Mod of the Month - November 2007

Angel Inside a Core 2 G5

by Angel_OD
Worklog

Few things inspire a PC modder more than a Mac case. I'm kidding, I'm kidding... put the pitchforks down. Please.

However, it is true that many PC modders love to get their hands on a G4 or G5 case and mod the heck out of it, usually while attempting to keep the original style of the case. Mods like these litter our forums - some disastrous, some successful. However, none have worked things out so completely as to look almost like the case was never touched - it's a delicate balance, particularly since the G5 chassis is not what one would consider PC friendly.

It's a good thing that Angel OD looks at problems as nothing more than "challenges", then. A machinist by trade, he had just started making a case for some new hardware that fell into his lap, when a coworker's shiny Mac G5 coolant leaked, ruining the case and computer. Angel OD was quick to snap up the dead Mac...


Ah, the completely gutted insides of a G5 water-cooled chassis. The coolant leaked at the bottom of the case, oxidizing the piece of aluminium that are used as a bottom plate. Well, guess that's gone - while we're at it, it's time to start fitting that shiny new motherboard. Mac aficionados and generally eagle-eyed people may notice that the Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2 takes up two slots, one of which isn't really there - the G5 only offers 4 PCI brackets, and in order to run SLI in the future, the whole setup had to be lowered by one .


This tangled mess of wires is the group of jacks from the front of the case, which will need to be rewired to work with the new mobo. Speaking of rewiring, the back of the G5 case is laid out a certain way that only Mac mobos actually fit - and Angel OD refuses to settle for just a PC backplate. Instead, he unsolders all the hookups from the Mac board and turns them into incredibly short leads...


...Which plug into the PC motherboard hidden behind it. In order to make it fit, Angel OD needed to pull the shields off of the parallel and serial ports. After a bit more careful wiring, it looks like the original Mac motherboard is still perfectly intact, its white ports sitting perfectly behind the aluminium of the case. Talk about going the extra mile.


The case will feature custom waterblocks, like the CPU block made from copper and the northbridge block that is made from aluminium. Angel OD milled these by hand at his shop.


The original PSU was salvaged from the Mac case, but it won't work for a PC without some substantial rewiring. Besides, this case didn't really need all 630W anyway. So, Angel_OD wired his 500W PSU in there, with lots of room to spare! This kept the original look without a need to substantially rewire everything. He also reused the back fans, but with a little modification. Remember that dropped-down GX2? It got in the way, requiring a little trim work for the fan and housing.

It's clear that Angel OD is bound and determined to make a memorably accurate Mac to PC conversion in this G5 case. We can't wait to see what he'll do next... and you should make sure to keep an eye out for his next update in his worklog.

Until then, if this soldering-fest has enough detail to get you charged, why don't you take a trip to the forum and cast a vote for Angel Inside a Core 2 G5 as November's Mod of the Month?