my G5 massacre

[lime]

I finally got some time from school and my internship and my wedding to get started and complete my G5 case mod over the past few weeks. I got my case on ebay for about $100 back in march and couldn't wait to get home from school to cut into it. All i wanted to do with this mod was put my Athlon64 machine inside and make it look as plain G5 as possible with the exception of the back of the case. I have done two other mods where i used a lot of plexiglass and mirrored plexiglass so i wanted to stray away from that and just work with aluminum on this case. After this post, if you have any questions just feel free to ask.

Here is when i started to cut out the back of the G5 to accomodate my old motherboard tray from a Kingwin case I modded a while ago.

As i continued my process and deciding where i wanted things to go inside the case i quickly discovered i would need to cut out the whole back and put my motherboard tray at the bottom while leaving room for my power supply at the top. So here's a picture of the back completely cut out...

I know most people here like to see some carnage...this is only minimal and maybe more serious to mac fans everywhere.....the massacre is almost over at this point....

I was stuck for a while on how to build the back of the case in to accomodate the mobo tray i planned to use. My stepdad, who just happens to be a professional window installer, was cruising through the garage at this point and looking over my case. I had some sheets of aluminum i purchased and he said why not just use his brake that he uses to bend and cut aluminum coil while installing windows. I had done this many times the summer before so it was a very easy fix to my problem. So here is the newly constructed back of the case before i cut the hole for the power supply.

This next picture is after I cut the hole in the back for the power supply and i constructed a shelf for the combo drive and power supply. Again for the shelf i used an aluminum sheet and bent it on the brake, attaching it with existing screw holes on the case, after i ripped out the old standoffs of course. the shelf has a 120mm hole for the fan in my power supply as well.

So skipping pictures of a lot of intermediate type things this is the final picture inside. There are lots of wires everywhere which i intend to clean up somewhat. I'm not as worried about it as i was in my kingwin case with a window and mirrored plexi so i'll probably leave it for a while like this.

This is the area at the front on the bottom of the case. I made small mounts for the 120mm coolermaster silent fan and the hard drive, mounting it 3/4" off the floor of the case for air travel all around it.

This is a shot of the top at the front with the combo drive mounted so it pushes through the original apple slot. i had to remove the faceplate to get it to fit. Also mounted here is my floppy drive / memory card reader using small aluminum angle.

Here is the most difficult part of the project in my opinion. It took me a while to come up with an idea to get the power supply all the way to the back because of the curve of the G5 case at the corners. I finally ripped open my power supply to replace it's 120mm fan with the same silent one i used at the front of the case. While inside the power supply i thought the wires connecting the backplate seemed kinda long so i decided to just remove the backplate. I made a small piece of aluminum to help keep the power supply together where the backplate should have been and i just pulled the backplate through my back piece of aluminum on the case and bolted it in. It works amazingly well and i'm satisfied with it.

So here are just a couple outside shots of the finished product. the power switch on the front works thanks to a slick wiring trick i found at this link

I have yet to clean the case fully but it still looks pretty good in normal light, the flash brings out lots of bad things...

So like i said any questions just post and i will answer them shortly....

[Shetland]

awesome. just awesome:)

[Deathray]

Unbelieveable... wow :| lol

[crazzyyfool]

Just a shame its not a true G5 PowerMac. :D Well done on the mod though. Good work. :yes:

[+dave164 Subscriber¹]

Nice job mate (Y)

[Tungsten T]

Nice

[toledo64fx]

I must say that you have made an awsome job out of this poor G5 :ninja:

[Hamster Man]

tidy work, smashing :)

[NeoXY]

that is...wow....pretty cool, but I still won't forgive you for cutting up the G5...:p

[XiXora]

see buy a apple ACD now and see how many people you fool :D

[Chris Allen Veteran]

Nice mod (Y) Very nice work you have there.

[forster]

I think it rocks, but most of the precious Mac users here will probably burn an effigy of a powerbook outside your front door.

[bryonhowley]

Just a shame its not a true G5 PowerMac.?:DD Well done on the mod though. Good work.:yes::

586088766[/snapback]

That is a good thing not bad. He is running something much better than any G5. :DD And great job on the mod.

[xxdesmus]

great mod mate ;)

[joseph-]

that is...wow....pretty cool, but I still won't forgive you for cutting up the G5...:p

586088807[/snapback]

It was just the case.

[Bluetooth]

Well... at least you have taste! The G5 is an excellent case, thats for sure !!!

[Intersect]

1st poster

get your self an ACD from apple run pearPC and OSX and your friends will be fooled.

you could always obtain the developers x86 osx tho lol :)

[NY1]

Does the power button still work? How did you connect it and what did you do about the reset button?

[lime]

thanks for all the comments...

the power switch does work. i used another G5 modder's idea of how to use the apple cable that's attached to the front connections and put my wires into the right pins on that switch for it to work. as far as a reset....i have one put into the back of the computer at the bottom just incase i need a little push button reset.....

i would love to buy an ACD but i just bought this LCD a while ago so i wont for a little while anyways.....and by a little while i mean my new wife of one week probably wont go for a $1200 monitor quite yet......

and i've had my xp pro exactly like a mac for a long time so it will still be easy to trick people back at college....

[Zip]

$100 is cheap for a g5 case, you lucky ******!

[Habitat]

Odd but theres something rather unsettling about this thread..

[Noveed]

Odd but theres something rather unsettling about this thread..

586098925[/snapback]

hmmmkay.... whatever mate

[sdb815]

Neat idea, although it's not something I would do. :p

[Rudy]

poor case :no:

[Neil]

1st poster

get your self an ACD from apple run pearPC and OSX and your friends will be fooled.

you could always obtain the developers x86 osx tho lol :)

586088885[/snapback]

LOl thats a good one, but they will think he has a really crappy processor!