open source G5

[rehpotsirhc]

Sounds like a good idea, but do you mean you would be able to take the motherboard and tray out at the same time to manage the cables behind it?

Instead of putting the cables behind, what about engineering some channels around the top and bottom of the case. That way nothing would need to be taken out to get the cables. I'm thinking of doing that in my G5 case as I don't want to have to remove anything to get to the cables.

If you look at his design the back wall piece is split into 2 already, I'm assuming to physically get it into the case. I'm proposing splitting the front half into 2 parts at the upper shelf with the bottom half being removable with the motherboard and PSU secured in the case.

 

[sebgreen]

If you look at his design the back wall piece is split into 2 already, I'm assuming to physically get it into the case. I'm proposing splitting the front half into 2 parts at the upper shelf with the bottom half being removable with the motherboard and PSU secured in the case.

Not sure I follow. I don't see how that would give him clearance behind the board to get his hand in and do any cable management?

 

[pieter1991]

Thanks a lot for the input.

...Cable management needs to be addressed.

Cable management is added to the list.
Can't miss the cables when you look at the picture but it still missed at the list.

..I/O Panel..

An modular I/O Panel is really the easiest way to go, maybe also the best as well. We will find out.
The goal where I started with is only using a single type of screw and motherboard spacers. Next to that only custom laser cut pieces.
Not sure if it will work out, everything has t be really precise and the laser is a limitation in what I can build. But it's a nice puzzle, I hope it will work out.

Thanks for the very detailed view on the inset yes or no. There are more pros and cons than I thought.
Do you maybe know cases whiteout the inset, so having the mounting shields of the pci parallel with the back panel?

 

[minihack]

I like the idea of this, but I would mention some misgivings I have personally about using 3mm acrylic sheet.

3mm acrylic is great in terms of how it will laser cut - minimal thermal issues in terms of heat build up in the material and the ability to make complex cuts relatively quickly and easily. However, my experience is that while, in use, I find 3mm acrylic is great for cosmetic panels that encounter no stress (or very little) it is too flimsy for use where there are also structural issues involved. As a minimum I would not feel comfortable with specifying any thickness under 5mm of acrylic where potential stresses or weight bearing requirements are to be expected.

Just my 2 cents and I do wish you luck with this project.

 

[rehpotsirhc]

Not sure I follow. I don't see how that would give him clearance behind the board to get his hand in and do any cable management?

This is how the piece is right now, it's in 2 parts:



This is how it would be in 3 parts, the bottom left part would have taller standoffs and be 100% removable with the system fully assembled so that cables could be managed behind it. This piece could be made from black or dark smoked acrylic or even have a piece of metal as a backer to hide the wiring from site:

 

[rehpotsirhc]

Thanks for the very detailed view on the inset yes or no. There are more pros and cons than I thought.
Do you maybe know cases whiteout the inset, so having the mounting shields of the pci parallel with the back panel?

HP makes a lot of their PCs with a flush I/O, they also use a clamping system with a single screw to secure the PC brackets.

Edit: here is some documentation from HP that shows how the PCI bracket works:
http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/si...x.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken

 

[pieter1991]

3mm acrylic ... it is too flimsy for use where there are also structural issues involved.

You are right, so far I noticed only when I was mounting the PSU. It's quite heavy, luckily it doesn't cover a big surface and there isn't much material left on the sides before mounting it.
But it bended my acrylic a bit indeed. I want to believe that for every problem is a solution

HP makes a lot of their PCs with a flush I/O, they also use a clamping system with a single screw to secure the PC brackets.

Edit: here is some documentation from HP that shows how the PCI bracket works:
http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/si...x.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken

I've seen some cases like this, very detailed description!
My idea is similar to this one, try to make some time tomorrow to make the technical drawings for it.
Keep you posted.

This is how the piece is right now, it's in 2 parts:

This is how it would be in 3 parts, the bottom left part would have taller standoffs and be 100% removable with the system fully assembled so that cables could be managed behind it. This piece could be made from black or dark smoked acrylic or even have a piece of metal as a backer to hide the wiring from site:

Gave it some thoughts, when you want to use taller standoffs there is is nothing to mount it. There aren't any standoffs actually because I mount the whole panel to the back with the screws on the edges.

What is possible is to add another panel on top of the bottom left panel with some space between them. There I can hide all the cables and it will still be removable.

That pannel can also be used as the back panel for a hdd hot swap bay where need to be cables behind it as well. But then it wouldn't be removable anymore..

An other idea could be to add a panel that covers the entire bottom of the case and use that to build bays for the hdd's. Than your idea still works only it's a lot of space that isn't used.
Maybe start a project like Neilhart, that solves the not used space neilhart's G5 Short Stack - PowerMac G5 Mod

What do you think?

 

[neilhart]

Just a quick thought. I have been moving away from 3.5 Inch hard drives because they are space hogs and noisy. My White One (Prodigy) uses four 2.5 inch hard drives in a RAID 0 and my current project has this 5 unit drive bay of 2.5 inch drives... less heat, less space, less power required.

This works for me because I have a file server on my home network that holds copies of everything. This means that my workstations don't need huge amounts of storage.

What this means (in my book) is that you can set up a modesty panel to hide the bulk of the cables and still have plenty of space for down-sized drive bay(s).

Good modding,
neil

 

[rehpotsirhc]

Just a quick thought. I have been moving away from 3.5 Inch hard drives because they are space hogs and noisy. My White One (Prodigy) uses four 2.5 inch hard drives in a RAID 0 and my current project has this 5 unit drive bay of 2.5 inch drives... less heat, less space, less power required.

Nice! I'm a huge fan of inline SATA power connectors. You could make the drives even quieter with a set of isolation mounts such as these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015HOKFI/

 

[sebgreen]

This is how the piece is right now, it's in 2 parts:



This is how it would be in 3 parts, the bottom left part would have taller standoffs and be 100% removable with the system fully assembled so that cables could be managed behind it. This piece could be made from black or dark smoked acrylic or even have a piece of metal as a backer to hide the wiring from site:

That makes sense now, but it would only really be useful for managing cables at that side of the board. Plus, having that section removable means everything in front of it has to be left empty, or removed when you want to remove the panel.