. I just love the layout of this part of the case. Even though I hate optical drives with a passion (enough to exclude them from the parts list xD), I accept them as a necessary evil – I grabbed a cheapo LG SATA drive from work. Power is supplied to the drives through the native black cable running under the motherboard, attached to the PSU molex plugs by means of a simple adaptor. Again, Google will yield appropriate pinouts. Puzzlingly, there are two fans in the drive bay. One has obvious front-to-back airflow. I run this one at 3.3 V, and it keeps the drives quite cool. The other one seems to be a centrifugal fan drawing air from the gap under the mobo and exhausting it through the far-end of the drive bay. I would love to hear explanations about this from commenters.
So in conclusion, although this G5 mod is not nearly as ambitions or inspirational as some others that can be found on the web, I hope that it serves to show that such a project can be well within the abilities of just about everyone with the right interest and motivation. If a 17-year-old can do this in between his mid-year exams, so can you. XD. I'd love to hear advice on how to continue with this mod from commenters.
So, without further ado...Parts list (prices are from memory):
CPU: Sandy Bridge Core i7-2600K 3.4 GHz – A$330
CPU cooler: Thermalright Archon – A$89
Mobo: Asus P8P67-M PRO (uATX, B3 stepping) – A$176
RAM: 4 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (borrowed from work, soon to be replaced)
PSU: A-Power (never heard of them) 680 W (I know that I should replace it, but it works really well) – A$50 on eBay :S
Graphics: Palit GeForce 9800 GT (old, will probably replace this with an AMD something; its fan is easily the noisiest part in the case) – A$126
HDDs: 160 GB and 1 TB Seagates, nothing special – A$(no clue)
Case: Power Mac G5 1.8GHz DP with electronics inc. PSU removed, but fans included – A$150
OS: Retail Snow Leopard, of course, assisted by MultiBeast and BridgeHelper. (BTW, I would love to see some edited DSDTs in the Database for Asus LGA 1155 mobos – I see that Gigabyte DSDTs have just been added.)
I was considering using an old full-ATX mobo, but that would require some huge changes to the inside and outside of the case. Micro-ATX on the other hand, is almost perfect for the case. G5 standoffs were pulled off with pliers, the repositioned in the layout defined in the uATX datasheet easily found from Wikipedia, using the rear PCI slot positions as a guide. I used copious amounts of epoxy to keep them in place.
Here is the motherboard itself, with the (massive) Thermalright Archon cooler attached. The Archon lends itself well to the G5's "zoned" approach to cooling. Air is sucked in the front by the CPU fan, and exhausted out the back, practically unobstructed. You will notice that I did not use the front or rear G5 CPU fans, despite them being supplied with the case. They are very well suited to cooling a pair of G5 heatsinks in specific positions, but in this mod they are neither suitable nor necessary.
The power supply was held in place by screws through the bottom the case, a little below the CPU heatsink. Mains power was connected by using one of those PC power extenders, the male end of which was epoxyed into the little grey plastic sleeve, which in turn was epoxyed to the case. Used vaseline-impregnated paper to keep the surface of the glue at the back flat, and to keep glue from leaking into the connection area.
Next – back panel. All that I really did, with the help of my brother Sam, was cut out a portion of the G5 back panel with the Dremel, to expose the motherboard connections. Here, without motherboard:
And with motherboard:
As for the graphics card and its associated cooling, I have a bit of a gripe. This 9800 GT, although a fast-for-its-time card which I have overclocked by flashing the ROM of, seems to enjoy running its fan at full speed dring boot, before drivers are loaded. Very annoying. And even when the fan slows down, it is easily the loudest component in the case (perhaps a worn sleeve bearing?). I can't wait to get rid of this thing – I recently tried a Radeon 5750 in the case, and my machine was suddenly whisper quiet. So, the GPU sits in the rightmost (bottom?) PCIe slot of the mobo, where it rests directly on the Archon, insulated with some thin card. Almost a perfect fit, although Thermalright state with the Archon, the expansion slot in that position should be left empty. Poor research on my part, but it luckily worked out in the end.
The front fan which blows air into the PCI thermal zone is operated at 5V, "borrowed" from one of the unused PSU power connectors. I won't bore you with details on how to get the stock fans working – pinouts are easily found on Google. The fan (and unused speaker) assembly is supported by an abbreviated G5 thermal zone separator plate, cut to fit fairly snugly around the mobo, and to stop short of the Archon.
The front panel was easy. Just picked the connector contacts out of one end of the supplied front panel connector, and soldered them to appropriate cables which connect to headers on the motherboard. Note that FireWire ground is needed for the power LED and button to work. I actually made the FW cable too short (duh), so I have just extended it with a pair of wires to connect to the mobo's ground pins for the time being. Piece of cake.
Finally, the drive bay. I just love the layout of this part of the case. Even though I hate optical drives with a passion (enough to exclude them from the parts list xD), I accept them as a necessary evil – I grabbed a cheapo LG SATA drive from work. Power is supplied to the drives through the native black cable running under the motherboard, attached to the PSU molex plugs by means of a simple adaptor. Again, Google will yield appropriate pinouts. Puzzlingly, there are two fans in the drive bay. One has obvious front-to-back airflow. I run this one at 3.3 V, and it keeps the drives quite cool. The other one seems to be a centrifugal fan drawing air from the gap under the mobo and exhausting it through the far-end of the drive bay. I would love to hear explanations about this from commenters.
So in conclusion, although this G5 mod is not nearly as ambitions or inspirational as some others that can be found on the web, I hope that it serves to show that such a project can be well within the abilities of just about everyone with the right interest and motivation. If a 17-year-old can do this in between his mid-year exams, so can you. XD. I'd love to hear advice on how to continue with this mod from commenters.
