[WIP] G5 ?ATX Mod

[Badaboum03]

Hello and welcome.

I'm Badaboum03 from tonymacx86 and I am a long time reader. I love Apple, computer and hacking. I'm currently 17 and I'm planning to do engineering next year so this is why I'm really into it.
I have been using Hackintosh since 2008 and I couldn't stop using it 'til there
The Macs are the most beautiful-looking computers ever, I have a Macbook but I don't like buying an already built computer. This is why I wanted to build my own Mac in a Mac case.


On sunday, I was on a Belgian second-hand website and I saw an offer that I had to take.
A guy was selling his G5 with broken power supply for 75€ but he agreed to trade it for a broken laptop. The lucky guy who I am had a laptop ,that I found at the trash,in my garage, a Compaq N800c. The seller was very enthusiastic to get my laptop so yesterday I went to do the exchange.
Then tadaaaaaaa, I got my free G5 Of course it wasn't in a perfect condition but anyway, I got it for so cheap that I can pass over it.

This is the beginning of my long adventure, so keep waiting for it

02/08 :

First day of prepairing the beast. Today I got an afternoon off so I decided to take appart it.
I had to clean it first, was very difficult but I made it.
It was also a pain to remove all the components and I didn't finish yet but I made lot of progress.
I want to sell the useless part to me, like the processors and the RAM which are still working great.

 

[Badaboum03]

02/08

The G5 :

Front view :

Scratches :

Back view :

Inside :

Cleaning :

Almost empty :

The motherboard :

The parts :

Almooooooost empty :

 

[pahoran]

wow thats a hell of a deal! G5 for a broken laptop!? awesome!
I paid $140 with shipping USD for mine , 8/10 condition, some working parts including psu.

Looking forward to your mod, and 17 huh? I remember when I first laids eyes on the epic G5 case, I think I was 15? it was back in 8th-9th grade, and since then always loved that case. Im 22 btw haha.

Good Luck bro!

 

[Badaboum03]

Yeah such a great opportunity
Anyway, now I think about my G5 all the time and I got some progress.
I cleaned the case and decided to cut the back plate :

As you can see, mobo fits not perfectly at all

Then I got inspired by this guide : http://build-its.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-fit-your-pc-in-power-mac-g5-case.html
So I decided to try to make one cardboard tray, just to see how it will fit.

You can see the final cardboard tray :

The original fans grill fits :

I also took out the front board :

Then I started asking myself about the PSU.
First, I thought that I'll cut the original G5 PSU and the cover of the PSU to fit it with my modular OCZ PSU but I finally decided just to stick the PSU with some heavy duty velcro at the bottom.
(You can see the measurements that I made with an old PSU : )

I also used two old IDE HDD to full in the G5 HDD Tray :

I still have to do :
- Buy an aluminium sheet
- Make the backplate
- Cut the G5 case and fit the backplate
- Buy epoxy and glue the motherboard's standoffs
- Buy velcro and stick the PSU at the bottom
- Buy a 2.5 IDE connector to rewire the front board
- Buy a micro-switch to relocate the eject button
- Make a PSU Socket
- Order and install fans
- Finally transfer my Sandy Bridge system in this case

As you can see, still lot of work to do, my holiday's over so I will not make a lot of progress soon, so sad :?

Anyway, if anyone got any tips, just feel free to comments,

Thanks a lot

 

[Badaboum03]

I got some progress.
I found an old case with a semi-removable tray and I decided to make my own backplate from it.
I removed the PCI bracket from the case and drew a draft.

The tray

I mounted the tray on the original G5 standoffs, there were already holes in the tray

The motherboard installed

The draft backplate

The plate where the DVD player is attached was too long, I made the mesurements

The HDD rack has to be attached under the DVD

I also ordered an 2,5 to 3,5 inch adaptor to make the front panel working, 36 dremel cutting disks because I ran off them.

I have to go to the shop to buy some metal sheet, what is the best choice? Aluminium? With mesh ?

And about the DVD plate, what is the best tool to use to cut it?

Thanks and hope you'll like the result !

 

[DavGerm4]

Looking good! I'm in the process of my own G5 mod right now. I'll probably be putting the HDD's in the same position that you have yours. That, or in the top if the Motherboard doesn't take up that much room.

Great job!

 

[dddirtman]

nice one....