Yet another of countless G5 builds :P

[randallphoto]

Been slowly working on this the last few weeks. I'd already been running Lion since the day Ivy Bridge was release, and though it was time to build a proper case.

Specs:
3770k
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H
Diamond Radeon HD 6870
16Gb 1600Mhz Ram
Crucial C300 128Gb SSD
Antec GreenWatts 650 PSU

So I was able to score a nearly perfect non-working G5 on craigslist for $50 and started tearing it down..

I decided to go the motherboard tray route, so I gutted the case and cut the back panel with the trusty dremel

I left most of the same height standoffs in place for extra support under the tray, and then relocated 2 standoffs per corner and jb-welded them down. Also mounted the back panel up which sort of sandwiches the back and the tray to the aluminum mesh.

Then cut the top tray and mounted it up with the DVD-rom and motherboard.

I then went to work fitting the Antec PSU internals into the G5 PSU housing. It fit pretty well, but there is a control daughterboard that I had to push a little further than I would have liked, but it seems fine. I was able to screw/tape the PSU internals down. I also wired up the 2x 40mm fans to the PSU fan connector. I'll prolly reuse the 120mm fan that was originally there on the front of the case. Still have to monitor temps and such, might have to add a couple more little fans in the PSU casing. I also lined the top, bottom and sides with thin plastic and lots of electrical tape.

Aaand this where I finished it up for the night, and my dining room table lol. I did fire it up and I'm typing on it now, working perfectly (no smoke lol) I'm waiting on a second G5 drive caddy and am going to bolt 2 together and mount them in the empty space to the front. Room for 4 3.5" drives there and going to make something for mounting 2 SSD's on the top tray. I also need to pick up a couple large fans for the front and small fans for the back, maybe an aftermarket CPU cooler as well. Also ordered the front panel cable online that goes to the motherboard headers for the power button and such, just using the motherboards power button for now And damn, that monitor is as big as the G5 case haha Pare all that with a perfectly 100% everything working 10.7.4 install and that makes me pretty happy!

 

[theandy94]

Very Nice One.
Looks clean and well made.

 

[rehpotsirhc]

...Room for 4 3.5" drives there and going to make something for mounting 2 SSD's on the top tray...

I've used Thermaltake dual 2.5 to 3.5 drive adapters in a couple of builds, they slide right in to any stock 3.5" mount. http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Drives-Converter-AC0014-Black/dp/B003WOL4VK

You could also use some aluminum right angle from a hardware store to fab something up to mount directly to the upper shelf of the case.

 

[randallphoto]

Ok, some more updates.

Ended up changing to a Thermaltake 650W modular PSU for better cable management

I'm 95% complete now. Just need to mount the SSD's at the top and cut a sheet of aluminum to hide the wiring on the bottom.

I built the drive cage using 2 G5 drive cages bolted together and I then attached 2x 120mm fans to the front using metal strapping. I also attached all of the SATA cable and ran them neatly.

I then took more metal strapping and used washers/nuts with motherboard standoffs and jb-welded that strapping to the case to provide a large surface to support the weight, and using motherboard standoffs (ATX style), I can then use normal screws to attach the cage and fans to the jb-welded straps.

Scored both the case and the straps to ensure a good hold

And then this is the mostly finished internals. Like I said, just need to cut some aluminum for a bottom panel and mount the SSD's up top Otherwise I think I did a decent job of hiding 7 SATA cables and power leads in the case

and a finally buttoned up/closed shot of it on my messy desk.