- Joined
- Oct 8, 2011
- Messages
- 32
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3
- CPU
- i5-2500K
- Graphics
- HD 6850
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
Video temporally down... 
Hello All,
Like many other users on this forum I’ve attempted a G5 Case Mod but with slightly different Goals in mind. I’m only 14 and have had little experience with modding and for that matter using any tools apart from a hammer and a screwdriver. However I was still able to build a fully working G5 case mod with all the glitz and glimmer that comes with a Mac Design. All the ports work perfectly and the case is very clean (well the outside at least).
Added Video- Complete Build Finished-
[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzbdgb1sit0[/VIDEO]
What sets this mod apart from other G5 Mods-
Build requires no electric tools, soldering or any uncommon tools
Motherboard is MicroATX
Cheap – Does not need much apart from the components and case
Ok lets jump into it-
Here’s the Case
Firstly before I began I inspected the case and spent 5 Mins trying to open it I had no experience with the G5 Case at all.
After opening it I stripped everything all the fans, cords and random plastic bits. Although I had noticed the Upper tray which hosts the DVD and HDD’s was locked in with Torx and I didn’t have Torx Screwdrivers, so I decided I would work with it. Many more times I would run into similar problems.
Leaving the Upper tray meant I had to leave the fan and plastic bit in the middle. It really doesn’t matter as I could see nothing I could do with the space anyway. Also I left the HDD Tray as I used that to house the HDD’s – spares one less Job.
With everything correctly stripped down, all that remained was an empty case with nothing but Upper Tray, HDD Tray and a Fan Located in the upper tray. As well as these metal prods that use to hold the old motherboard these didn’t fit the Micro ATX Board so I removed these entirely. I used an adjustable wrench with a side-to-side motion to remove these; in no time they were gone. I however kept them for latter use.
Next Step was to install the Hard Drives, this was a fairly easy and straight forward process. I used 4 Screws in each HDD to lock them in place. I would however not fully screw them in only about half way for each screw. Then slide the into the HDD tray, this worked very well and they were locked in place very securely.
After installing the HDD’s I then installed the DVD Burner this was also a very easy process as the screw holes fitted the DVD Drive perfectly. I simply screwed the Drive in with the screws that came with the drive. The screw holes are pre-existing as apple uses the same 5.25 DVD Drives found in all desktops.
Before I could place the motherboard into the case, I had to cut out the old back plate, as obviously the USB, HDMI ports etc. did not match. Many other people who had attempted a G5 Case mod had used hacksaws and drills. I didn’t have access to any of this so instead I came up with a really great workaround one with better results. Surrounding the whole case is hundreds of holes, so I took this to my advantage; they surrounded the back plate as well. Using a pair of pliers I cut the aluminium between every single hole. There were hundreds but in the end (20 minutes of work) I had a very cleanly removed backplate.
From here on out was the hard part, mounting the motherboard was not going to be easy without anything pre-existing plate to mount it on. After scavenging the interwebs however, I found a very interesting guide on another G5 Case mod. (Link=http://arrifana.org/blog/2011/12/g5kintosh-2/) He had simply used the metal prods used to mount the official Apple motherboard but had repositioned them to fit the ATX motherboard. Then he used an adhesive (epoxy) to stick the prods in place and hold the motherboard. I basically used the same process he had used.
To make sure the motherboard was aligned I slotted in my Graphics Card first and locked it to the case. Then I used a pen to mark where the metal prods were before applying the epoxy on the case. I left it over night and in the morning the motherboard was locked tightly in place.
Next step was to insert the PSU, I decided I didn’t really mind if it didn’t look the same as apples as I did not plan on ever opening it to show others. With the Micro ATX Board taking little space I placed the PSU at the Bottom near the front. Although to stop vibrations I lifted it of the bottom of the case again using the little metal prods. These where once again kept in place with epoxy. After over night drying the PSU was also locked tightly in place.
By now I had all the major parts in place (I didn’t mention Ram + CPU but that is fairly self-explanatory. Now was time for the wiring.
I started by connecting the Sata connectors from the DVD Drive & HDD’s to the motherboard. They were both easy enough as the DVD drive had a hole right next to it, which I could route the wires through while I had to squeeze the Sata cables through the side of the case to reach the HDD’s. After that I connected all the connections from the PSU. This was fairly straightforward, wiring wasn’t clean at the best of times but it didn’t really matter.
The front panel was the biggest pain of the whole project. In an attempt to remove it I broke the power button. So I decided that I would just leave it there as is, luckily I found an adapter on eBay for ATX motherboards. This allowed me to use the front panel, but as I had broken the power button I used an generic switch instead of the official one. When you turn on a computer all you do is complete a circuit so any switch will do. Personally I think the black switch I used is actually better than the one that comes with the case.
After connecting the cords, which was fairly straightforward, both the USB and AUX ports worked. Sadly my motherboard didn’t have a firewire port so I gave that a miss.
First Boot & Trouble Shooting
Unsurprisingly after turning the computer on everything worked flawlessly. Although the DVD drive would not open it was slightly to low. So I put some washers between the Drive and screws. That worked well and the drive then opened. Finally satisfied with my build I cleaned up the wiring slightly and closed it all up.
I was finished.
I haven’t detailed any of the install or software but there are many other tutorials detailing that. Hopefully this might give some users who attempt a G5 Build some ideas or at least help somewhat.
P.S Feedback is much appreciated – Please inform me of anything that is missing or need revising as well…
Thank You for Reading!
Credits-
TonyMac
Macman
Celso Martinho
^Extra Credit for some images
Hello All,
Like many other users on this forum I’ve attempted a G5 Case Mod but with slightly different Goals in mind. I’m only 14 and have had little experience with modding and for that matter using any tools apart from a hammer and a screwdriver. However I was still able to build a fully working G5 case mod with all the glitz and glimmer that comes with a Mac Design. All the ports work perfectly and the case is very clean (well the outside at least).
Added Video- Complete Build Finished-
[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzbdgb1sit0[/VIDEO]
What sets this mod apart from other G5 Mods-
Build requires no electric tools, soldering or any uncommon tools
Motherboard is MicroATX
Cheap – Does not need much apart from the components and case
Ok lets jump into it-
Here’s the Case
Firstly before I began I inspected the case and spent 5 Mins trying to open it I had no experience with the G5 Case at all.
After opening it I stripped everything all the fans, cords and random plastic bits. Although I had noticed the Upper tray which hosts the DVD and HDD’s was locked in with Torx and I didn’t have Torx Screwdrivers, so I decided I would work with it. Many more times I would run into similar problems.
Leaving the Upper tray meant I had to leave the fan and plastic bit in the middle. It really doesn’t matter as I could see nothing I could do with the space anyway. Also I left the HDD Tray as I used that to house the HDD’s – spares one less Job.
With everything correctly stripped down, all that remained was an empty case with nothing but Upper Tray, HDD Tray and a Fan Located in the upper tray. As well as these metal prods that use to hold the old motherboard these didn’t fit the Micro ATX Board so I removed these entirely. I used an adjustable wrench with a side-to-side motion to remove these; in no time they were gone. I however kept them for latter use.
Next Step was to install the Hard Drives, this was a fairly easy and straight forward process. I used 4 Screws in each HDD to lock them in place. I would however not fully screw them in only about half way for each screw. Then slide the into the HDD tray, this worked very well and they were locked in place very securely.
After installing the HDD’s I then installed the DVD Burner this was also a very easy process as the screw holes fitted the DVD Drive perfectly. I simply screwed the Drive in with the screws that came with the drive. The screw holes are pre-existing as apple uses the same 5.25 DVD Drives found in all desktops.
Before I could place the motherboard into the case, I had to cut out the old back plate, as obviously the USB, HDMI ports etc. did not match. Many other people who had attempted a G5 Case mod had used hacksaws and drills. I didn’t have access to any of this so instead I came up with a really great workaround one with better results. Surrounding the whole case is hundreds of holes, so I took this to my advantage; they surrounded the back plate as well. Using a pair of pliers I cut the aluminium between every single hole. There were hundreds but in the end (20 minutes of work) I had a very cleanly removed backplate.
From here on out was the hard part, mounting the motherboard was not going to be easy without anything pre-existing plate to mount it on. After scavenging the interwebs however, I found a very interesting guide on another G5 Case mod. (Link=http://arrifana.org/blog/2011/12/g5kintosh-2/) He had simply used the metal prods used to mount the official Apple motherboard but had repositioned them to fit the ATX motherboard. Then he used an adhesive (epoxy) to stick the prods in place and hold the motherboard. I basically used the same process he had used.
To make sure the motherboard was aligned I slotted in my Graphics Card first and locked it to the case. Then I used a pen to mark where the metal prods were before applying the epoxy on the case. I left it over night and in the morning the motherboard was locked tightly in place.
Next step was to insert the PSU, I decided I didn’t really mind if it didn’t look the same as apples as I did not plan on ever opening it to show others. With the Micro ATX Board taking little space I placed the PSU at the Bottom near the front. Although to stop vibrations I lifted it of the bottom of the case again using the little metal prods. These where once again kept in place with epoxy. After over night drying the PSU was also locked tightly in place.
By now I had all the major parts in place (I didn’t mention Ram + CPU but that is fairly self-explanatory. Now was time for the wiring.
I started by connecting the Sata connectors from the DVD Drive & HDD’s to the motherboard. They were both easy enough as the DVD drive had a hole right next to it, which I could route the wires through while I had to squeeze the Sata cables through the side of the case to reach the HDD’s. After that I connected all the connections from the PSU. This was fairly straightforward, wiring wasn’t clean at the best of times but it didn’t really matter.
The front panel was the biggest pain of the whole project. In an attempt to remove it I broke the power button. So I decided that I would just leave it there as is, luckily I found an adapter on eBay for ATX motherboards. This allowed me to use the front panel, but as I had broken the power button I used an generic switch instead of the official one. When you turn on a computer all you do is complete a circuit so any switch will do. Personally I think the black switch I used is actually better than the one that comes with the case.
After connecting the cords, which was fairly straightforward, both the USB and AUX ports worked. Sadly my motherboard didn’t have a firewire port so I gave that a miss.
First Boot & Trouble Shooting
Unsurprisingly after turning the computer on everything worked flawlessly. Although the DVD drive would not open it was slightly to low. So I put some washers between the Drive and screws. That worked well and the drive then opened. Finally satisfied with my build I cleaned up the wiring slightly and closed it all up.
I was finished.
I haven’t detailed any of the install or software but there are many other tutorials detailing that. Hopefully this might give some users who attempt a G5 Build some ideas or at least help somewhat.
P.S Feedback is much appreciated – Please inform me of anything that is missing or need revising as well…
Thank You for Reading!
Credits-
TonyMac
Macman
Celso Martinho
^Extra Credit for some images
