Oh the blasphemy, Ignore it for now...

Ive been thinking for a while now about modding an apple G5 case to put my PC in, unfortunately I'll probably never get a hold of one for a non-ridiculous price, so don't worry, but still, I was thinking... From what I have seen of them it looks as if you could fit a mATX mobo in one, as they have 4 pci-bracket-slotty-things, plus the dimensions look about right. However, there are no particuarily good A64 mATX mobos out there that I like, and plus, if I did use one, I'd have to cut a hole in the back of the case to fit the ATX template and all the pluggies on the back of the mobo in. So I thought, there IS enough space to stick a full size ATX mobo IN the case, just as long as I dont try to interface with the PCI slots at the back. If I just plopped the Mobo in the middle of the case I could just wire extensions to all of the plugs that are already on the case, ie. Firewire, usb, ethernet, sound, etc, that way I wouldn't ruin the outside apperance of the case at all, which would be cool. Seeing as I dont use any of the ATX backplate plugs on my computer, other than the ethernet at all, I could just extend all of the plugs to the outside of the case by hand fairly easily. Except one (or two). The VGA plug and the DVI plug. I'd need to make a wired extension to one of the external PCI brackets to plug my monitor into, but I've no idea how that would be done... I assume both the DVI and VGA need to be shielded, and I dont imagine that anybody makes 3 inch DVI or VGA extensions... If anybody understands my poor wording and has an idea how these two plugs could be extended a few inches, for curiosity's sake, it would be nice to know.

think i saw somewhere online someone actually did mod a G5 to put a pc in it lol ...really pissed the mac crowd ..the rest of us thought it was pretty cool and humorious lol . I say go for it and show off your work here when u finish i cant wait.

Yeah...
I'd really love to do this mod, if for nothing else than to piss off those mac people - The only pitfall is actually getting a G5 case... If anybody here has a friend with a dead G5 (I KNOW that none of you would have one )who wants to get rid of it, tell me as I'd be interested in buying it!

Just imagine bringing this to a LAN party....

You'd see some as everybody said "omgwtf!"
And then as it booted windows...

I would check Ebay for those G5 cases, someone is bound to have one for sale.

http://www.speakeasy.org/~gbeier/worst.casemod.ever/

absolutely funny read

It would be awesome
I love the Mac cases but I hate the Mac OS. I love unix and I still hate OS X.
People should mod the cases and sell them on ebay I'd buy one

i love the mac cases but theres only 1 cdromdrive

That sucks
You could always hook up a external cdrom (or dvd burner )

I'd personally stick a DVD-RW in the one slot that it has - becuase I have only used the two drives I have now in tandem about twice in the last year... I've also been snooping around on Ebay lately looking for G5 cases, and behold, there were 4, - However not ONE would ship to Canada - now THAT'S prejudice if I ever saw it... Anybody here have a freind with a G5? Go up to it when he's not looking and pour coffee in it, two cream, two sugar. - Then suggest that he sell me the case...

I might buy a case this summer and try to do it I'm broke right now though

This would be a fun project to try to complete

I just found a case on Ebay, now all I have to do is beg the seller to ship to canada, and
count my pennies... Canadian pennies.... Oh they're worthless....
On a side note, I was thinking that UV lights would look really neat inside with their cool
purple glow, I saw a picture of that but be damnned if I can find it now. I'm still debating
whether this mod is worth the money I'll have to put in to it...
On a side, side note, If I did this, I'd make a separate barebones install of windows with
no bootscreen or anyting that would launch pearpc in fullscreen on startup, then boot OSX..
- just for the funk value, as my athlon 64 runs pearpc as good as some lousy imacs do.

do try and make it look awesome..better than the one that got alot of publicity

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW
Both to the cases on the site are listed by the same guy. Have you contacted him to see if he would ship to Canada Rakshasa?


haha... I was thinking the same thing last night. PearPC would be simple to do that with to since it just starts up via a batch file. Just throw the batch file into the startup folder. A G5 running OS X and Windows XP

What kind of price are you looking at Rakshasa? To mod the whole system shouldn't cost that much money should it? It's basically just cutting new ports into the back of the machine and mounting the motherboard in isn't it?

actually its probably jus gonna need a bigger retangle cut for the I/O Shield...and since the mobo comes with it it should pop right in when u expand that

If I get the one you are reffering to, incidentally the one I was already looking at, it would cost me 100$ + 40$ shipping which is all in USD - so thats like CND 200$... So a fair bit of money... And also, seeing as I use a grand total of 0 ports on the ATX backplate thingy, I think I might try just extending the usb, firewire, and sound connectors to the back of the case - that way I can preserve the Exact G5-y-ness of it... The only problem is the VGA / DVI plugs - Though perhaps I can figure something out for that aswell...

w00t! 80$ USD to ship to canada + 100$ to buy the case = 180 x 1.21 = 217.80$
I'm going to have to think about this - God damn, I wish that that money tree I bought off of ebay last year would have grown...

IF anyone gets this done, please email me with tips
I'll try modding one when I get some money in the summer

thats kind of expensive rakshasa. You might want to look at local computer fairs and see if you can't find on cheaper.

Computer Fairs?
Ha! This is Canada, we don't have those here...
I only just saw a G5 Case at school in our media room - my friend took the ram out to check the brand, and when he put it back in the G5 wouldn't even beep. I prayed and prayed that it was dead so I could take the case home... But it fixed it self... God damn thing...

Also, based on the shape of the case and the location of the PCI slots, you'd have to use a micro ATX mobo in that case, If you wanted to use a full size one you'd have to either extend all the plugs like I want to do, or you would have to cut the entire back off and replace it with the back from an ATX case.

As far as the price goes, 220$ is a bit too much, I'd like something more along the lines of 100 - 150$ - But I'd have to find something local, which is kinda hard becuase afaik apple service places are FORBIDDEN to sell individual parts - And a dead G5 is not a common sight 'round here.

no computer fairs! that sucks
I work as a computer and we throw out old parts all the time. If we do come across a G5, I'll give it to you for just the price of the shipping.

I'm looking to put a Asus K8V delux board and something simple like a Amd 64bit 3000 or 3400. I'm not going to be able to put much money in it, so I'm keeping it simple I want to run the cables (usb, firewire, etc) all through the standard case ports also Keeps things cleaner looking.

oubipaws:
Cool, thats exactly what I want to do, use all the original holes instead of cutting a big, ugly holes all over the place. I already have K8N-E DX with an athlon 64 3200+ that I have in my desktop, which I would like to use for the mod, don't know if you can fit 4 hdd's in a mac case though . I hope someone throws out a load of dead G5's so that EVERYBODY can have one!

dead G5's for everyone!!! yay!!!

i think i might do something like this when i get a job this summer, sounds like fun, i love modding things

if anyone ever does find out where to get empty cases, lemme know

@rakshasa:
The G5 is gorgeous as it is I just want Windows on it I need to draw out some designs later for this.
As for the cases, we do turn ins on nonfunctioning equipment everything wednesday and friday. I will check tomorrow and I will keep checking to see if we get any cases out on the dock to be thrown away.

Sweet, if you find one I promise that I'll make a little idol of you that will sit on my monitor.
Also, if you come up with any cool design ideas be sure to tell me! Be cool if we could both find ourselves cases, then we could collaborate on the design...
Hmm, how bout someone writes a mac virus that overclocks the G5 proc by 800%?
Then we'd have lots of cases!



I need an actual avatar... Perhaps I'll have one by next posting...

I'm going to check this afternoon to see if they have any back there and I will let you know
I'm hoping to find two because I would like to be able to chat with someone else while doing it on ideas and problems we each run into (and how to fix them )

I'll draw up some pics tonight and how I'd like to do mine and I'll PM you


I'd design you an avatar but I am still a n00b at photoshop I like your signature though.

I was just looking around to see if anyone was looking for one of these cases. I work as an Apple tech and came across one that is brand new. I look what we pay for the case and about pooped my self. The reason I ended up with it was because the customers unit had a busted SATA cable and the lever that holds the drives in were broke off. This happened @ the factory because the outside of the case was fine. We can not order the SATA cables or the arms that hold the drive in because they come in a whole outers case assm. The dealer/Apple warranty center cost of the case is 310.00 + 6.00 shipping. So if you’re looking for cases anything less then that price is not a bad deal. The apple part # is 922-6783 I attached a pict of what apple sends you. But when you order that part it also ships with the side door that comes off and the clear plastic that is behind the door. I hope this info helps someone as for my case I am thinking on taking one of my dual xeon puters guts and making that fit or sell it for now it’s just going to sit in my basement.

DeadWards

Welcome to flexbeta, deadwards.

Thanks for your info on this topic but do be careful, if ya bumb a topic that is 6mo. old or older with nothing new to add, we'll close it and be mean to you


agian, welcome!

Now that my old topic has been ressurected, I may as well say that I have for the most part completed a G5 mod for my PC! I got the case from california (Ebay $182 CND Shipped). One thing I can say is that the build quality of the G5 case is phenominal - compared to my old thermaltake which cost ~$200 CND - Well, the G5 case is built like a spaceship. I got the original power button / audio / USB front panel stuff working, though I never hooked up the firewire because I have nothing to test it with! There's still a lot of messy bits, but most of them can be fixed by buying new cables - ie. longer rounded ata cables, audio extensions, etc. Which I will get around to sometime! I had fun taking it to a LAN party though.

Pictures:
http://members.shaw.ca/ali.nassaje/G5pics/
Excuse the wiring =D - I will make it better when I have the creative inspiration - and the necessary cables!

@ Deadwards
Welcome to flexbeta! But yeah, you gotta love the pricing on the G5 chassis, but I can see why it costs so much... PC cases are like toys in comparison.

*Edit* That's 4 HD's in there, FYI, the case did not want 4 HD's. Not at all.
Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2.42
X800Xt + Big HSF.
DVD burner.
etc, etc.

you could always do this http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=99083

Problem is, any real Mac'er could tell you that your that your "Mac" was counterfeit if you modified the box in any way... With my mod, you need to pop the side off, or closely examine the plug configuration on the back in order to see that something is amiss (Or you could listen to how much more noise it makes =P). I think I've got the perfect effect of the evil PC "alien" hiding in the good Apple's chest. =D

For added fun, just boot the intel build of OSX .
Now THAT will confuse a few people.

not trying to resurrect the thread again (oops), but it was already at the top of this forum and what i've got to say is directly related!

anyway... today I got myself a Q-Tec G5 Midi Tower for a nice price of $40 Canadian (decent price for a brand new case up here). basically what i want to do is mod the side panel. i'm thinking of either making a custom shaped window with translucent blue acrlyic, or measuring & drilling lots of small evenly placed holes to match the front of the case, and the lighting will shine through either way, i want to have it modified if i get on it, i can post pics of my progress

Post them, we will like to see.

here's the case, fully stock manufacturer media shot

http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/64/qtecg59af.jpg

I'd say go for the window idea. A nice deep red glow resonating inside would make a really nice touch.

If you do do a light mod, for god's sake, don't make it the default "modded PC blue" colour. It bothers me how 90% of pc "mods" involve the blue lights. Even my mouse came with a blue light on it. If I were you I'd go with quantumrand's idea for a deep red glow, I think that would look pretty cool in a perforated case such as your faux G5 box. Most red led's and cold cathode lights give you a bright red that sometimes borders on pink, which is bad - So if I were to do a lighting mod, I would buy a red cold cathode and a whole bunch of that red coloured cellophane stuff, and wrap it around the cold cathode tube until I got the red to a nice dark hue. I think that would give your pc a really badass look!

As far as the window goes, I'd go with an actual side window... You could even frost an apple logo in the center of the window, if you had the right stuff! Nothing is quite as cool as an apple logo on a pc where it obviously doesn't belong! (IMO)

I almost did a simmilar lighting mod on my real G5 box, but I decided to go for authenticity instead....

I have to agree with the red cathode statement. They are far too light of a red to be worth it. One simple approach you could try would be red LED fans. Just anywhere you want a fan, make sure it has red LED's (and make sure they're a dark red).

Something more extravegent would be directional LED's. It would take a lot more time to set up since you'd have to actually wire and position each LED how you want it, but you could get some nice effects out of it.

Even more extravegant would be multicolored directional LED's. I'm thinking red and yellow. You could set them up on a voltage regulator to have them slowly fade in and out alturnatively for a kind of hypnotic effect, or you could have them blink a little faster to look like flames in the case.

Cut out a transparent plane with some UV sensitive stuff (red colour for a totally black case rocks) inside. It will blow your mind.

With that nice big power button it would look really nice to find a way to either light around it or carve out the power symbol and have that lighted as well.

actually that rather large power button reminded me of my Xbox 360 at first lmao.
unfortunately, all i have is blue when it comes to lighting. i like the blue, but i agree its been overdone and i need a change. i'm thinking either red or orange. that would be a bit costly though. i've got 2 blue case fans, blue LED's in my CPU and GPU heatsinks, and a blue LED PCI fan card (sold my blue cold cathode ) and i'd have to replace them all so i guess blue it is, for now. as far as the side panel mod goes, i still haven't decided what to do yet. to be honest, i've never really done any type of serious modding, so this is something i want to be really careful with and hopefully the results are good i just got another idea too. i could cut the hole for a window, but instead of putting on acrylic, i could use a screen. i have lots of extra window screen sittin around (like, almost a whole roll!).

I just started the same project as I managed to get hold on a G5 case for free. I called a local Apple service shop, and got a used case from them. They were to recycle it anyway, and actually saved the cost of recycling by letting me pick it up, win/win for everyone. I have to admit, it's no way in perfect condition, it has a lot of scratches, but it came with both the harddrive fans and the front panel.

I have a question to Rakshasa, you mentioned you had the power button and the usb port in the front panel up and running. You haven't by any chance documented this? I havent got the tools to check which wires goes where, and Im a bit worried about just plugging the wires randomly into my MB in a risky trial-and-error process.

Also, has anyone worked out how the 4 pin PowerMac fans connect to a standard 3 pin connector?

Awesome! You found one for free!

I'm not sure how to hook up the fans unfortunately, I tried and managed to make one expire with a puff of smoke. As for the front panel, I spent an hour with a multimeter to figure out the pinout - and THEN discovered that the pinout was available in the apple G5 service manual.
You can find said service manual by doing a google search for: "powermac_g5.pdf"
or you can go here: http://www.whoopis.com/computer_repair/Pow...bea55023382064e
In the service manual go to the Troubleshooting -> General Information -> Pinouts for all your pinout needs!

Hope this helps!

Great stuff, thanks a bunch

As for the fans, I found a 3 pin to 4 pin converter for fans at a local electronics store, and I'll give it a try with one of those to see if I can figure out what tickles it.

I'm almost positive that the fans are something really odd, like bipolar or something... But try everything you can, and if you get results make sure to post them back here!

i'm working on a G5 mod as well ... did you get the fans working?

No not yet. Im still waiting for that 4 pin converter to arrive (for some reason the order is 2 weeks delayed and its the only place that got those in this country).

I did get the ATX modo (Asus K8N) in place using Gorilla glue and the original raisers from the case, and I got the power button and LED working, but thats about it so far.

Also, the radial fan for the harddrives (the one in the back) was too large for my optical drive, so I removed that one, and replaced the 80mm standard fan with a noiseless one from embPapst.

Please enlighten? I coudn't figure out how to use both the LED and the power button without powering up the entire board with 25V...

I would do a little dance if I got the LED working.

using the pinout of the front panel in the G5 service manual to identify the pins, I connected it as follows:

Pin 14 to Pwr led +
Pin 13 to Pwr button +
Pin 2 to Pwr button gnd

Got my G5 case for free at the Apple Repair shop where I work... Hehe.

Also, what you said about this pissing off the mac crowd, it doesn't. its awesome.