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Hypno's G5 Mod

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Jan 13, 2013
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I picked up an old G5 from a co-worker. He paid me $10 to take it from him! The RAM was missing, and I have no need for a classic mac, so after I broke my mini-itx board, I figured this case would be perfect for my next PC build.

I thought it would be fun to do as much of this case working with just my hands, since it's so much more satisfying. The only thing that I plan to cheat on is the holes that I'm going to have to drill to make the mesh look correct on the rear.

I've read through a bunch of other threads, and I see that most people replace the entire back of the case. I didn't want to do that because I'm only using hand tools and I wanted to keep the original shape as close as possible. So I opted to use the original PCI slots and make this a mATX case. Because the PCI mounts are set into the case. I cut some plastic strips of ABS and epoxied them in place for the atx backplate to fit into. Don't mind the ugly different colors of the aluminum and plastic, the case is going to get a nice semi gloss black on the center piece and gun metal for the sides.

I'll keep this album updated with new images as I make progress.

Any comments or critiques are welcome. :)

My remaining TODOs are:
1. New front panel. I'll probably print up something new then epoxy it in place.
2. Filter for the front of the case. I've had to clean out this case almost every 2 months since I built it, so I'm trying to avoid that in the future.
3. Fan mounts. I want to print a new fan mount for the rear of the case.
4. PSU mount. I'll either mod the actual PSU into the G5 case, or I'll mount it at the top of the case. I even ordered a new metal cover to replace the one I cut a big hole in!
5. Possibly redo the rear I/O panel.
6. Possibly print a mount for the HDD cage for the lower part of the case.
7. Print some cable combs.
8. Paint the whole thing. The reason I didn't paint a year ago is because I lived in an apt complex with nowhere I could do it. Now I have the means to paint this, so I will probably be going with gun metal/silver and black, with possibly a red highlight or two.
9. Mod my GPU so it lights up red. I believe that I will be able to print a replacement logo in red and swap it out. More investigation is needed, however from what I have seen, it is a white LED under green plastic so this may end up being straight forward.
 
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I got some holes drilled in the solid part of the case:
RgVn6HH.jpg

I accidently popped the epoxy out of the ethernet port, but that's not a huge deal since there are a few holes that I had to fill and redrill anyway. I actually measured perfectly for this part, but it was difficult to stop the drill bit from walking (would love a drill press here), all in all it's mostly "good enough" since it's going to be on the back of the case and you can't really tell that the holes are off from a distance.

F6XKTLH.jpg
I filled the holes on the edge and sanded it down. I'm happy with that, it should look completely flat after paint.

I also cut off the epoxy on the fan vent with a hobby knife. The little metal point had bent up at some point, so the surface wasn't smooth. I clamped it down and reapplied some of the epoxy. Once the epoxy is reapplied, I plan to sculpt it down using a hobby knife to get rid of that blobby look.
 
Hey guys, a quick update from last night. I got my new hardware yesterday, so I finally got a test fit of the mATX mobo.
km67eTC.jpg
w7xNnzh.jpg
I still need to trim up that corner, but otherwise it fits great!

The PCI divider needs to be modified so I measures and laid out what needs to be removed:
gVSpNhcl.jpg
uxYloWt.jpg
I'll be cutting those red bits off tonight.
 
I got the PCI divider cut, it works great.

My cat decided to help me for the next part:
NwF9Ybj.jpg

I got the rear fan grills epoxied a sculpted, worked out great!
SCxi7a6.jpg
After masking off the back of my mobo, I epoxied the mobo mounts in place. Also worked out great!
qYfU5Xp.jpg
The original rear fans still fit:

lMrmf6K.jpg
Everything is starting to come together:
qlJZUkX.jpg

Next up, I'm going to work on the PSU. I'm thinking that I will mount it in the bottom, I just haven't figured out how yet.
 
do you finished it?
Yes and no.

Yes, I do have a working computer (In fact this post is being made from the new computer!), but no, I'm not done with the all the cosmetics.

So here is an update with what I've done since last time.
I cut out a bit for the cables to sit more comfortably.
ZmrVhJD.jpg
This is just a normal power cable that I soldered onto the old input plug.
NIAQ0hn.jpg
This is the final PSU.
KuQSE6Gl.jpg
I got everything mounted up. I'm going to be cutting a hole in the bottom plate to match the PSU, then drilling holes in order to mount the SSD roughly where it is currently hanging out.
1Fgxgnul.jpg
IT'S ALIVE!!! Booted up and it is dead silent. The red light is from LEDs that are on the back of the mobo. I'll probably end up turning them off, but for now it's a good indicator that the machine is running.
O5QD4rJ.jpg
 
I've got the front fire wire port filed down, and I fit one of the plastic USB liners from the back of the case in it's spot:
ZZVVYBQ.jpg
There is a tiny bit of size difference, but you only notice it close up like the picture is.

I'll be modifying the front panel circuit board when my usb 3.0 ports come in the mail, they should both fit beautifully here.

Now back to another week of cutting and filing for the PSU mount.
 
Tonight I got the bottom plate cut out for the PSU:
L4SBsjL.jpg
2KlZwWyl.jpg

I also hit it with some 400 grit since it had some nasty caked on crud. I still don't know what it was, but it didn't come off with any of the cleaners that I tried.

It looks gross right now, but after a coat of black paint, I think it will look great!
 
My usb headers and fans came today, so I was able to finish the front panel usb ports and audio jack. The audio jack was a donor from an HP Slimline that had no microphone jack, so it worked perfectly. I desoldered the original plugs then just glued the new plugs in place.
af4Tzzcl.jpgC1p2I04l.jpgiZb1097.jpg
I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Next up, I have to wire up the existing LED and power button.
 
My usb headers and fans came today, so I was able to finish the front panel usb ports and audio jack. The audio jack was a donor from an HP Slimline that had no microphone jack, so it worked perfectly. I desoldered the original plugs then just glued the new plugs in place.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Next up, I have to wire up the existing LED and power button.

Looking really good!

Where did you get that USB 3.0 cable? It looks like it went on without issue - the one I got before didn't really want to fit into place.
 
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