[Completed] G4 Case Hack: Maca-chu

[Macachu]

Nothing really groundbreaking: cut out cd bay support thing, test fit mobo, measuring things up.

 

[Macachu]

Got some presents...

Started to do some test fitting. Everything fits great except the cooler which has about 1mm of clearance from the psu. Gonna shove the psu over a dash to get a bit of extra room, there is an extra 1cm between the case and psu. Then all will be good.

Next step is marking off the fans and cutting up the case. We are going with 2x120 intake fans on the bottom with two more extraction near the top on the front and side. Not sure what pattern we'll do but it'll be cut on a Bridgeport mill.

Hopefully it should run cool.

Not sure if I can position the psu so we can use the old plastic or if we'll just use the new lazerhive piece.

All that's left to arrive now is RAM. Got another two 250gb SSD's in old computers that will provide the Linux and windows options and that 500gb will be for the Mac

 

[Perkla]

This is looking great, and its looking pretty much like the build i did 7 months ago.. but i ordered the full conversion kit from thelaserhive... and i got watercooling for the CPU... and that made me run in to some problems with the hoses for the watercooling so i needed a short GPU...

 

[Macachu]

This is looking great, and its looking pretty much like the build i did 7 months ago.. but i ordered the full conversion kit from thelaserhive... and i got watercooling for the CPU... and that made me run in to some problems with the hoses for the waterco

We got the full lazerhive kit too but I was hoping to not use it as we want to retain as much of the nostalgia as possible.

Currently I'm toying around with the idea of 3d printing a new plastic back plate with the curves of the og piece and with the psu holes moved over so we have more room for the pretty cpu cooler.

Not sure what the go is yet but the goal is to get hackachu done in two weeks as we have to make a big international move and we need to have a working workstation before we do.
Stress levels: 9000

 

[Greatwoolf]

What are you using for a PSU? I was thinking about using This:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817338112&ignorebbr=1
Just for the form factor, it keeps the fans as the original helping extract the hot air.
Also thinking about This:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103230&ignorebbr=1
for cooling the CPU, but I'm not sure about the clearance when tilted Horizontally.

 

[Macachu]

What are you using for a PSU? I was thinking about using This:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817338112&ignorebbr=1
Just for the form factor, it keeps the fans as the original helping extract the hot air.
Also thinking about This:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103230&ignorebbr=1
for cooling the CPU, but I'm not sure about the clearance when tilted Horizontally.

That PSU looks like it'll work well. I didn't mind getting the side intake as there will be some case chopin' already. We got the Corsair CS550m.

There is about 75mm from board level to PSU shelf, so we will be shifting the PSU over so it's hard up against the side. Should gain about a ~1cm from that.

Things are super crazy at the moment but maybe we'll get time to do a full test assembly over the weekend.

 

[Macachu]

Limited progress. Drilled out the exhaust fan hole, not too happy with the result but she'll be right. The workshop at work is currently getting a revamp so we've had to improvise.

Decided to use the old plastic on the back so go the dremel out and cleared out room fro the kettle socket. Quite happy with the smooth almost stock finish!

 

[Macachu]

Case has been hacked up.
90% done now, here is a teaser.

 

[Macachu]

So after a hectic move to a new place, we are trying to get the thing booted and running. Gotta get it done before we ship off to France on Monday! :/

Things worked up until we tried to use the web drivers, then we just got a black screen and no boot. Gonna try another fresh install tonight before hitting up you guys for assistance!

 

[Macachu]

We're all done!
Followed the general TonyMac guide and everything went pretty smoothly. A few hiccups with the Nvidia web drivers - got those working using a different guide, let us know if you want specifics.
We have two external SSDs attached between the metal and the plastic of the case - currently one runs the OS and the other contains a CCC5 backup. But we may install linux on it in the future if required.
Wacom tablet drivers work really well, however we're getting occasional mouse lag using the Logitech MX Master - haven't tested with a wired mouse yet. If anyone has experience with this, let me know - we'd appreciate the advice
Screen resolution isn't up to scratch yet - waiting on a DisplayPort cable (en route) to get the full resolution of the Dell monitor.

UPDATE:
Things that work:

• iMessage, as per the idiots guide
• Airdrop
• iTunes and all that (iCloud, etc)
• Wacom tablet
• Graphics card
• Might've have fixed the mouse stutter by following this guide for 200 series boards: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...on-200-series-with-kabylake-processor.218494/
• Audio! no devices were showing initially then after downloading something and setting ResetHDA it worked
• Bluetooth, using the OSXwifi card. Be sure to disable the mobo wifi and bluetooth otherwise the card will not be used

Not tested:

• USB-c