- Joined
- Feb 15, 2012
- Messages
- 39
- Motherboard
- Z68XP, H61, Mini10V
- CPU
- 2500k, 2120T & Atom 570
- Graphics
- GeF210
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Take it easy on Eels. He's very passionate about creating mods. He's spent a lot of time doing this, screwed up his share of parts and he's here to help others avoid his early mistakes. It's painful to watch someone else crash in slow motion when it could have been avoided. On a personal note with my G5 mod (writing this on it now)- Thank you Eelhead.
There are artistic reasons to modify and functional reasons and financial reasons. Anything is NOT possible, being that there are limitations- physical, financial, functional.
If you only have one PCIe slot, you can't have two PCIe cards. You can't cut a processor in half and only use half of the cores! (I feel like making a troll bait post, complete with pix of a sawed down mobo, etc). If you want a small computer with front loaded hot swap drives, a B&W G3 or G4 would be easier to mod than a G5.
If you don't know how the PC board is laid out, you cannot tell if you will cut or short out necessary circuitry. Most motherboards are more than two layers, with internal power and ground layers (as well as multiple signal). Short two layers out and it won't work. You need to think about what your goals are with a mod, and make choices to reach the end goal. Long story short- Don't cut motherboards. World of hurt.
If you like the way something looks, then cut it up, it might now look very different. If you like the way something looks, but it won't suit your needs, and you cannot change the function without changing the look, it's a non starter. If you have no experience with mods, try something a little more mainstream before you go bleeding edge. Find a combination someone else has done that WORKS for a first project, and use that as a guide. That way, you'll taste some success and be encouraged to go on, rather than having to throw your project into the trash.
Figure out your REAL needs in terms of processor power, PCIe slots, PCI, Bluetooth, wireless, USB, 1394, memory, hard drive slots, removable hard drives, etc. FIRST. Then, figure out how much power supply and cooling you need. Then figure out how much case you need. Then find (or build) that case/computer. If you build a cutesy case that won't fit your needs, you need to build another computer. Tiny cases aren't going to fit multiple cards, overclocked quad core CPUs, and lots of hard drives. And cooling is always an issue with high power rigs, much more so with mini cases.
if this is a hobby you enjoy and can afford, well, have fun. Just give it a lot of though before you cut, and you'll save yourself much money, time, blood, sweat and tears.
There are artistic reasons to modify and functional reasons and financial reasons. Anything is NOT possible, being that there are limitations- physical, financial, functional.
If you only have one PCIe slot, you can't have two PCIe cards. You can't cut a processor in half and only use half of the cores! (I feel like making a troll bait post, complete with pix of a sawed down mobo, etc). If you want a small computer with front loaded hot swap drives, a B&W G3 or G4 would be easier to mod than a G5.
If you don't know how the PC board is laid out, you cannot tell if you will cut or short out necessary circuitry. Most motherboards are more than two layers, with internal power and ground layers (as well as multiple signal). Short two layers out and it won't work. You need to think about what your goals are with a mod, and make choices to reach the end goal. Long story short- Don't cut motherboards. World of hurt.
If you like the way something looks, then cut it up, it might now look very different. If you like the way something looks, but it won't suit your needs, and you cannot change the function without changing the look, it's a non starter. If you have no experience with mods, try something a little more mainstream before you go bleeding edge. Find a combination someone else has done that WORKS for a first project, and use that as a guide. That way, you'll taste some success and be encouraged to go on, rather than having to throw your project into the trash.
Figure out your REAL needs in terms of processor power, PCIe slots, PCI, Bluetooth, wireless, USB, 1394, memory, hard drive slots, removable hard drives, etc. FIRST. Then, figure out how much power supply and cooling you need. Then figure out how much case you need. Then find (or build) that case/computer. If you build a cutesy case that won't fit your needs, you need to build another computer. Tiny cases aren't going to fit multiple cards, overclocked quad core CPUs, and lots of hard drives. And cooling is always an issue with high power rigs, much more so with mini cases.
if this is a hobby you enjoy and can afford, well, have fun. Just give it a lot of though before you cut, and you'll save yourself much money, time, blood, sweat and tears.
