- Joined
- Feb 11, 2018
- Messages
- 15
- Motherboard
- MSI Z370M GAMING PRO AC
- CPU
- 8700K
- Graphics
- VEGA 64
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
Hi! just joined the forum as a way of paying back all the incredible and thoughtful advice provided by the community towards this project. Cannot thank you lot enough! I have decided to create a build log on the forum to continue the wonderful trend of mac pro conversions, Hope you guys like what I have been working on. The build is going to be for my dad, a long time mac lover who recently switched to hackintoshes after his old mac pro started to show its age.
To begin with, i purchased a full working mac pro 3,1 after gutting it, i decided to retain the logic board and frame it as another side gift for him. I sheared more than a few screws in the process but I am pretty sure I did learn my lesson.
after gutting it, i set to work on the power supply, I decided to retain the original power supply frame. looking back, it likely cost me far more pain making it work that it was worth, but the results do speak for themselves. To anyone looking to do something similar, i strongly recommend looking at an SFX/SFX-L PSU instead of a full ATX as i found I had to move the power plug up on both the PSU and f. While it looks fine, the cable does not sit snug or securely. this was however the cleanest an inexperienced student could do with a metal workshop and an angle grinder. The result was nonetheless impressive, a full modular 850W psu in the original frame!
In regard to the IO panel and back plate, I would like to thank David Chugg of the Laser Hive (recommended to me by the forum) for providing a beautiful looking rear plate, the fan mesh doesn't sit quite right and i now need to cut back the rear fan guard to still fit it but nonetheless it looks great and will ultimately culminate in what i hope to be a fantastic looking build! his front IO panel has also beaten my expectations, it looks great and even comes with USB-C and HDMI on the front! Fitting it was reasonably clear, only requiring some simple cutting and filing. I do intend to re use the PCIE lane marker and will include pictures of it later on in the build.
The SATA hotswap plugs were removed and replaced with some lovely connectors originally designed for the corsair 540. Once again i have to thank the tonymacx86 forum for providing the info on their existence, saved me a lot of trouble! i didn't use the original screws however as i found the black insert made it difficult to angle properly. A couple of M3 10mm screws did the job very nicely. and a couple of test fits and tidying have hidden the connectors away and keep it looking very clean with much of the cables hidden away in the drive bay.
despite the tidy power cables, I will need extensions for the 24pin and CPU, i ended up getting a whole set which should, like most of the other parts, arrive this week.
Stay tuned for more and thanks again!
To begin with, i purchased a full working mac pro 3,1 after gutting it, i decided to retain the logic board and frame it as another side gift for him. I sheared more than a few screws in the process but I am pretty sure I did learn my lesson.
after gutting it, i set to work on the power supply, I decided to retain the original power supply frame. looking back, it likely cost me far more pain making it work that it was worth, but the results do speak for themselves. To anyone looking to do something similar, i strongly recommend looking at an SFX/SFX-L PSU instead of a full ATX as i found I had to move the power plug up on both the PSU and f. While it looks fine, the cable does not sit snug or securely. this was however the cleanest an inexperienced student could do with a metal workshop and an angle grinder. The result was nonetheless impressive, a full modular 850W psu in the original frame!
In regard to the IO panel and back plate, I would like to thank David Chugg of the Laser Hive (recommended to me by the forum) for providing a beautiful looking rear plate, the fan mesh doesn't sit quite right and i now need to cut back the rear fan guard to still fit it but nonetheless it looks great and will ultimately culminate in what i hope to be a fantastic looking build! his front IO panel has also beaten my expectations, it looks great and even comes with USB-C and HDMI on the front! Fitting it was reasonably clear, only requiring some simple cutting and filing. I do intend to re use the PCIE lane marker and will include pictures of it later on in the build.
The SATA hotswap plugs were removed and replaced with some lovely connectors originally designed for the corsair 540. Once again i have to thank the tonymacx86 forum for providing the info on their existence, saved me a lot of trouble! i didn't use the original screws however as i found the black insert made it difficult to angle properly. A couple of M3 10mm screws did the job very nicely. and a couple of test fits and tidying have hidden the connectors away and keep it looking very clean with much of the cables hidden away in the drive bay.
despite the tidy power cables, I will need extensions for the 24pin and CPU, i ended up getting a whole set which should, like most of the other parts, arrive this week.
Stay tuned for more and thanks again!