Re: Flatfoot's PowerMac G5-i7
Update:
Just ordered the Mountain Mods Modular I/O panel for €24.26 incl. shipping to Germany.
A similar part is available from kustompcs.co.uk but it's black and is £22.78
plus shipping.
Now I hope the panel survives the journey over the pond unbent despite the inferior packaging caused by the shipping service I chose... Any other option would have been too (some even ridiculously) expensive.
ATM I'm favouring the idea of moving the motherboard to the top (like
the_gael did) rather than to the bottom, but not using a motherboard tray – just using the modular I/O panel and the original G5 standoffs. The only drawback of that approach is that I won't be able to put the PSU in the top rear (my original plan; don't want to spoil the warranty by taking it apart and putting it into the G5 PSU housing). Maybe it will just fit behind the DVD drive, leaving enough room for the mobo and expansion cards in the uppermost slots, otherwise I'll have to mount it at the bottom rear.
The advantage of mounting the mobo like that and not using a mobo tray is that I'll be able to reuse the 2x92mm fan assembly (with new fans), which gives me about the same airflow as a single 120mm fan – at a lower noise level.
...and one more thing: Unless the Corsair H100 (in contrast to its smaller siblings) turns out to outperform the Thermalright Silver Arrow, I'll use the latter to replace my Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, with which I'm not satisfied when overclocking.
I've discarded the idea of building a water cooling system myself since it's just too expensive and needs too much maintenance.
It's either the Thermalright Silver Arrow or the Corsair H100.