Porkstacker’s G3 hackintosh

[leopoldporkstacker]

I have many spare Powermacs lying around– G3s, G4s, etc., so I decided to try my hand at stuffing PC guts into one of the cases. I’d originally planned on using an AGP G4, but then realised the process would be much easier with a G3 Yosemite case. I just happened to have one, but it is not just any G3 Yosemite case… Apple DVI unit (prerelease model I was given while working for Apple a number of years ago), so I was torn as to whether or not to cannibalize it. Too late!

Power tools to the rescue:

Lining things up before committing:

Testing fitment with case closed:

Testing cooling under full GPU load:

Starting to come together:

MY EYES!!!

Wiring up the front panel:

Rear of computer:

Windoze’ perpetual hard drive activity monitored via red LED:

This was a fitment exercise. Notice how I am unable to get the case to close all the way, initially it was one of the SDRAM modules interfering with the optical drive, but now with the one module removed it seems as though the taller-than-necessary electrolytic capacitors aren’t clearing the optical drive. The overall evil plan is to pop my hackintosh guts into it (GA-Z87MX-D3H, Core i5, Radeon HD 5870, RAM, Wifi card, etc.), and there shouldn’t be—according to my estimates—any clearance issues with the case closing all the way.

 

[jeffball610]

My only fitment issues was the RAM around the optical drive area. I used some Corsair LP RAM and trimmed the tray down. I'm not running an optical drive, so I don't have any issues with the drive itself, just the tray area. I am looking at running either a bigger CPU cooler or some water cooling and some fitment issues may come up with that.

Other things to consider are the wire routing and PSU capacity. If you feel you have too many B&W cases, I'd be happy to take one off your hands. I'm considering another build with a fresh carcass.

 

[grg3]

Great job! A new lease on life!

 

[duncanroller]

Nice work, Leopold! Could you go into detail on how you mounted the, what appears to be an ATX board, to the case? Also, did you have any clearance issue with the screws holding the plastic down? I've hit some roadblocks on my mod and could use some advice/suggestions/guidance. Thanks!

 

[leopoldporkstacker]

I needed to put some recesses in the plastic case closing flexible thingy. I ended up ganking that setup in favor of a Digital Audio G4 case with a Gigabyte Z87MX-D3H for more PCI slot options. Was a hell of a lot of work, yet the project is still in progress. Might be a while before I have a chance to finish it.