- Joined
- Nov 29, 2011
- Messages
- 22
- Motherboard
- Power Hack G4
- CPU
- 4.0 GHz i7-4790K
- Graphics
- Geforce GTX 770 2GB
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Project: Quicksilver Power Hack G4 (i7 4790K / Z97)
The first time I wanted to mod a G4 was after seeing tviolation's Quicksilver project. Lack of space and money meant I had to wait a little. The project has taken about a year, it did however ramp up quickly in the last few months once I had the funds to buy the main components, which of course changed a lot during the project, originally I was planning on a sandy bridge as I didn't envision the project taking so long.
For the most part the project is complete, all internals have been finished apart from some PCI blanking covers which I need to pickup. I'm still debating if I should water cool or not, the case has been modded with water cooling in mind. I even bought an EK radiator to accurately mock up the fitment, for now it's just two exhaust fans on the bottom of the case.
I've not bothered to refinish the plastics, I've not even removed the sticky residue left from the electrical test stickers built up over the years. All that will probably change when I'm finally bored of playing with it though.
Most of what I have done was directly stolen from everyone else's G4 mod's on this site, I highly doubt I would have ended up with what I have if you guys weren't the guinea pigs. I would like to thank a few people though but please forgive me if I've missed you off. So in no real order: tviolation, Minihack, Mörkö, toledo, tonymacx86, jaymonkey, neilhart, I'll stop there but the list could go on. A big credit to this site as I've never been a contributor, I've never needed too as I've always found everything I've needed just from searching, my hat off to tonymacx86 for brining it all together.
So lets get on with the project
Main Components
Apple Quicksilver Computer Case
Intel i7 4790K Haswell Processor
Asus Maximus VII Gene Motherboard
Asus nVidia GTX 770 2GB Video Card
Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) 2133 Memory
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD x 2
Western Digital Red 3TB Hard Drive x 2
Corsair CX650M Power Supply
Azurewzve AW-CE123H 802.11ac WiFi-BT Combo mini PCIe
Other Components
Corsair SP120 PWM Quite Edition Static Pressure 120mm Fan x 2
Corsair AF120 Quite Edition Case High Airflow 120mm Fan
Akasa 120mm Fan Grills x 3
BitFenix Dual USB 3.0 Front Panel
Akasa ProSlim SATA Cable 15cm (Black) x 2
Akasa Round SATA Cable 100cm (Black) x 2
Cables4PC 24pin ATX Braided Cable Extension 70cm (Black)
Cables4PC 8pin EPS Braided Cable Extension 110cm (Black)
Cables4PC 8pin PCIE Braided Cable Extension 90cm (Black)
Cables4PC 6pin PCIE Braided Cable Extension 90cm (Black)
BitFenix Molex to SATA Braided Cable Extension 45cm (Black) x 2
Miscellaneous Hardware: I/O/Fan Connectors & Pins, Rivets, Standoffs, Screws etc
I'm sure you all know how these systems look stripped down so I won't bore you with those photos. Before I had any hardware I started modding the motherboard tray and I/O panel, I had an old ATX board from work to help with mocking things up.
After some JB Weld to fill in the holes everywhere, some hydrochloric acid to completely remove all galvanising and finally some body filler to finish things off.
My very small working space, the kitchen floor. On a good day the park down the road.
Drilled a few 114mm holes for the power supply and case intake fans.
Drilled a few more 114mm holes for the bottom exhaust fans (and radiator, currently not fitted)
Started some preliminary cable management, I hate cables so hiding everything was probably higher on the priority list than sufficient cooling.
Re-mounted a dual hard drive caddy to the top the tower and fitted a USB 3.0 front panel
Completed motherboard tray and I/O panel with all required holes pre drilled and primed ready for final painting.
First real mockup with the very good looking Asus Maximus VII Gene. I ended up not going with the original door opening mechanism and so removed the plastic motherboard tray support. I did the reverse latch thing instead and think it turned out much cleaner.
Motherboard and I/O panel painted with majority of hardware fitted for motherboard and SSD mounting as well as more of that cable management stuff.
The Cables4PC made to order custom length braided cables for some nice aesthetics which all plugged nicely into the motherboard and Asus nVidia GTX 770 2GB Graphics Card.
Graphics card just missed the shortened power supply shelf.
With the plastics back on.
Memory in.
Processor in, also I custom made all the I/O cabling. A whole lot 22 AWG gauge black wire (about 25 meters!) for the front panel buttons, LEDS and power for the 3 fans (radiator is also now removed).
Up and running.
Final photos of the completed project, with the side plastics off showing the cable management.
Rear photo showing the I/O, I'm not happy with the cutout I've done for the audio connectors, it's a little rough so I'll be cleaning this up at some point.
Final touch is a PCIe Wifi 802.11ac & Bluetooth 4.0 combo card
About My Mac. I've not looked into any over clocking just yet, everything still running stock.