2023 PowerMac G5 I started around 2010

[jayarebee]

Back around 2009 I was at a friends when I saw his old PowerMac G5 his parents got him back in high school that he broke and never used... as it was sitting there I asked him if I could buy it, he said take it away please since he wanted more room.. he was only using it to prop up his Xbox at the time. His parents had gotten him a few Apple computers over the years and this was the one I always liked... I forget if the PowerMac G5 was connected to the big colorful Apple monitor he had or if that Apple Monitor was a completely different system.

I took it home and tested it and kept getting errors, as cool as it was I decided to gut it out and build a PC in it. I immediately realized "Crap this isn't meant for a PC" and had to start thinking outside the box... or inside it for that matter.

I believe the G5 came with a chassis/mount like board that slid out and I think that's what I was able to put my motherboard onto.. or I used one from a different PC ATX tower that fit.. either way I got it in with little trouble. The issue was mounting and keeping it sturdy.. I may have tapped 1 or 2 screws but can't recall it was so long ago. What I do know is that I used quite a bit of plastic EZPass Velcro.. like enough to hold a lot of weight and it worked 100%. I think that is another reason I leave it sideways as firstly it wouldn't even stand up under this desk @ 22" inches tall.. I may have had it upright briefly but decided to go sideways when I got a newer desk that it couldn't stand up under.

The last few months I have been upgrading my newest PC as this is the 2nd or 3rd system to call this case Home, I've wanted to clean it up. I could never get the USB/Power Button to work on the case so I just hid them with the brand stickers hehe. I initially had a basic Power On/Off switch dangling out of the 3.5" slot I cut under the CD-Tray to allow an AIO Media Front-Panel that was very beneficial at the time as I needed front USB.

Here are some old pictures from the first days and eventually when I got that 1st system in I sort of gave up heh.
I apologize for all the links.. I will try to edit/modify but I didn't want to load the post with too many large images.

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Around 2018 I relocated this system to a standard cheap ATX tower and gave it to my parents. It was on the ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe Motherboard and was easy to swap out for what I currently have. I will just make a separate post with the updated pictures and latest system.

 

[jayarebee]

So come early 2018 I decided to get rid of the old AMD Phenom 9850 on the ASUS M3A32-MVP and upgrade to a new system.

I purchased an ASUS ROG B350-F Gaming motherboard since it was one of the cheaper AM4 boards at the time and did everything I needed it to. I installed an AMD Ryzen 5 1600, 32GB G.Skill DDR4-3000 RAM, and believe I had a Geforce 960GTX briefly. I purchased a Geforce 1660GTX in early 2020 and already sold it off so I could grab a Geforce 3070RTX. So I've had a lot of different components already on this B350-F and I recently installed the 3070RTX as well as a Ryzen 5 3600.

I also ordered quite a few 500GB/1TB SSDs since the prices have been dropping. The Power On/Off button is now actually a real button I fished through the top and used double adhesive to stick on the top.. somewhere I wouldn't accidentally wack it with my foot while using the thing... yeah I did that at first and relocated it hehe.

Still the same 32GB of G.Skill Trident Z RAM since the day it went in, just with the Ryzen 5 3600 CPU & Geforce 3070RTX. I went a little overboard with the case fans, mostly all 120mm and a few are Noctua/CoolerMaster but most of the ones lit up are cheap $10 LED ones to add light to the case. I thought about using the RGB as one or two of the 120mm fans offer it but I sort of halted that process. The 3600 was running lot warmer than my 1600 and I installed a DeepCool AK400 heatsink and now this things Idles easily @ 35C and I've rarely seen it go over 60c while gaming. The GPU runs cool and I removed my old DVD-ROM from the top (left) since I never used it and aided in airflow I suppose.

There is so much room inside this thing and I've always tried my best to keep the cables/wires out of the way, sadly it's just difficult as I put the PSU on the bottom (right) and the motherboard is at the top (left) so some of the wires just have to meet in the middle. Regardless not a problem and airflow is fine.

As of now I'm at a point where I don't know what to do next... I haven't taken any pictures of the back in awhile and may do so later hopefully to see if anyone has any advise to make it look nicer.
I did find this piece which I really feel like came with the Powermac G5 case but it could have been off of a completely different tower... I guess I was thinking about going baby blue with the paint color since I remember spray painting it out back like a decade ago hehe... I think my idea was to eventually fit it to the back and I just gave up.

 

[jayarebee]

Unfortunately this is where I left off.... Eeps didn't realize how crusty it got on the back-side over the last decade heh.

I love the locking mechanism for the side-panel... just stinks that I never finished.

I found a store online that sells the pieces and I'm really considering springing for the pieces I need.. even if I just got the grill (or two).
I think when the weather gets nicer I will bring it outside and give it a proper cleaning... I can usually get into my cousin's metal machine shop to use anything I need. I was thinking of just getting a fairly thin but sturdy piece of metal and doing it all myself, I don't mind putting in the time and polishing things off correctly.

 

[jayarebee]

I think I put this case to work (literally) as soon as everything snapped in place and I realized... hmm nobody's going to even see the back and everything seems safe lol. I recently took all the stickers off and just decided to clean it up, I took a rag to it and gently cleaned the front, top, back, anywhere I could see the dustly look. The case is pretty easy to clean with the back open like that I guess that's a positive hehe.


As for the pictures the external links were the overkill ones I didn't want to flood the thread with, tried my best to get the more important ones loaded since they are all fairly the same.

I'm still working on my desk.. got a cheapy fakey RGB mat off Amazon cheap.. wanted the White one but it was + $5.00.. whatever lol. Looks nicer than it did without it.

 

[jayarebee]

Images are a bit of a PITA in here
You can either link like you did
Though lot of people can't be bothered clicking external links
Or use thumbnails which people can click to see bigger image
Or use the spoiler feature
That hides the images from loading unless someone clicks
The spoiler button

And that looks familiar
From a recent Facebook post perhaps?
If so guess I kind of sent you here lol
So welcome to the forums

Yep lol... small world!

 

[jayarebee]

I decided to go to home depot and grab a sheet of aluminum 12x24 since I measured and only need 15x5 at the most.
I was looking at some grated design with holes that looked rather neat.. but it was not as thick/strong as the sheet I got.

I will do some more accurate measurements this evening then hopefully shoot to the machine shop tomorrow or early next week to cut what needs to be cut with the machines properly.. nice having a family member with lots of tools lol.

Same piece.. camera on my phone stinks and didn't realize I had the silver on a grey blanket heh.
I spent about $15-16 bucks (USD).

Here are some of the other 12x24's that they had.. they were a bit flimsier and I don't think they finished outcome would look great since once you cut into the designs it might cause some issues. But I was thinking it'd be pretty neat for airflow... if I fail on my 1st attempt I may consider something like below, I really just want to close it in... and #1 most importantly get the or an ATX PCI-E part like LaserHive has... I just need to doublecheck the placement of my motherboard and such and hopefully I can order the proper piece from LaserHive... if not I may just try and make something like a bracket solely to secure my GPU onto.. I don't have any other PCI cards... I took out the WiFi Adapter and put it in another PC for now.

 

[jayarebee]

I managed to start to size things together today, I measured everything about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer/wider than I will need.. just some wiggle room for safety.

I pretty much eyed out to the best what I could which will be properly cut at the metal shop as this metal is SHARP.. I know I worked many crappy summer jobs in the machine shop. I generally tell my cousin and let him take over since he gets antsy and excited and knows more since it's his life working with metal.

I may just have to design something for the PCI area myself and leave it somewhat open.. I left a little extra room on the metal for where I may have to get creative to screw or mount a different piece of metal for the purpose of providing support for the PCI cards and screw them in nicely.

I am not sure if there is a kit or something out there for ATX boards to provide support, I may consider stealing something off another case I have laying around.

It will take time and patience as I can't get to the shop anytime until late next week. I will use the grinder to straighten then hopefully buff the sides to eliminate the sharpness, a piece of metal like this is always dangerous ugh I hate working in shops.. but when it's for a fun hobby I love it!

The left where the dots are may be where I drill holes for airflow, I think we still have the machine I can do that easily on. I will figure a way to mount it on from the corners hopefully I can drill a hole and use a short screw I really don't want to weld. The circle for a 120mm fan I may cut oddly or as accurate as possible depending on whether I even cut it. I may cut and order a circular grill I can tack on or just drill holes, lots of them.

The bottom left under that dotted area is where the PSU power cable and On/Off switch are located.. I didn't mind sacrificing that corner and I will use a weather lining with adhesive to cover the exposed metal edges so no injuries can occur.

 

[jayarebee]

You may have already seen this but if you're looking for something 'off the shelf' The Laser Hive is excellent

G5 Conversion Kits Archives - The Laser Hive

All these kits are suitable for use when converting an old Powermac G5 case for use with PC components.

thelaserhive.com

I was looking at LaserHive and sent the owner a message and he got back to me once, he said due to the amount I cut off he can't ensure one of his pieces would fit.. and yeah with the shipping it's about $30usd or more.

I'm fortunate to have access to a metal shop, the old school kind. We don't have any AutoCAD or anything fancy but my cousin and I have built some pretty neat stuff before.. We mostly re-attach teeth to big drills with tap welds, sharpen drill-bits, end-mills, and just clean stuff for folks once in awhile.. I'm usually playing in the sand-blaster half the time lol.

LaserHive does have those high/low ATX "kits" and I'm not sure if everything you need would come in one, I really just want one of these parts so I could just lock it in.. The only card I care about is my GPU, the tiny USB extender/adapter card I have doesn't move or budge and weighs nothing... Even my WiFi PCI Card barely moves when it's inside.. it's just the GPU as it's heavy and I want to secure it with a screw.

I am hoping he answers me relatively quickly but it's been a day or two... I would gladly pay for just that piece and probably one of his mesh grills.

I don't expect mine to come out as nice as his, no way near.. I know I'll have some funkiness but going to use the shop as much as possible to ensure everything is lined up properly. I left some extra 'real estate' to work with on my sheet metal since I will most likely drill tiny holes on the ends and secure it to the Powermac Case.

If I really, really, really need to... I will take one off of an older case and most likely weld or figure out a way to securely put it in place to be useful. I think this is why I saved the back of this other case for so long... then put it in the closet and forget it.

Actually going to see if I can do anything with it today since I can't get into the shop til next week to continue working.

 

[jayarebee]

I was able to take off this piece from an old ATX case's backing I've had hoarded in the closet for 10 years or more. It was very easy with a very tiny drill bit and the power drill.. just took it outback and drilled out the rivets safely. I kept the other part as well but don't think I can use it for much.

Unfortunately it is backwards as it was meant to fit the other side of a case (the original) but a step in the right direction for sizing. I may cut the piece in half precisely to keep the PCI upper part, secure it to the silver sheet metal/aluminum at the shop... that's where I will have to get crafty IF I use this piece.

It would be nice to keep it all together however, it's a fairly small & light piece and a few tiny screws/bolts should be more than enough.

This gives a pretty good idea though what I will do.. Most likely cut most of the top (ATX indicated area) where the PCI cards will be.. and as mentioned I only care about the GPU and I may need to cut some off since the GPU takes up 2 slots as it's large.

I just need to wrap my head around the backwards-ness of it but this may work out very well... if not I may have another old case I could rip the back off of if I think the back will be a better fit.

I ordered a Ryzen 5 5600x yesterday as I had an ad pop up on my phone's news for Amazon having a sale ($159)... I literally just got this used 3600 in late December and it was used from eBay... works 100%. I thought the spending was done grrr... but I will have no need for the 3600 afterwards and will just sell it off. I have a 4600G I keep as a "backup" in a 2nd system nearby that uses the same motherboard (ASUS B350-F). I always figured if my main rig went down I could just swap a lot to the 2nd B350-F without having to go too nuts heh.

 

[jayarebee]

if the "backwardness" of its an issue
here in the uk anyway
i would go to the local tip/dump
they have containers full of pcs for recycling
and they dont usually care if i "borrow" one to take something off it

could you solder it on?
though a few little nuts and bolts shouldnt be too visible anyway

It's certainly worth myself looking around a bit, I used to work for a large IT company that was always throwing out PC's.. aka salvaging but were mostly old Dell Desktops. I may be able to flatten it out a bit... then I was thinking small rivets.

I was thinking soldering would work as well I just have to find the soldering gun in the garage.. I noticed when I drilled out the piece pictured they used small rivets. I just don't think any screws would work well unless I used bolts to secure them from the inside, not really sure until I get to that part.

I can't get into the shop until the middle of next week which stinks... but my cousin will know better than I do what should be done. In a perfect world I would put this all together and then slap it on in one shot... I'm crossing my fingers. There shouldn't be any issues since I left the sheet of metal larger than needed, I can always trim the excess off, and I'd like to clean it up anyway when I straighten it out with one of the stationary grinders.

 

[jayarebee]

I always wanted a G5 so bad, my dad always have macs when i was a kid i i just couldn't use them, windows just seamed to click the first time i used it (win95).
so i never got a g5 but wanted to butcher one up like this

When they were first coming out I think I was already pretty tuned into PC's and building them myself. I think I built my first system around 1998-99, I remember Q3A was coming out and we all had to get new graphics cards, then things just took off technology and performance wise.

My buddy had some pretty cool Apple Computers, he had the multi-color monitor that had the PC inside.. I forget what it was called unless that was just a display monitor for the PowerMac G5 he used for about 6 months. I believe the hard drive died and he just didn't know how to replace it, he let it sit in his room for a good 3-4 years literally just holding up his Xbox... I kindly asked if I could have it and he said just take it off my hands please... I offered money but he didn't want anything.

I could never get used to the Mac OS... I always liked Windows. From '95, 98se, XP, bleh also Vista & ME don't think either of those lasted long I recall using Vista for a bit but think I loaded Windows 7 as soon as I could and it was great... I think I stayed on 7 as long as I could before loading 10, and now 11.