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What would you do differently (have two G5 cases to mod)

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So I just got two G5 cases from a local e-waste recycler for an almost embarassing $10 each. Need to clean them up, but condition looks pretty good. I got two because at $10, how could I leave one sitting there? But I also got a spare because it seems almost inevitable that I'll screw something up, and this way I have a source of spare parts, or a complete second chance if I need to start over.

Have read a bunch of your logs and summaries, and I think I'm going with the Laserhive 120 low kit, with a fanless PSU at the bottom front, and some to-be-determined placement of fans and hard drives.

That said, if you had to do it all over again, and had a spare case to do it on, what would you change about how you approached your mod?
 
If I have 2 G5 Case, I will still go for full atx back panel so that you can still use it in the future if you want to upgrade. You should also consider the components that you'll be using.

I was using an old lga775 mATX motherboard before I started my mod. during my modding I saw an Asus R3E for less than 100USD with the i7 960 which I purchased immediately and it's an eATX. luckily I purchased the full atx from Laser Hive since that was my plan...to use a full atx for future upgrades.

Then I encountered a problem inside the case, I can't use stiligFox's plate without cutting it to fit with the eATX motherboard. so I ordered a new wiring cover plate just a revised of stiligFox's plate to fit with the board.

For the second Case, I will do it seamless style at the back to look really original although no one will see the back of the case always. :D and If ever I might make a Desk G5 Case, like this one I saw in the net.

g5-table-2-640x480.jpg

Honestly, If budget permits, I will go custom loop for the second case with window side to show the beauty of the components inside.

Sorry for the long reply man... :D Good luck on modding. btw, I still have the original PSU casing with an ATX PSU inside that I modified also. heheh!
 
I keep wavering on mATX vs ATX. mATX lets me more easily keep the original upper shelf, PCI slots, power plug, etc. But ATX does offer more room for expandability.
 
...

That said, if you had to do it all over again, and had a spare case to do it on, what would you change about how you approached your mod?

At one point in time I had collected 5 relatively sound G5 PMs (all non-working) sitting in my garage.

From those machines I constructed the following:

The Short Stack: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g5/93348-neilharts-g5-short-stack-powermac-g5-mod.html

The System on Slides: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g5/129400-neilharts-slow-roll-g5-power-mac-system-slides.html

The Tower of Power: http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g5/104010-neilharts-tower-power-top-short-file-server.html

The Doodle: http://www.tonymacx86.com/others/139389-neilharts-scratch-build-5-doodle-concepts.html

The MicroATX Box: http://www.tonymacx86.com/others/13...ild-4-microatx-into-small-box.html#post844308

The LOL: http://www.tonymacx86.com/others/130664-neilharts-lol-mini-g5-pm-no-just-fun.html

And before starting any of the above projects, I had already done my original G5 Power Mac and the Mac Pro projects.

Enough to cause disorientation…

Good luck with your two cases… and keep us informed of your progress and fun.

neil
 
H lazarus,
I have nowhere near the experience neilhart has. His mods are refined pieces of modding art.

I am just a happy amateur who missed his old g5 case.
I also started with two g5 cases, although, I did not get them for the bargain price you did. Good work!

I completed one mod Full atx, and would fit e-ATX (just) by using a bitfenix case and riveting it.
I used the top shelf for psu and dvd drive(though this is now usb2/3 5.25" plate instead) and used and modded the bitfenix drive mounting system to fit. Its on the forums here.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g5/154451-2004-g5-atx-conversion-using-bitfenix-neos-case.html

It works great. But it was a lot of work to get the result i wanted.

I ordered the low matx 120 kit from laserhive for mod number 2. Which I have only just started by stripping the second case.
I am also buying new parts for this one. For my previous build it had to be atx because that what i had.

Plenty of mATX boards for 1150 platform if you are considering going the for 2011 or 2011 v3 socket platform for haswell E or xeons then you will be very limited on mATX. Might change down the line.


I think mATX all the way. If I had to do it again and did not have an existing atx board i would do both mATX 120mm low version kits from laser hive.
To avoid cutting or messing too much with the original shelf and to make it a nice clean mod quickly.

My plan for my second build using the 120 mATX low version is to put the psu on the base at the front and make a baffle to control its airflow so it roughly goes out where the original hot air from the g5 psu would. Thats broadly what i am planning for my second g5 mod. It want to make it easy to swap out the psu too.

Also buy an i7 cpu, if you are in any way interested in gaming or VR.
I have an occulus dk2. and gaming with it needs some serious cpu power as well as fasted gpu you can afford to avoid motion sickness caused by fps drop. I am running my old i7 920 overclocked to 3.8ghhz and an nvidia 770 gtx in my first g5 mod. Using clover for yosemite. It's a fast machine for its age.


Enjoy the process! I think it might be addictive though.
 
My only regret is using an mATX mobo - which while it works nicely and allows the build to look very neat and tidy, it really limits the amount to PCIe slots that I have. I want to SLI my GPUs, but with only four slots, and having to have my wifi/bluetooth in the one slot, it means I can only have one GPU :l Other than that I love my build, it's perfect for everything I do.

That and liquid cooling. I would love to have used a cooling solution, but the backplate that I chose for my build was the dual 92mm fan one - there is no AOC dual 92mm cooler :l
 
If you still thinking of putting a PSU at the base of a g5, I stumbled onto some really exciting SFF psu from silverstone's SFX series.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=524&area=en

They have a 500w version with 120mm fan a 600w version with 80mm fan. They also have a 700w version with 120mm "in the works" according to toms hardware.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/silverstone-sfx-l-sx700-lpt,29179.html


They are tiny little powerhouses!
I think they will work well in the existing g5 psu space.

They are only 63.5mm high. The original g5 PSU is about 60mm. With some hopefully very minor modification to a stripped out g5 psu case that is going to fit nicely i think. Certainly easier than trying to fit a full atx psu.


Not sure if i will take the plunge now on a 500w version a 600w with a smaller fan. or wait for a 700w beast.
The sx500 lg looks good though.
 

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I have all my proposed parts in another thread

http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/164618-semi-silent-i7-build-g5-case.html

right now I was planning on using the Seasonic fanless PSU and putting it in the main case, not in an enclosed shell where the G5 PSU was.

If I wanted to keep that in the original PSU bay it does look like it would fit well, and then ventilation holes could be cut, but I want as few fans as possible.
 
Thanks i did check out your build. Looks good. Fanless "sounds great", but, the heat will follow any airflow and you don't really want hot air "pulled" near your cpu or gpu by their mighty fans. Might be totally ok in a g5 case though as they are giant heat-sinks anyway.
 
I was planning on the psu at the bottom front, airflow from front to back. There are plenty of really quiet psu with fans, so I'm not 100% married to that idea. It does get really good reviews though.

Anyone know if it's possible to buff out scratches on these things? Not really adept at working with aluminum. They have some more than I realized now that I've cleaned them up some.
 
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