- Joined
- Mar 23, 2013
- Messages
- 18
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
- CPU
- Core i7 3770k
- Graphics
- GTX 750Ti OC 2Go
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
The installed cooler (Hyper 212 Evo) can be rotated 90° if needed. For CPU coolers, the standards define the position and size of the holes for the fixation system (depends on CPU socket), and then every vendor can design a fixation system around those. It's quite an old build (Core i7 3770k on LGA1155 socket), so even though this cooler for this socket can be rotated, it's not necessarily sure you can do that for your own cpu / cooler combination. You should check that in the installation documents for your cooler of choice, but I guess it's now pretty common since in some combinations, the fan could hit the RAM sticks (especially for RAM sticks with huge aluminium fins).1) the 3D drawing shows a CPU-cooler that has it's airflow pointed to the back, but the GPU airflow is pointed up. Is that because you can choose the direction of the CPU-cooler yourself? Is this not fixed by the design of ATX-cards?
The PSU got a cutout to fit the 120mm fan that was in the original PSU case, the only destructive operation in this whole process The two 40mm fans that are on the PowerMac PSU would have been really loud and I didn't want to risk frying my PSU.• It looks from the 3D drawing that the GPU-card airflow is bottom to top.
• It looks from the photo that the CPU cooler airflow is front to back (of the case).
• PSU is not visible but the airflow usually goes top to bottom (and can leave the case front and back underneath the PSU-cover)
About airflow : I'm not a huge gamer or overclocker, so I don't really drive my components to the limit. When I bought the components, I was doing a lot of video, graphic design, and such, and I needed some beefy stuff. Nowadays, I'm mostly doing electronics, programming and some CAD modeling (and once in a while, I'll play Just Cause 3 or some other game). I never really took into account the whole "airflow" stuff, just a tiny bit to have a cool and silent work computer, so some decisions might not be the best cooling wise but it has worked for me
It'd been a long time since I designed that solution, so the details are a bit murky, but the fit is actually a bit tighter than what the renderings are showing. For example, the top of the PSU case almost touches the bottom of the mobo, maybe 7 or 10mm gap, way less than what can be seen on the first post. From what I remember : it was impossible to fit an standard ATX card rotated 90° without cutting the top shelf or the PSU.2) Why not turn the motherboard 90º counter clockwise? Then the cables and the card would have more room, and not so tight on the PSU cover. Also, the airflow of the card and CPU would be more in line.
I think it also had to do with the Aluminium G5 cover : I wanted it to fit over the CPU and the GPU would be in the way.
But I might be wrong, I'll have to rebuild the case in a couple weeks, so I'll check this time (and grab pictures).
I used an older model, bought in 2013 or 2014. It's a Pure Power 530W actually (I thought it was a 750W) model BN106. I'm not 100% sure about the internals, but since the ATX form factor for PSUs is defined, I'm guessing most of them have more-or-less the same layout inside and should fit inside the stock Powermac PSU.3) Exactly what PSU did you use: The be quiet! Power Zone 750W, the Dark Power Pro 11 or the Straight Power 11 750 W?
The Hyper212 EVO CPU cooler is a beast : I've never had any problem with it, lots of cooling, and even at 100% CPU load (benchmarking), it never went above 60°C. The 120mm PSU Fan provides a bit of airflow too, grabbing some cool air on the front of the case, sending it inside the PSU, and it goes out the back without leaving the PSU case.4) I noticed that several G5 builds left out the original fans. Did you use any case fans or is the case cooled enough as it is by the CPU/GPU/PSU fans? Does the PSU fan provide extra airflow / cooling that in the original case was provided by the front and back fans?
I used the 2 case fans in the back, but I kept only the plastic housing, removed the stock fans and replaced them by 2 92mm BeQuiet fans, as in this thread. I had a weird rattling noise at first, but the fan were mounted backwards (blowing air inside the case), but since I inverted them (blowing outside), everything as been running fine.
If needed, I have a 3D model for a bracket I could 3D print and that would fit on 2 of the original case pegs. This bracket could hold a 140mm fans just behind the front grill and provide a bit of complementary airflow, but I never needed it until now.
I think most people do that kind of thing because the pinout on the Apple Fans is kind of weird and it's hard to get variable speed, they might even be 12V instead of 5V for standard fans, and they are loud as hell.