PowerHack G5 for a noob - layout questions

[superpantoufle]

Hi there!

This is my first post, after some years of lurking from time to time and contemplating the idea of building my own G5 Hackintosh. I've had a dead 2004 dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 sitting around for some years, and I finally emptied its case. I ordered the LaserHive's mATX 120 kit. I plan on buying parts along he lines of the CustoMac mATX recommended configuration, with a Z370 motherboard, either an i5 or i7 CPU, and either a 1060 or 1070 GPU.
I plan on reusing the original SuperDrive and 1-2 3.5" hard drives in the original drive bay. I may buy a M.2 SSD, and/or a couple SATA SSDs. The PSU will sit on the bottom of the case, and the main cooling system will most certainly be a Corsair H60, with the radiator and fan on he rear of the case.

I'm still in the early planning stage, and for now I have a couple of questions regarding the airflow and the components placements:

• How many (if any) more fans are required? If I manage to reuse the front fan assembly of the G5 with new fans, would it be sufficient?
• I don't want to cut the bottom of the case, so I plan on having the PSU sit on the bottom, with its fan facing up. What kind of issues should I be aware of regarding the airflow?
• I've read that a SFX size PSU will mostly fit in height where the original G5 PSU was, under the "floor plate" with minimal cutting. Does somebody have experience with this?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

[Charlee78]

Hi, if you would like to fit the power supply on the bottom part, you could fit a new power supply guts in the old enclosure it is possible. I did it with a modular corsair 750W but I was o focused on doing it I completely forgot to take pictures of it. You can search here and you'll find some people who did it. And I also wired two original size fans directly on the new power supply board, which controls them when needed.

My build included 2 fans for the power supply enclosure ( 50 or 60 mm I don't remember), 2 92mm fans in the rear apple bracket, one in the original speaker bracket and another one between the superdrive and the hard drives.

 

[Charlee78]

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/power-supply-for-stock-g5-housing.243628/

Have a look here o get an idea.

 

[ThinkClever]

Hi! This build sounds pretty much exactly like my build, so I do have quite a lot of experience with this. (Also have a thread here on the site if you want to see it)

Basically, the original fan assembly should be enough since I only have one rear fan for the bottom airflow zone and a front small fan for the middle airflow zone. I am assuming you also have a fan on your CPU cooler too. I use a GTX 1060 and a core i5 7600K with no issues at all and very good temps.

As for the power supply, I removed the original supply to fit an SFX supply under the bottom plate. I made a hole in the plate because I (just as you) didn't want to cut into the case itself. It fits perfectly there but the bottom plate sits a couple of millimeters higher than before, which is barely noticeable. You can of course take the components of a PSU and fit into the old one if you want, but I suggest keeping the new PSU intact to keep any sort of warranty in case something happens to it.

Would love to hear what you come up with!

 

[superpantoufle]

Thanks for your replies!

Hi, if you would like to fit the power supply on the bottom part, you could fit a new power supply guts in the old enclosure it is possible. I did it with a modular corsair 750W but I was o focused on doing it I completely forgot to take pictures of it.

I know it has been done multiple times, and I had seen that thread. It would be cool, but I'm not confident enough in my electronic skills to do it... I'd be much more confident in having stock components!

Hi! This build sounds pretty much exactly like my build, so I do have quite a lot of experience with this.

I've read your thread multiple times! It was at the top of the list one day this spring while I was searching for info and I instantly bookmarked it.

Basically, the original fan assembly should be enough since I only have one rear fan for the bottom airflow zone and a front small fan for the middle airflow zone. I am assuming you also have a fan on your CPU cooler too.

That's the tricky part. I'll certainly be using a Corsair H60 watercooling system. If I correctly understand what I can read online, it has one big 120mm fan attached to its radiator, supposed to act as an air intake on the rear panel. I find this to be counterintuitive. I was thinking of using two small fans in the original front fan assembly as intake, and the 120mm fan of the H60 as an exhaust, but I'm not yet sure it would work.

As for the power supply, I removed the original supply to fit an SFX supply under the bottom plate. I made a hole in the plate because I (just as you) didn't want to cut into the case itself. It fits perfectly there but the bottom plate sits a couple of millimeters higher than before, which is barely noticeable.

So yours is a SFX form factor? That's interesting! I think I'll take some clues from your thread and go with a similar setup! Thanks again!

 

[ThinkClever]

That's the tricky part. I'll certainly be using a Corsair H60 watercooling system. If I correctly understand what I can read online, it has one big 120mm fan attached to its radiator, supposed to act as an air intake on the rear panel. I find this to be counterintuitive. I was thinking of using two small fans in the original front fan assembly as intake, and the 120mm fan of the H60 as an exhaust, but I'm not yet sure it would work.


So yours is a SFX form factor? That's interesting! I think I'll take some clues from your thread and go with a similar setup! Thanks again!

Hmm, so you will be using water cooling, that's nice! It was my first intention too, but I asked around quite a lot and then draw the conclusion that an air cooled system is: Cheaper than water cooling, quieter if you go on the cheaper side (the water pumps are often a lot louder than just a fan), and they are absolutely enough, even for some overclocking. If you are looking into overclocking with something like an i7 CPU, I'd suggest you to use a water cooler, but if you buy anything lower spec than that, like an i5 (which I did), air cooling will be absolutely enough, even for some overclocking.

Looking up the corsair H60 (any version, they basically work the same), I definitely agree with you that the setup seems counter intuitive. But since the processor is usually what makes most heat in a system (excluding the GPU because it has it's own cooling assembly), it works best if the radiator get the fresh air and another fan at the back blows everything left behind out. This however makes only a small difference in actual CPU temps and is really only necessary for really hot processors or overclocking.
As I said, I'd recommend an air cooler for you. If you have any counter arguments, or questions, I'd love to answer those!

The SFX form factor is basically perfect for this case. If I remember correctly, it's only 4 millimeters higher than the stock PSU so it fits in nicely if you raise the bottom plate. I have some pictures in my thread of a 3D printed plug holder if you are interested, and I can send you those files if you need them.

If you have any questions on my build, please make sure to ask!

 

[superpantoufle]

an air cooled system is: Cheaper than water cooling, quieter if you go on the cheaper side (the water pumps are often a lot louder than just a fan), and they are absolutely enough, even for some overclocking. If you are looking into overclocking with something like an i7 CPU, I'd suggest you to use a water cooler, but if you buy anything lower spec than that, like an i5 (which I did), air cooling will be absolutely enough, even for some overclocking.

That was really interesting. I mentioned the Corsair H60 because it's what's recommended on the CustoMac buyer's guide page, but I hadn't done a lot of research. You may have convinced me to go with something simpler. I'm thinking about using:

• one (or two?) 92mm intake fan in the original intake fan assembly;
• one 80mm intake fan in the original middle shelf fan/speaker assembly;
• one 120mm exhaust fan in the back;
• an air CPU cooler.

If my budget allows it, I may as well go with an i7 8700K and a GeForce GTX 1080. Do you guys have some experience with that kind of setup/layout?

 

[ThinkClever]

one (or two?) 92mm intake fan in the original intake fan assembly;

• one 80mm intake fan in the original middle shelf fan/speaker assembly;
• one 120mm exhaust fan in the back;
• an air CPU cooler.

If my budget allows it, I may as well go with an i7 8700K and a GeForce GTX 1080. Do you guys have some experience with that kind of setup/layout?

• If your G5 was a dual processor, then I'd go with two front Noctua Redux fans in the original assembly to keep the aesthetics lol. It's worth noting that it's definitely not necessary and will only make more noise and cost more money.
• 80mm fan is good to feed fresh air to the graphics card.
• Choose a good air cooler for your i7, you may want to overclock, and should not block that opportunity. Look in the reviews section of different websites is the simplest and best way to know how it will work with your processor. (As far as I know, the 8th gen CPUs run hotter than the 7th gen.)
• What motherboard are you planning on using? My MSi works fine, but I would not recommend it since it was a pain to make MacOS stable using it, and I still haven't fixed all the USB ports on it. Also, sound is really hard to get working on it. I haven't tried one, but would suggest a Gigabyte board if it fits you, since those seems to do very well for hackintoshes.

I think this all sounds great! You got a plan and it sounds doable. Please post your build progress here on the site when you begin since it would be a lot of fun to follow you on your journey to your Hackintosh!

 

[superpantoufle]

• If your G5 was a dual processor, then I'd go with two front Noctua Redux fans in the original assembly to keep the aesthetics lol. It's worth noting that it's definitely not necessary and will only make more noise and cost more money.

It was a magnificent dual 2.0 GHz! I don't like the aesthetics of the Noctua stuff, though I read very good reviews. I think I'll go with BeQuiet! gear, all black.

• Choose a good air cooler for your i7, you may want to overclock, and should not block that opportunity. Look in the reviews section of different websites is the simplest and best way to know how it will work with your processor. (As far as I know, the 8th gen CPUs run hotter than the 7th gen.)

I saw the BeQuiet Dark Rock Advanced C1 which has good reviews and that I find very elegant, especially matching with a black mobo and the grey aluminium. Seems powerful enough!

• What motherboard are you planning on using?

I think it'll be a Gigabyte Z370M D3H. Not that expensive Z370 mATX mobo that I see in the CustoMac recommended parts.

Please post your build progress here on the site when you begin since it would be a lot of fun to follow you on your journey to your Hackintosh!

I confess I ordered the LaserHive mATX 120 kit a couple of days ago and it shipped today.
I'll probably ask some more layout questions in this thread, and I'll do the mandatory build thread! Thanks a lot for your insights!