Power Mac G4 Hackintosh + Case Mod

[Perkla]

Power Mac G4 Hackintosh

Specs:

CPU: intel i7 6700K 4Ghz 1151
Motherboard: Asus Z170 - Plus M-ATX 1151
PSU: Corsair PSU VS Series 550W
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 1050ti 4GB (Short model)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB RAM
CPU Cooling: DeepCool Maelstrom 120T CPU Water cooling 1151
Fan: Noctua NF-S12A 120mm Side wall fan
Harddrive: Kingston 240GB SSD as maindrive
Harddrive: WD 2TB (For Time Machine)
Harddrive: WD 4TB (For Storage)
Wireless: TP-Link N900 (TL-WDN4800)
Bluetooth: Suggestions ???
Screen: ASUS MX299Q

So this is my first Hackintosh build, i thought i would go ahead and use a Power Mac G4 case. As this is my first build i will most likely learn alot of stuff and maybe i´ll do some misstakes as well. The build is already in process and some parts has arrived also, the case is almost modded so i think i am in the process of putting back all the plastic soon. I have some question though, about the cooling. I have watercooled CPU and the radiator is on the floor to the left under where the optical drive would have been. Now.. the fan is facing the metal and taking in air in the case trough the radiator that is on the top. Also i have the stock fan in its place where is used to be taking in air. I made some holes in the wall for the PSU to get some extra fresh air for the PSU. As far as i can see, i only have fans taking in air but nothing blowing out air.. so what should i do.. ??

The hardrives will be in its original place so i cant put anything more on the floor.. Some pictures of my build so far

 

[AppleMacIdiot]

Looking good so far, Perkla!

Unfortunately, achieving a good and clean airflow in these cases short of some serious cutting and modding can be notoriously tricky, especially with the newer PSU 120mm fan configurations that suck in air from the side, instead of directly blowing it out the back like the old style 80mm fan PSUs.

From my perspective, your PSU should be taking care of itself just fine. It should be sucking in some cool air through the side and ejecting it out of its own rear vent as intended.

By water cooling your CPU you are effectively and rather efficiently relocating any residual heat generated to the radiator at the bottom and near the front of your case. Away from your CPU and the PSU right next door.

All the rest of the major heat generating components are going to be near the bottom, but toward the rear of the case beneath the PSU shelf.

The position of the PSU shelf and the air coming through the CPU raditor at the front of the case should effectively keep the PSU isolated from these lower components and keep the air coming in from the lower side fan "trapped" near these same components. Which is a good thing, because the fan down there should be more than able to take care of those same components by sucking in fresh cool air through the side and back vents and delivering it to your HDDs mounted at the bottom and to your GPU and other PCI peripherals beneath the PSU shelf. Assuming this is a mid to high range GPU, it should effectively take that newly delivered cool air and blow it through its own cooling system and out the back through its own PCIe vents effectively keeping it cool and happy and removing any residual warm air from that region of the case.

Now the only question is what happens to the air coming through the CPU radiator and into the case? Depending on how effectively your GPU is dealing with the air coming in from the side fan at the bottom at back of the case, one of two things could/should happen...

1) If the GPU is blowing more air out the back faster than the side fan is delivering air to this region, it will create a slightly more negative air pocket beneath the PSU shelf. This will suck the warmer air coming out of the CPU radiator towards the rear of the case and towards those components, leaving the GPU fan to suck it in and vent it. Depending on the amount of heat coming out of the radiator, this could potentially affect the cooling efficiency of the GPU cooler. I doubt by very much though.
2.) If the side fan is delivering more air to the region beneath the PSU shelf than the GPU is using and venting through its rear own PCIe vents, a slightly positive air pocket should form beneath the PSU shelf at the rear, pushing any excess air forward toward the air coming out the water cooled radiator. This leaves only one direction for the air to go. Up.
I see that you have removed the ODD shelf, so assuming you have nothing else installed in that area blocking the air from rising, it'll probably float to the top front part of the case and eventually gravitate to the small gap between the PSU and side wall, where it will be sucked in through the PSU by its 120mm fan and vented out through the back. By that time the air shouldn't be that warm anymore, besides it will be mixing with the cool air sucked in through the holes you made next to the PSU fan, thus having little to no effect on the efficiency of the PSU's natural cooling ability.

Your one option would be to reverse the fan direction on your CPU radiator to blow air down and out the bottom of the case. In this configuration the air inside your case would be mostly coming in through the bottom side fan, cooling the your GPU, which will vent its own hot air, leaving little to no warm air buildup inside that part of the case, so the air flowing over the radiator right next door probably wouldn't be much cooler or warmer than the the air it would otherwise be sucking in from the outside.

Either way, I see no immediate concern regarding heat inside your build thus far. If you're not planning to do too much heavy lifting (gaming, rendering, video encoding, benchmarking, etc) your temps should be low enough and well within range, possibly just a bit higher than those in any other low to mid-range case. If you do plan to push your build hard, then you need to keep an eye on your temps in Hardware Monitor and see where and which components are taking the most strain and find solutions for them as needed.

Anyway, I've prattled on enough. Good luck with your mod and enjoy!

 

[Perkla]

Wow.. this is a super great answer for my question about air flow and cooling, i think i will leave it like it is for now and keep an eye on temperature in the case, if its to much heat in there i will turn around the radiator fan and see if that helps.

No i will have no optical drives or anything up there, so it will be possible for the air to rise and be sucked in by the PSU if possible, that was my thought about it as well.

I will edit my first post and insert the specs of this build... could be interesting for ppl to read about.

 

[Perkla]

I got some new stuff today and i think i will be able to get this computer up and running soon.. how ever... i need a great guide about how to mod the frontpanel PCB so that the power switch and power LED will work, mine is a partnumber: 820-1178-A. Its the model with IC and resistors and **** on there..

Would be very happy for a link to a great guide...

Thanks..

 

[Perkla]

This Hackintosh is up and running now, working great, its a monster Hackintosh, I have a problem though, it seem like my USB 3 ports only working as a USB 2, I have no idea how to fix it.. anyone know ?

 

[Perkla]

Its been 7 months since i built this Hackintosh with the G4 Case Mod.. i solved the onboard USB 3.0 problem by adding a USB 3.0 card with two ports on it and then a USB 3.0 hub.

I have never had any problem with this system since i built it, runs perfect and it can handle any video for editing in iMovie, exporting times are great as well. I have no overheating problems so i think i got the cooling holes just perfect both for the CPU water cooling system and the PSU air intake.

This computer is with my Asus MX299 screen a dream for video editing..

 

[Macachu]

Nice project!
Cooling is our main concern as well but i'm hoping that a lot of airflow will negate the need for water cooling in our hack. Got any photos of it all done and running?

 

[harlleysathler]

Its been 7 months since i built this Hackintosh with the G4 Case Mod.. i solved the onboard USB 3.0 problem by adding a USB 3.0 card with two ports on it and then a USB 3.0 hub.

I have never had any problem with this system since i built it, runs perfect and it can handle any video for editing in iMovie, exporting times are great as well. I have no overheating problems so i think i got the cooling holes just perfect both for the CPU water cooling system and the PSU air intake.

This computer is with my Asus MX299 screen a dream for video editing..

Hi, Perkla!

Nice build! I'm looking forward into build a hack like yours, in a G4 case. Do you mind in post some photos of the internals? Can you give me any advice based on your experience so far?

Did you modded the LED and power switch board?

Thank you very much!

 

[LiveSorcerer]

I got some new stuff today and i think i will be able to get this computer up and running soon.. how ever... i need a great guide about how to mod the frontpanel PCB so that the power switch and power LED will work, mine is a partnumber: 820-1178-A. Its the model with IC and resistors and **** on there..

Would be very happy for a link to a great guide...

Thanks..

Hi @Perkla, do have a pinout for this PCB partnumber: 820-1178-A? mine is the same.

 

[joeyslaptop]

Hi @Perkla, do have a pinout for this PCB partnumber: 820-1178-A? mine is the same.

Same here. I'd love to be able to use the original front buttons.

Looking at the board, it appears that there are four components:
1. The LED (I assume + & -)
2. The LED? (info?)
3. The Power button (again, I assume + & -)
4. The Sleep button? (again, I assume + & -)
5. The Reset button? (again, I assume + & -)

There are 10 wires.
(FRONT)

(BACK - shown in reverse)

Has anyone tried this?