Have many people out there taken the parts out of their macs and put them in entirely different cases? Maybe ATX cases? It would be cool to hear about experiences doing this, especially if you've morphed several macs in to one franken-mac.

Anything in specific you want to hear? I've done in a couple times in different ways. Part swapping is ridiculously easy.I've got macs where the only Apple part is the motherboard and its supporting electronics. Most High end PC servers from the mid 90s share parts with macs (50 pin scsi, RAM on occasion) More recent systems (G3's and later) use almost the exact same hardware. I'm typing this message on a system where the only part Apple created is the motherboard and a personality card. Everything else was retail, eBay, or scavenged from a PC graveyard I have access to.

PSUs tend to use the same voltages, so at worst you need create an adapter harness, drives all use the same standards (ATA or SCSI), Firewire and USB are set international standards. Anymore even RAM is fairly compatible. You'll hit driver issues on expansion cards and the occasional device but even those aren't so bad anymore. Many video cards can be flashed to work with a Mac.

Cases create problems but some boards like the Beige G3 MLB comply with set standards (Mini-ATX) Even on those that don't some sheet plastic, zip ties and a set of needle files can make it extremely easy to mod a Mac into a PC case. If thats what you're looking for, try XLR8yourmac for some write-ups (both for converting ATX PSUs to mac boards and for putting mac boards into PC cases)

I"ve seen people at my work put old mac parts in PC cases. I never understand the fascination.

I agree. I'm not sure what the point would be, besides just for the hell of it. Now I could see some reasoning if one were to try and build their own dual processor or dual logic board macine. Or maybe an extreme media machine with more crammed in it than can fit in a normal case.

You can take it into a PC shop and watch them scratch their heads, at least as long as you can keep yourself from LOLing

LOL!! That would be hilarious! Yea, I am not sure why you would want to do this unless it is a really old mac and you want to make it look newer. I am sure that taking the parts from an old mac and putting them in a case is fairly easy. However, if anyone out there has done this would you mind posting a mod guide for our members. As easy as it may be for one, it may be difficult for another. This would be really great.

Dont worry about porting into an ATX case. go for building a clear case out of Acrylic. Those are SWEET!! and I've never seen a mac one.... hmm I feel a summer project coming on hehe.

:y32b4: pyramac

Post edited by: krusher117, at: 2004/06/09 17:54

The reason I started this thread was that I have come across some very cool plexi custom builds from the PC side of things and was wondering how you'd do this with a mac.

Check out http://www.bit-tech.net/article/114/ to see what I mean.

The problem might be in acquiring the components, which for me isn't going to mean pulling them out of a working mac (why ruin it?). So it might mean hanging around like a vulture for a dead G3 or something that I can meld with another dead one(dead for different reasons obviously).

As for why bother? Because I can.

I did a project called Ebony and Ivory, just submitted it, where I put a Mac and a PC in one custom built case. Problem with later models is that the case is designed to be an integral part of the cooling system. I tried using a 1 GHz G4 PowerMac, wound up killing the motherboard. Same with an eMac. Finally got an older Gigabit ethernet PowerMac with a 1.4 GHz upgrade board.

You can see the whole build story at http://www.domesticatedarcades.com/ebonyivory2

Thats a cool mod! I like the plexiglass window that has the logos in them. Did you sumbit them via email? It may not have gone through right now.

Check out this guy

http://www.riscx.com/blueiceg4/gallery.asp

Pretty cool stuff all around his site, even a link to MacMod

the pecker

Thats old new Pecker, but we definitely appreciate the effort. I believe that is posted as a mod guide on this site.

There's a clear acrylic Mac on display at http://www.xlr8yourmac.com.

magnus wrote:


How 'bout... to have two optical drives? Or more hard drives than can fit in the Mac's case? Or just to have something that looks 'better' than the Mac case (beauty being in the eye of the beholder)?

And then there's the ultimate reason: coz some guys just like to tinker.

Qksilver wrote:


That's basically a Mac clone. I have several of the PowerComputing towers and they are great for adding stuff. It's a basic PC case that holds 4 opticals and room for 4 regular height drives. Plus you could mount 2 or 3 drives on the case floor.
It would be like an easy bake oven inside and could probably bake a cake in it.....

One of mine has CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, Jaz, Zip, and currently only one hard drive inside because I have an external SCSI 4 drive Data Silo. But I could add a DVD-R and 2 more small hard drives without a problem.

I like to tinker........


Krow

B)

The Power Computing cases were nice, but they were just ATX form factor cases with different I/O covers. Also, FYI, the power supplies in those fry like no other. Well, not the actual power supply part, but the fan inside of them.
Standard 80mm if you were wondering as well.

I would look into the heating issue and check the P/S fan. That was the issue in the Power Computing I used for a while (never actually owned it).

Now if you want expansion, get an old server case for a dual 486 and attatch your current board in there. You could easily expand to 8 external removable bays and atleast 6 internal drive spots. The only downside is that you would probably have to go external hard drive enclosure inside and drop firewire to the drives after you run out of PCI slots.

But the clear cases are not my thing. They are okay, but they lack the comfort of grounding which I like to have. Can't afford to messup.