the_gael's G4 Quicksilver Mod

[the_gael]

Well its summer time again and I am on holiday for next 1-2 months so the obligatory "Project" has to be done

I built a G5 Hack last year so this year its the turn of the G4 Quicksilver. I have owned the Quicksilver since new and it was still working but of course it was never used for anything and well it would have been rude not to Hackintosh it.

Here it is waiting to be given its second chance

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The operation begins and we start stripping the original bits out - to be binned I guess as I can't imagine anyone really wanting them - if anyone does drop me a line - not for sale - free to good home (but do it quick before I have a tidy up). Oh and I am currently in the UK so probably not cost effective if anyone wants anything in a different country!

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As I knew from reading threads on here and Aquamac this is what the Apple PSU looks like when removed from the Quicksilver

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When I saw the PSU out of the G4 removed it suddenly occurred to me it looked familiar, and indeed it was it very closely resembled the PSU out of a DELL my brother had discarded and left with me last year. See what I mean!

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Ok, so you can see where I am going with this.

Now the PSU from the DELL is a 350W unit so I am hoping that this will be sufficient for my needs as the plan for this machine is going to be different to previous projects I have done.
I want to build a G4 Quicksilver Hack that is VERY cost effective. I reckoned that the case had limitations as far as a high end build went with regards how to get sufficient cooling. Yes, I could have gone external with liquid cooling but I want this to look like a Quicksilver (because I love the case design).

With performance discarded I thought about building a machine that would use little power and be very cheap to build. The idea took hold and I am now committed to this path. So later I will ask for feedback/ideas etc..

In the meantime the case has been stripped in readiness for major surgery.

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I am ready to modify the front panel circuit board to work with a PC motherboard - so I hope my soldering skills are up to it. Here is the virgin circuit board before any modification.

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And that is as far as I got today on day 1 of the project. There will probably be a lull in the project as I wait for developments of OSX86 and Ivy Bridge subsequent to the launch of OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion. In the meantime I will modify the circuit board and continue to ponder which board CPU to use - I am thinking about using the Gigabyte B75M-D3H motherboard and the CPU is very much up in the air - thinking about a silent graphics card and a 3rd Gen i3 processor (when available). Alternatively I could go Sandy Bridge and 2nd Gen Pentium or .... open to suggestions

Edited on 2012-07-19 to add
Click here to go to continuation of the build story

 

[doctorevil30564]

Cool beans, I'm in the middle of PowerMac G4 Graphite case conversion myself. Right now I'm in the stripped down to bare metal stage of things, decided to go with a laser cut persplex I/O back plate that I'm currently waiting on that's being shipped over from the UK.

That was a good find on that Power Supply. Per chance does that power supply have a Dell part number on it? I'm not sure if I want to modify my plastic back piece on my case for the current power supply I have, and it looks like this one might work for my case too.

Good luck with your mod, I'll be keeping an eye on your progress and hope it works out the way you want it to.

 

[the_gael]

Cool beans, I'm in the middle of PowerMac G4 Graphite case conversion myself. Right now I'm in the stripped down to bare metal stage of things, decided to go with a laser cut persplex I/O back plate that I'm currently waiting on that's being shipped over from the UK.

That was a good find on that Power Supply. Per chance does that power supply have a Dell part number on it? I'm not sure if I want to modify my plastic back piece on my case for the current power supply I have, and it looks like this one might work for my case too.

Good luck with your mod, I'll be keeping an eye on your progress and hope it works out the way you want it to.

Yes it does!
Dell Model No: L350P-00
P/N: PS6351-1DFS

Might be a little time before I progress this as other more pressing matters are taking over at the moment. Good luck with your mod!

 

[thelostswede]

Guys... Dell quite often use non-standard power supplies, so although it looks like an ATX PSU, it might not be.
I would check what is what on that, as worst case it could fry your motherboard.
See here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX#Issues ... r_supplies
It appears that the one you have is a non-standard unit simply judging by the colours of the cables.

 

[the_gael]

Guys... Dell quite often use non-standard power supplies, so although it looks like an ATX PSU, it might not be.
I would check what is what on that, as worst case it could fry your motherboard.
See here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX#Issues ... r_supplies
It appears that the one you have is a non-standard unit simply judging by the colours of the cables.

thelostswede, tank!

I believe you are right - I have an Antec modular unit which is more or less the right size and the same format with an 8cm fan and button in the required position for my Quicksilver!

 

[thelostswede]

This might work otherwise? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151063
It might look like crap, but that's a high quality PSU.

Alternatively, Antec has a cheaper 350W unit without the fan grill, but it's kind of "cheap" as it doesn't have active PCF and isn't 80Plus rated http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371003

Antec then has a slightly nicer 430W model that has all the right bits on the label at least and it even has a power connector for a PCI Express graphics card, unlike the other two.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023

 

[the_gael]

This might work otherwise? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151063
It might look like crap, but that's a high quality PSU.

Alternatively, Antec has a cheaper 350W unit without the fan grill, but it's kind of "cheap" as it doesn't have active PCF and isn't 80Plus rated http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371003

Antec then has a slightly nicer 430W model that has all the right bits on the label at least and it even has a power connector for a PCI Express graphics card, unlike the other two.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023

Agreed - you can't go wrong with Seasonic!

Thank you for your time and effort

 

[thelostswede]

Wouldn't want you to fry your motherboard, that's such a PITA

 

[eelhead]

All right
I cant wait to see your build process and final outcome! I truly look forward to see all this.
Good Luck!

 

[the_gael]

OK, decision made - I am going Sandy Bridge! I remembered I had decided to make a lo-cost build so am going with a board just picked up from eBay Gigabyte H61M-S2V-B3 and will go for an Intel G540 CPU and most likely a Geforce 210.

Inspiration from "Povomac" thread

These items will keep the cost down and will also keep power requirements relatively low.