MIRRORED: MDD G4 Conversion

[FranktheDinosaur]

Hey all! Long time lurker. I recently managed to snag a MDD G4 that I am planning on transplanting my old build into. I am planning on mimicking minihack's wonderful MBD G4 mod at least for the back panel.

My vision for this mod:

• Original Exterior (no paint)
• Completely overhauled interior - Front mounted PSU, mATX support, multiple drives, bottom air intakes

I guess we'll see how far this goes, going to be a ton of work before I ship off for school.
Any suggestions or help is appreciated (and need!), so what do y'all think?

My current build:

i5 2500K
GA-Z68MA-D2H
16GB 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance RAM
EVGA GTX 650 2GB SC
Corsair TX-650M
128GB Crucial M4
1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM

The Victim:

 

[Sbrillo]

hi.. i'm interesting... g4 MDD mod is a more tricky than the others because you have the slot of PCI cards up and the connectors of the motherboard down.. this will be a problem for using standard enclosure...
i've an g4 graphite and my only problems is fit the noctua cooler and psu (no modular)...

for the back panel.. you can also search an early G4 model and use the door panel on your G4..

good mod

 

[FranktheDinosaur]

hi.. i'm interesting... g4 MDD mod is a more tricky than the others because you have the slot of PCI cards up and the connectors of the motherboard down.. this will be a problem for using standard enclosure...
i've an g4 graphite and my only problems is fit the noctua cooler and psu (no modular)...

Tell me about it! I'm planning on removing the I/O portion of the back panel and making a new plate. My only problem is that I either have to canabalize a PCI bracket/IO panel from an old case or find a way to make one. I have access to tools (mills, brakes drill press etc) but no CNC stuff so that might make life a little trickier.

 

[Sbrillo]

Tell me about it! I'm planning on removing the I/O portion of the back panel and making a new plate. My only problem is that I either have to canabalize a PCI bracket/IO panel from an old case or find a way to make one. I have access to tools (mills, brakes drill press etc) but no CNC stuff so that might make life a little trickier.

search an old g4 (graphite or quicksilver model) with a functional enclosure and apply this to your G4.. it's the "easy way" and more elegant.. a non-functional g4 (or only the case) it's very cheap

found this for reference http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g4/71644-g4-mdd-conversion-matx-3.html

i hope it will help

 

[angydangy]

cut mine from sheet steel using a template taken from another case then fabricated it with perspex and fibre glass resin (no matt). out of necessity. as they were left over materials i had around

given the option i would of purchased one from minihack to save time

 

[FranktheDinosaur]

I've been putting this off for a while. Still unsure how I wanted to mount the motherboard. I like the idea of having the motherboard mounted on the door, but it introduces a lot of problems. I've been fooling around in CAD trying to figure it out.

I've been considering serious cooling since my goal is to get a decent overclock on a i5/i7 since Solidworks/Inventor seem to like single threaded workloads, and then get a decent GPU for Blender rendering.

 

[FranktheDinosaur]

Yeah, I really want to keep with the spirit of the G4. I've switched back to the door idea, but its only big enough for mATX. I've been eyeing a Sabertooth P67 recently though.

Clearance is tight!

 

[FranktheDinosaur]

I don't know if theres enough space behind that wall for the power supply to breathe. I measured and my plan was to have 2x140mm in the bottom and I've mocked up a 120mm rad mount with a duct to draw air from the angled mesh front. Theres not enough room for a decent air cooler on the CPU, so I moved the PSU to the back to make room for the 120mm rad. Its a tight fit!