this is pretty cool but I like the stock look better.
Which is fair I could not make this system this powerful with keeping the rear stock, I wanted to, but then I'd limit myself in choice of motherboards....had to go this route, and this was a decision not lightly made, trust me.
a Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...hehe...
At the end of the day, you can't please everyone, as each person has individual tastes....and likes and dislikes...so, no problem.
Thanx for the feedback...
Anyway...a last update for today...
Motherboard all lined up, and fitted....
From the rear - take note no port-plate fitted, this is just prelim....
From the side....
And a close-up shot of the Asus WS-Pro workstation board I picked for this mod, it allows easy overclocking, and you can also note the X6800 Conroe fan peeking at you.
Of course it will be watercooled, but I need to test the wiring/power switch etc before I dunk water on it.....
a Small update....Finally managed getting around measuring harddrive hole centers, and marking them where they must go....
and here....
and another one from the inside...
And then bolting the 2x Seagate 320Gb's into place.....fitting like a hand in a glove
Showing that I am not cheating, they are really bolted down...
and over here, an inside shot....
And, I made some temporary standoffs to correctly space the bottom plate from the floor.....and bring it inlione with angled mounting plate on motherboard tray....
These are just temporary, some hollow alu tubing, in which I pressed some 5mm stainless nuts....
I will machine 4 new ones, 35mm high, x 20mm dia. Sturdy mounting posts they would be...
and a close-up shot, showing them a little better....
Once these are complete, the bulk of my sheetmetal work is complete, I need to machine some receptor-slots on the motherboard tray for the bottom of the pci-cards's brackets, and then slots for the atapi-ide as well as SATA and ATX power cables....
This won't take much time, then assembly can begin, hopefully next weekend.
Still need to make a mod to the area where the psu will be located, which will be at the normal place for a conventional pc, top-back, or in this case where original G5 harddrives were located.
Let me know what you guys think so far.
On a side note.....the Harddrives won't overheat, I will be fitting white thermal-sheeting underneath, so all the heat get's dumped to the alu chassis. Will work 100%, I have used this method before in my 1st Vapo-Li project, with Maxtor Slimline drives, and those things survived, I still have both running today - and it's been a few years
a Small update - been very busy at work, travelling abroad, but, getting something done at least
As mentioned earlier, I am using a standard ATX PSU in this case, it will be my PC Power&Cooling 1KW Quad unit. It will be relocated to the top of the case, where the harddrives were positioned, which have since found a new home in the bottom of the case.
Making a cutout in the top to allow the psu fan to breathe, left me with this - quite fugly, and not in sync with my end goal - take note the following few shots are with the case upside down......
After a few careful measurements, some cutting, and filing, I re-used one of my 1st bottom plates, which is now in a new role as a psu cover plate:
Once mounted, it looks like this:
nice and cosy fit all around:
Another one:
and a last one:
Now, one of my original goals were to re-use the original Apple G5 AirBaffle, so I need to fit it's latch again....in the original position....
After some careful measurements, and marking it out on the psu cover plate, it will go here:
And then onto some drilling, jig-sawing, and careful filing.....this is the end result.....
And here we have the psu cover plate located over the latch, perfect fit!
And the next 2 shots of the AirBaffle in position, and locked:
Now, of course I will have to make some breathing holes for the PSU intake fan again, so I am considering using 1 of these for the top cover plate, underneath the PSU:
This should go nicely with my idea of having 2 similar ones above the harddrives mounted underneath the floorplate, to allow breathing/airflow over them.
Let me know what you think so far.
Next up is the mounting brackets of the 2 seperate radiators. Will keep you posted.
Wow, very nice Beanie. I've been wondering where you've been! The case work is very good. Having worked with a G5 case, I know exactly what you're up against.
I haven't spent to many hours on it, maybe 60 or so in total labor.....
Not to bad considering everything internal is build from scratch.
@ Shadowboxer47: Been so busy with at work, doing a lot of international travelling, so time was very limited this last few months - will be a little more relaxed from hereon in, so I should make good progress the next few weeks.
Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
I have to say from a perspective view of some one that has built a lot of stuff out of metal that is the best work I have seen go through on a computer case. You could of bought one of the look alike cases but you took a real G5 case and made it work and look like it was made for a ATX style motherboard. You have me beaten by a long shot on all of my case builds.
The last case I built was a full tower case with drive cages from a old AT tower case and a old mid size ATX case and it looks stock but yours is by far better. Keep up the good work.
@ TCPMeta: Thanx for the kind words.....I am having fun with this case, that is why I am taking my time too - not rushing it, just thinking through the steps, and the plans a little - it is a lot of work to redo everything
But, I will keep you guys posted, and let's hope the end result will be worthy...
I could not make this system this powerful with keeping the rear stock, I wanted to, but then I'd limit myself in choice of motherboards....had to go this route, and this was a decision not lightly made, trust me.
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