Vanquisher's G5 Casemod Build

[Vanquisher]

Hey guys,

First post here and just want to say I learned a ton from this forum while getting ready to undertake this project. So much knowledge here made it a lot easier.

Started off with a G5 that I got from a co-worker that was just going to toss it to the curb. Said i'd give it a home and I got it for free. Win.

Specs for the build:

• Intel Core i7 4790K
• MSI Z97 PC Mate
• 16GB DDR3 GSKILL Sniper Ram XMP Ready
• EVGA 80 Plus Bronze Cert 750W PSU
• Sapphire Tri-X Radeon R9 290
• Corsair H100i Liquid Cooler
• 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
• 1TB WD Green Drive (For Storage)
• Corsair AF120 White LED Fans (Intake Fans) / Coolmaster 80mm (Exhaust Fans)

Basically day 1 followed some tutorials here and on the net and disassembled most of it and took all the motherboard standoffs out.



I opted for the mountain mods tray it seemed like a nice kit and a good starting point so I ordered that up and went from there. Few pics I mocked up the rear panel on the back and started taking measurements. I honestly didn't care for the latch since the side panel pretty much locks into place without it. So I decided not to cut the mountain mods tray to accommodate.





Now to get the mountain mods tray in and test fit the mobo. Once I had the mobo in I used JB Kwik Weld on the two motherboard standoffs I reused from the g5 case. Two on the top and bottom of the left side of the mountain mods tray.

Also at the same time thanks to an awesome article on here about the G5 front panel pinout for the connector I rounded up some old wires and cut and soldered the connections together and then shrink wrapped them all. Turned out well and everything but FW on the front works.





Once the JB Weld was cured about 4hrs per the instructions I assembled the rest of it. I attached the h100i using one of the already drilled holes for the PSU on the bottom of the case. I attached the one side using L brackets from Lowes with rubber washers to cut down on case vibrations. I had to drill one hole there for the other L bracket but no biggie. Even though there isn't anything attached to the top of the cooler its in there solid as rock. For the front 120s I used Scotch indoor adhesive strips. They hold up to 4lbs and honestly they worked awesome without me having to fab a bracket or drill into the front mesh.








The build is still a work in progress, I want to cut the top tray and put the front section back in to the left of the mountain mods tray. I'll use that to put the drive caddy back up there. Beyond that maybe some cable management here and there but overall very very happy with the build. Will keep this updated as I go.

 

[Vanquisher]

Just an update. Been working on this here and there. Been having some heat issues now that I've added in a second R9 290x. Also the fans on the h100i when spinning up to about 1500rpm would get really noisy and create this awful drone in the case.

Swapped everything out for Noctua's. 140mm Industrial Fans in the front. Noisy but holy hell do they move air when they get going. 120s on the rad, I'm getting about the same performance as the stock h100i fans at about 20% less fan speed.

I'm thinking of trying to eliminate the CD Tray part and try and squeeze 3 fans on the front of the case. I think having a dedicated fan blowing air over the GPUs will help the cooling. Just increasing to a 140 and getting the fan above the rad (which is blocking airflow) seems to help. At least 15c cooler on the GPU after about an hour of gaming.

I wish the tubes on the rad were longer and I could mount to the front of the case.

 

[voidfahrenheit]

hi vanquisher you can check my updates on how i did the 3fans in the front using some aluminum L shape.
it's just a temporary solution as i will be going LCS maybe end of this year. and we both have a Noctua iPPC fans that's great i have the 120mm 2000rpm only. i suggest don't attach the fans on the perforated part as i can see on your photo(or it's the angle only).

you can check with Laser Hive (http://www.thelaserhive.com/) as the bracket I purchased from him can be used for a h100i. i just used an h80i at the back so that hot air won't circulate inside the case.

but once i go LCS it doesn't matter anymore as my friend said that LCS Rads are better performer than AiO Cooler Rads.

 

[Vanquisher]

hi vanquisher you can check my updates on how i did the 3fans in the front using some aluminum L shape.
it's just a temporary solution as i will be going LCS maybe end of this year. and we both have a Noctua iPPC fans that's great i have the 120mm 2000rpm only. i suggest don't attach the fans on the perforated part as i can see on your photo(or it's the angle only).

you can check with Laser Hive (http://www.thelaserhive.com/) as the bracket I purchased from him can be used for a h100i. i just used an h80i at the back so that hot air won't circulate inside the case.

but once i go LCS it doesn't matter anymore as my friend said that LCS Rads are better performer than AiO Cooler Rads.

Man thanks for the tip on laserhive! their front rad bracket is what i'm looking for honestly. Probably what I can do then is setup fans on the bracket, attach to the front of the rad, and then have the fans at the back do pull through.

I really want to kill the CD Tray area. Also looking at those 120mm pressed mesh fan covers as I'm considering doing 120mm exhaust fans on the top of the case. Should cool the GPUs.

Yeah poor planning, I should have went with an 120 kit at the back and similar setup. Now i'm kinda stuck. I was also thinking of simply reversing the airflow from back to front so that hot air is always being exhaust from the case rather than the rad blowing warm air in and banking on the twin 80s to exhaust it.

 

[Vanquisher]

hi vanquisher you can check my updates on how i did the 3fans in the front using some aluminum L shape.
it's just a temporary solution as i will be going LCS maybe end of this year. and we both have a Noctua iPPC fans that's great i have the 120mm 2000rpm only. i suggest don't attach the fans on the perforated part as i can see on your photo(or it's the angle only).

you can check with Laser Hive (http://www.thelaserhive.com/) as the bracket I purchased from him can be used for a h100i. i just used an h80i at the back so that hot air won't circulate inside the case.

but once i go LCS it doesn't matter anymore as my friend said that LCS Rads are better performer than AiO Cooler Rads.

Well I finally got around to installing the laserhive fan bracket today. Thanks to voidfahrenheit for the suggestion and link. . A definitely high quality piece.

What i'll say about it, I really don't think it was intended for installing a radiator. There is no good way to mount the rad after you insert the bracket. Once the rad is on you cannot get to the nuts on the bottom of the case to fasten the bracket. A real pain. Since I don't have the tray in mine I had to fab a bracket to hold it in on the top. After some struggling and swearing I was able to reach and get access to two of the screws underneath the rad and attached them. Also used some L brackets from the hardware store and screwed them into the two holes near the front where the PSU screws used to go. Gives some support at the bottom of the rad. All in all its in their solid and really cleaned up the look of the case.

I stepped it up to a h110i GT 280mm rad. Since i have the room I'll be adding another set of noctua's for a push/pull config.

 

[Vanquisher]

Few updates on the rig. Ended up swapping out the mobo to an ASUS Z97-AR. Got a great deal on a clearence close out and gets met SLI support over the previous board. On that SLI note I switched it up to Dual ASUS STRIX ROG GTX 1080s. What a beast now.

Next upgrade will definitely be Kaby Lake most likely. Or maybe I'll go Skylake if I can snag one at a good price once Kaby Lake drops.