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G5 'No Rear Cut'.

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Joined
Jun 13, 2017
Messages
3,209
Motherboard
Gigabyte A520i AC
CPU
Ryzen 7 4700G
Graphics
Radeon Vega 8
Mac
  1. MacBook Air
  2. Mac Pro
Classic Mac
  1. eMac
  2. iMac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Budget G5 'No Rear Cut' — BluEye — Gaming
Dell 7010 — i7 3770 — RX 560





Components

Dell Optiplex 7010 motherboard LGA 1155 P#: 773VG, KRC95, YXT71, GY6Y8, KV62T, W2F8G, 0773VG, 0KRC95, 0YXT71, 0GY6Y8, 0KV62T or 0W2F8G. eBay

Intel Core i7-3770 ‘Ivy Bridge’ Base 3.4GHz, Turbo 3.9GHz. HD4000. eBay

Dell OptiPlex 7010 CPU Cooling Fan & Heatsink P/N. eBay

MSI Radeon RX 560 AERO ITX 4G OC 128 bit GDDR5. eBayNeweggAmazon

2 Noctua NF-B9 redux 1600 92mm case fan 3 pin. Newegg

1 Dell Optiplex 7010/9010 MT power button cable. eBay

2 Coboc Model SC-SATA3-18-LL-BK 18" SATA III 6Gb/s Data Cable w/Latch,Black. Newegg

1 SilverStone Black Sleeved 1-to-2 Sleeved PWM Fan Splitter Cable. Newegg

1 USB 3.0 Back Panel Expansion Bracket to 20-Pin Header Cable (2-Port). eBay

2 Computer Fan Connector Adapter Extension cables 5 pin to 4 pin. eBay

Dell Optiplex 3010, 7010, 9010, 990, 390 Desktop 250W Power Supply. eBay

HP EX920 M.2 256GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe 3D TLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive. NeweggAmazonEbay

GIGABYTE Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 ATX Video Card. eBayNewegg

CX Series™ CX750M — 750 Watt 80 PLUS® Bronze Certified Modular ATX PSU. Newegg


Already Owned

Fenvi FV-T919 Wireless Dual Band AC1750 PCIe Wifi Adapter. Newegg

2 Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD. Newegg

Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800). Newegg



Comments

Hi tonymacx86 Community. This is my first Hackintosh build!. I was given two Apple PowerMac G5s and used the dual 2GHz model, shown below. Keeping within a budget of $300, I Followed trs96 excellent [Guide] Install High Sierra or Mojave on the Dell Optiplex 7010 / 9010 Desktop PC - Revision II as my tutorial. I already owned the two Samsung EVO SSDs and network card from my first Hackintosh, a HP 6300pro MT. My goal was to see if I can build a Hack on a budget without cutting the case, especially the rear!. There are a lot of G5 tutorials out there that have cut the beautiful case, I wanted to show that it's possible without cutting. Don't cut the case!.

One of the reasons I picked this board was the PCIe x16 (Wire x4), blue box. After reading Super-cheap NVMe fusion drive using Dell 7010 Q77 motherboard Thread by Petri Chron. I discovered that if you have a SATA drive with Clover installed and a NVMe drive in the PCIe x16 (X4) slot via an adapter. And you then add NvmExpressDxe driver into EFI/Drivers/UEFI folder. You will be able to 'see' the NVMe drive in CBM, and install macOS on it.


Found on MT DT board only.png

DELL™ OPTIPLEX™ 7010 TECHNICAL GUIDEBOOKV.jpg
Installation

There's nothing I can add to trs96 excellent [Guide] Install High Sierra or Mojave on the Dell Optiplex 7010 / 9010 Desktop PC - Revision II. His guide has you completely covered, well written and concise.


Links

Super-cheap NVMe fusion drive using Dell 7010 Q77 motherboard Thread by Petri Chron

[Guide] Install High Sierra or Mojave on the Dell Optiplex 7010 / 9010 Desktop PC - Revision II thread by trs96
PowerMac G5 Case Modding Project - mATX & ATX Conversion - Barebones - Mac Pro Alternative Thread by wise-rice
[Guide] HackrNVMeFamily co-existence with IONVMeFamily using class-code spoof thread by RehabMan
[Guide] G5 Front Panel Thread by eelhead
[Guide] BoomR's twist on the G5 Front Panel Thread by BoomR



Benchmark

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Conclusion

Is this budget build good for gaming?. My avg play time over a week is about 10 -14 hrs, so I'm not an E-sporter or anything!. Last year I played Destiny 2 on a PS4, it ran at 30 FPS!. It's not a pleasant experience going from Destiny 2 on PC to a console. I was so used to 60 FPS, Medium settings admittedly!, it just looked so much better on this build.
Did I cut the beautiful case at the back?. No!. But in order to install the middle shelf, original fan guard and bottom shelf, I had to cut, it's not noticeable!.




 

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[UPDATE] Not recommended! My first hardware test. But everything worked, I could load Mojave and use it like a real Mac. At this stage of the build, I had a Radeon RX 580 installed, a KingSpec NE-128GB NVMe SSD and some over complicated cpu fan.


Hardware build is working properly. After successfully installing Mojave onto the NVMe drive. I then installed the RX580 and the 750W power supply to run it all. I didn’t have to make any alterations to the software or Mojave, everything worked OOB. No more waiting for NVIDIA drivers again.


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[UPDATE]

So I came across a problem, which didn't surprise me!. After removing the standoffs from the G5 case, really easy to do with a pair of pliers. I gripped them from above and slowly tilted to the side one way, then back the other. I didn't need a hammer after all!. I used the original fixings from the salvaged G5 to attach the standoffs to the spare Dell 7010 mobo. I slotted the RX580 into position and put it in the case so that the graphics card ports were all accessible and in the right place.

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An assortment of standoffs and screws from the original G5 case.


I didn't notice at first, some standoffs are slightly taller than others. there are six at 20mm and eight at 18mm.

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I'm no electrician or a master of the fine arts of building a hackintosh. But this to me didn't seem right, having the motherboard sitting against the top shelf, I'm not sure if thats a good idea to be honest. And it meant there would no access to the IO ports at the back unless I cut the back IO on the back of the G5 case. And I decided long ago after seeing other G5 Hackintosh builds across the web, that I'm not cutting this case.

Fortunately I already purchased a x16 riser card in case of such developments. I would lose the PCIe x1 slot and gain PCIe x16 slot. The riser card connects via USB 3 to PCIe x1 slot, it also has a six pin 12v power adapter for my Corsair CX750M fully modular power supply. This will give me a lot more freedom on deciding how to mount the Dell 7010 mobo, so that I have access to all the IO ports.

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[UPDATE]
The motherboard mounted easily and I was able to add the Graphics Card without any difficulty. But the clear plastic side panel wouldn't close properly, because the power cable for the card comes out the side. I definitely damaged something by forcing it closed.

 

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[Update]

I'm procrastinating a little but now I'm ready for mounting. I have steel reinforced epoxy resin mixed and ready to apply. Using my spare Dell 7010 motherboard I attached the 8 x 18 mm standoffs which I pulled from this case. and bolted them to the board using the G5 Long bolts, not tight though!, I didn't want to remove the bolts and find the standoffs are also falling off. I also added the PCI Ethernet card for easy alignment with the PCI slots.

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Here's what it looks like from the back. I had enough standoffs for all the motherboard mounting points.

IMG_0752.jpg


I then applied Epoxy Resin to the bottom of the standoffs and placed the board inside the case and left it for 10 minutes to let the Epoxy Resin go hard.

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After 10 minutes I unscrewed the bolts attached to the motherboard and removed it. And here are the 8x18mm standoffs all in the right position. now I just have to wait for the curing process to complete. It will be ready for mounting this afternoon.
 
[Success]
Dell 7010 motherboard mounted to G5 case. That was painless!. I waited four hours for the curing to happen, then started assembling the hardware. Graphics card and Ethernet card slotted in perfectly. There’s enough of a gap up top and about 3/4 inch from the back of the case to the board. I’m able to plug in Ethernet easily, but until I receive the right angled USB cable I have to plug the 4 port USB hub into the rear IO through the case. Better than before but still not perfect.
I’m sure I can somehow fabricate the four port hub and a pci slot cover to fit in that top PCI slot. I lost the Blue LED that sat on the fan but I can replace that later. Right now I can put back the rear fan guard cover and the original rear fan mount. Which I can attach another fan to.

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[Update]
Installed the two right angled USB 3 extension cables into the ports. One cable will go up to the USB 3 Hub which will sit inside the top PCI slot. The other cable goes down and comes out the power slot.

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The fan guard slots into place over the connections so you only see the cables coming out and not what there connected too.

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From the rear you can barely see the blue USB 3 connectors. All done with no cutting.

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[Update]

So I made a decision to remove the 128 GB NVMe drive from the build, and I replaced it with the Fenvi FV-T919 card in the PCIe X4 slot on the motherboard. All works great so far, just plug it in and connect to network. Simple. I also made this change after receiving some advice about keeping it simple. I can use the NVMe drive in the PCIe x16 slot in my other build, HP6300proMT. I will continue with the fusion drive project on that.
I also managed to push the USB3 cable through the Ethernet slot on the back. Less cables and still no cutting.



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Inside, I tidied up the cables and fitted the rear fan guard in place, I'll purchase one 92x92x25 fan to fit in the top slot in the rear guard. Two SSD, both Samsung 250 GB. Top has Mojave and bottom Windows10pro. I also fitted 16 GB (2x8) G Skill Ram, which I borrowed from my other build. I'm still thinking about a cable for the front IO, I know they can be custom made. But it's a project I want to do myself and maybe learn something.

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