Thanks aaron.

This EXACTLY what I'm thinking of doing. PSU at the bottom, Compartments to seperate the internals into thermal zones. Wish he'd take more detailed shots of the rear of the mobo though. I'm not sure how he overcame the lack of PCI slots in the G5 case. Since he did not cut the rear, how did he do it? It's remarkable how he's utilized the rear USB/network slots in the G5 as well. Some nifty rewiring there... Well an example to utilize anyway. Thanks again.

I note he's used aluminum as the basis for his compartments. I'm going to try this with acrylic. I figure it will be easier to cut and fit. For me anyway. Am going to try and source for some sheets of acrylic to work with. Hopefully today.

Yesterday was spent (in between work) sleeving the PSU. Will update with some pics later today. Will have to do some soldering in order to reutilize the stock apple wiring to the drives. Interestingly apple uses soft black wires throughout. VERY good quality but being all the same color, will have to use the voltmeter to determine which wire goes where. I've realized why Macs are so expensive. Better quality components. Definately.

AllnGap... About a airflow diagram. Not necessary as it is very simple. Horizontal compartments. In through the front, out through the back like a windtunnel. Well, be patient and all will be revealed.

@macdanife
no prob bro, hope to see more progress. As for his PCI slots, I think he got a mobo that fitted nicely inside....gotta know how to do it well

Won't try to repeat UglyVamp's excellent PSU sleeving guide here but two points that he left out... How to sleeve the PCIe and Mobo power connectors and how to sleeve the SATA cables.

The PCIe and FourPin ATX mobo connector (or if you have a newer PSU the 8 pin BTX Mobo connector) have the exact same connector. They are very easy to remove if you use this method. Straighten a pair of staples and insert them on either side of the pin. The pin will then slide out quite easily. Photo below:



The SATA cables easy if you have an Enermax PSU. This is because Enermax uses SATA connectors that are as below:



This allows you to slide off the connector, and sleeve as you would any other PSU wire. In addition, If you are really serious about tidy cases, you can extend/shorten your wires and place the SATA connector to line up exactly with the position of your harddrive. This of course requires you to measure very exactly but hey, if you're a perfectionist, that ain't a problem now is it.... If you have a Antec PSU, you need to cut off the Antec SATA connector and use one of the connectors as pictured above. Molex to SATA adaptors generally use the connector pictured above and you can take them off one of these adaptors which are quite easily found.

I also prefer to cable tie the heatshrinks to avoid the sleeves from slipping off. I've also used small heatshrink to neaten the wire tips as shown in a thread over at BitTech.





The end result:



Today I'll be rewiring the Apple PSU wires. These are a sleek black and are soft and of very good quality. They are routed through the back of the top compartment and supply the hard drives and optical drive. It's a shame to rip em out so I plan to rewire them.





However the fact that they are all the same color is not very friendly to the modder. I'll be using a voltmeter to identify the wires. These will then be soldered onto a regular PC Molex connector in order to use them with standard PC PSUs. I plan to make this case "upgradeable" meaning if I were to change the PSU in the future, I should be able to do so without repeating any work done previously. Here are the stuff assembled for today's rewiring:



Well, that's all for now. Until the next update.

arrgg.....posa nie.....feed.feed........feeeeeeed me more.....

dude...i think u should have put the heatshrink OVER the cable tie and shrink them...itll also act as an anchor so that the heatshrink wont slide

and it would look nicer IMHO coz thats what i do

But it's not what they do over at PC Power and Cooling (where I wish I could buy my PSU from....)

ikut u'r own taste

@macdanife
good progress

Done the rewiring of the Apple power connectors. No soldering necessary in the end. Just cut, expose wire and crimp. A crimping tool ( available from Jln Pasar and seen in the pic above) is a necessity. Can't remember how much it cost but the job would not have been possible without it.

Considered sleeving the Apple wires but with them all in black, it is not necessary. Ended up with just some heatshrink at intervals to neaten things off. More PC PSU manufacturers should follow Apple's example and produce PSUs without sleeves but with single tone wires. IMHO it looks better and much less distracting within the case. Well, that's my view anyway.

Bought a whole lot of acrylic from a Sign Maker shop in Pudu. Sorry, forgot to get the address/phone number. In any case, I'd assume these sign making shops are quite easy to find. Clear acrylic comes in various thickness. Went for a 5mm (RM25 thereabouts per square foot) and 2mm (RM20 per square foot) thickness. Will be cutting this with the Jigsaw and Dremel tomorrow. Can you smell the burning plastic yet?

Have changed my mind about the Mobo positioning. Will follow a upside down approach with the PCI slots towards the back of the case - similar to the LianLi v1000 layout. This would mean that the uppermost PCI slot will reside in the top compartment behind the drive cage. Most probably it will not be usable (unless used with a small PCI card like a WiFi card...).

The reasons for this are:

1. Neatness: no need to run extenders to the back of the case.

2. Thermal compartmenting: The GPU (SLi config) will be in the upper mobo compartment and I intend to make a acrylic divider to create a windtunnel for the SLi-ed cards.

3. The main Mobo power connector will then be closest to the PSU and wiring will be neater.

Unfortunately, this would mean part of the mobo goes into the upper compatment and part of the mobo goes into the lowest (PSU) compartment. Some creative use of acrylic will be necessary in order to make sure airflow stays within the specified compartments.

Pics to follow tomorrow. Goodnight.

jerker table from Ikea ?

@macdanife
good idea, ur a very innovative person, respect dude

Ready to fit the mobo. But first will need to have the actual mobo on hand. Tried to buy an Abit Fatality SLi AN8 yesterday at LYP but all retailers are out... Guess I'll have to go DFI. Meanwhile, in preparation for cutting the top tray, I've removed a great number (but not all) of the torq screws that hold the GP case together. I need to get to the rear of the top tray in order to cut part of it. This is to make space for the mobo as the lower compartment and PCI slot placement make it necessary for part of the mobo to jut into the upper compartment. With all of this, the harddrives may have to move... we will see...



The back of this tray is what I'll have to cut in order to fit a standard PC mobo. Note that the G5 has only four PCI slots. This means that the topmost PCI slot will have to sit in the upper compartment



Also removed the other odds and ends from the case in preparation for cutting and here they are:

1. Apple CD bezel. The door slides down (as opposed to opening outward like a hatch). Very neat and all shiny stainless steel inside. You don't find this kind of quality on a PC case unfortunately...




2. The Apple hard drive cage: Note the drive latch marked A and B in open and closed positions.




3. The divider between the Optical and Harddrive bays contain two fans. One grey (Delta?) fan and one turbine fan that is directed to blow behind the harddrives. Both fans have an odd four wire lead. I suspect that these are variable speed fans. There are also two circuit boards one in the top of the case and one towards the rear in the middle. I suspect that these are temperature sensor. I will try to reuse the 8cm fan. The turbine is in the way of the mobo, so will have to go. The divider of course stays though I may have to cut it so it does not get in the way of the mobo.




While taking all these stuff must SEEM easy but trust me, this case is built like a tank. The aluminum while thin is EXTREMELY sturdy and resistant to bending. There was also a multitude of screws to remove in order to loosen the back of the aluminum top tray from the mobo frame. Even then, it was quite impossible to remove the tray entirely for cutting. If I did not have a flexishaft for the dremel, it would be impossible to proceed with the mobo position as planned.

These are the screws that I removed in order to loosen the top plate:



Note that almost all of these are Torx screws. Not the usual phillips or flat head. Hence if you plan to mod the G5 case, these are essential.

Also rewired the apple wiring for the PSU. Following the SATA and Molex convention, identified the proper configuration and crimped some female molexes on. Considered sleeving the fellow. In fact started to thread the sleeve on but it actually looked better unsleeved with the wires all a standard black... So just some heatshrink to tidy things up.







That's all for now. Time to get the mobo. Wanted to try the Abit Fatality but nowhere has stock. Looks like I'm destined to stick with DFI...

those are called blowers.

hopefully u r able to find a way to control those fans

Afternoon plans at work cancelled... More time to work on the rig!

Thought of giving the Abit Fatality SLi board a try for the G5 rig. Certainly the red will match the PSU. However, after going round LYP and even trying to get Scoot to pull some strings: no go. Trotted over to get this:



On checking my PM on return, Irenic offers to sell me his fatality. Well, destiny is DFI...

Today's job, cutting a piece of acrylic to act as a motherboard tray. The problem with the G5 is that the mobo screws don't line up, the PCI slots don't line up. In order to overcome this, I'll be mounting the DFI mobo on to the acrylic with regular mobo standoff screws. The acrylic will then be mounted onto the preexisting Apple mobo standoffs. This is the plan if I have adequate depth to allow for proper seating of the PCI /PCIe cards. I may have to drill the acrylic in order to have the right depth. In any case - acrylic is easier to drill and work with. I'm using a 5mm sheet btw. Does not bend and will be deep enough to support the mobo standoff screws.





Must not forget eye protection!



And the finished result: An exact match:



With the mobo mounted onto the acrylic with regular mobo standoff screws, I'll mount this into the G5. I've marked the parts of the upper aluminum tray that I will have to cut. The more I look at it, the more I'm convinced that the harddrive bays will have to be moved... We will see.





That's all for now. Happy berbuka puasa!

Looks Good

LOL mac 6 o'clock u want to buka puasa ah???hahaha.anyway,awesome progress and awesome mobo.good luck in ur next steps mac.

yeah good luck to you man . yr so called Apple G5 lol.

very very sweet tools you have there.. boner inducing XD

btw if u dont mind me asking, what is your job description? the work rig seems to be too powerful for any day to day work unless ur a designer or something feel free to ignore me if you dont feel like answering

nice job man! keep going, we wanna c more..