Power Mac Gi5 'Hackintosh'

[Sandmod]

thanks for the positive comments guys

JonJ678, those fans were on the outside originally, they will be hidden under a... sort of floor covering inside the case. I thought about moving them inside but it would not make any difference so thought leaving them where they were would be best.

Im awaiting my watercooling bits to turn up today from OCUK and then i think ive decided to not bother with Haswell and just go with Ivybridge.

so this is what im thinking for its specs.

KFA2 GeForce GTX 660TI EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (VTX4-25SAT3-256G)
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

+

Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21000C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U26661104G-2CI) - Blue Light

that i have already purchased.

But there is still much more work required so dont know if i should order this week or next yet.

 

[Mightycamels]

you could get a thunderbolt motherboard and lord it over the mac pro users!

 

[Unicorn]

This is lovely iv always loved these cases but im trying to go mITX now Will keep an eye on this

 

[Nickjf20]

If you need any more info on these take a look at InsanelyMac or TonyMacX86

Having it re-anodized would really make it special!

My build log is in my signature if you're interested - TheLaserHive make some great custom laser cut perspex - send Dave (google thelaserhive) a message. The front fan array seen in my build is one of his.

Also, I would have rotated the PSU 90 degrees so the heatsinks are in the same orientation as air-flow.

 

[R-evans]

Can't wait to see the end product.

 

[Sandmod]

the gigabyte motherboard i have chosen is also available with thunderbolt and i was very tempted! but i thought, its not really worth it as i wont use it. so chose the board with extra sata-3 and heat piped north and south bridges.

I will deffo take a look at your build! i wanted to get a custom cut window but i just decided to do it myself to cut costs lol. as for custom anodizing, i might have to get my new lower cover anodised to make it match. as for the PSU, i really wanted it the other way, but unfortunatly it would cut the cable length and cause a lot of hassle! so i had no other choice

Watercooling bits turned up today so should have some updates tomorrow!

 

[Sandmod]

just a quick update for the time being...

I opened the watercooling bits and put the pump and reservoir together. heres a picture of it all.

I have been measuring up to make an aluminium bracket for the radiator, but i wanted to make the cables more suitable first. So i braided them and replaced the white/clear connectors with black. i also cut the link cable to make it a suitable size for the motherboard.

That looks better!!

I am going to get an aluminium block machined so that it can be adhered to the rear of the case and then the resavoir mount can screw into it. i think this will be a better idea than just adhering the bracket to the case... at least this way its removable!.

Not sure on the lead time for that but shouldnt take too long

 

[NeostarNeko]

Wow that is amazing work there

 

[Sandmod]

Wow that is amazing work there

Thanks very much

 

[Sandmod]

Thanks to OCUK's 7.5% discount this weekend, i have decided to order the rest of the components and new monitor for my build.

The new monitor i have chosen is the Asus PB278Q 27" PLS LED, which will be a change from my glossy glass iMac display. I was planning on the thunderbolt display but i realised its a large sum of money for no real gains. I did love the inbuilt speakers and apparently these aren't great... so i will be in the market for a set after.

As for the components...

Intel Core i5 2570K
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H
Asus GeForce GTX660 Ti-DC2-2GD5
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB

And the remaining parts for the water cooling

EK Supremacy Clean CSQ
Mayhems Pastel - Raspberry Purple
EK PSC Compression Fitting 13mm 3/8" - G1/4 - Nickel x 2
EK-PSC Adapter Rotary 90° G1/4 Nickel x 4

I am quite looking forward to getting the parts! i have 6 days off next weekend so i am hoping to get it polished off

 

[Tattysnuc]

Lovely project. Looking forward to reading your updates.

Aluminium cases look so much easier to work with than steel ones...

 

[os_X_VII]

Great project! Really impressed by the attention to detail you have and the efforts you've made to maintain the original lines.

 

[spudbynight]

Really looking forward to seeing how this progresses

 

[panyan]

Really looking forward to seeing how this progresses

+1

 

[fishingcat]

This is looking great, I'll be checking back to see how this progresses.

 

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

Along with mITX, Hackintosh builds are easily my favourite projects to follow. They never seem to disappoint either...

No pressure.

The only thing that worries me are the 40mm screamers on the PSU, but 'tis only a minor quibble.

 

[Sandmod]

Thanks for the great comments guys

Last night I made the mounting brackets for the radiator, and a caddy for the SSD but it still needs some finishing touches yet.

Here are the mounts beside the radiator in their approximate mounting locations

Here are the mounts fitted between the fans and the radiator. I also fitted a foam gasket and cut the pieces out where the brackets are located, this is useful for relocating the screws when removing and refitting the radiator.

I taped round the bracket points so I knew where I needed to rough up and apply the adhesive

Then went ahead and roughed it up

Now i applied the adhesive and placed the radiator in its location onto the adhesive. I then removed the masking tape which removed excess adhesive. This is what it looks like

Now it takes 24 hours to fully cure so I will get a photo of it freestanding once its cured.

Thanks for looking

 

[Sandmod]

Along with mITX, Hackintosh builds are easily my favourite projects to follow. They never seem to disappoint either...

No pressure.

The only thing that worries me are the 40mm screamers on the PSU, but 'tis only a minor quibble.

Yeah I'm worried about them too, I've never actualy had them running yet as the PSU runs so cool and efficiently. The are temperature controlled so hopefully they should be reasonably quiet unless they are really required

 

[coolamasta]

Liking the progress so far, nice work on the PSU

 

[Sandmod]

Update...

All the hardware has turned up, but not the out of stock water-cooling. i am quite impressed by the motherboards matt black finish!

But ive been quite busy doing numerous bits to my build as you will see below.

First of all, here is the reservoir adhered in place, it holds very well and looks brilliant!

Next is a picture of the motherboard sitting on its standoffs to check for any unseen issues... happily there wasn't any and i think it looks awesome apart from the gigabyte sign being backwards -.-

Here is a tease of the work i have been doing on my PSU, unfortunately i used 11 meters of braiding so far so its not finished and its holding me up... more should be here tomorrow. Still it looks great!

Now... heres the flagship modification, and i must say i am proud of how good it looks...

First of all i measured and sketched where i wanted the window to be.

I then painfully cut out the window... seriously when i say painfully it really was! i expected it to be soft but no way was it soft! it was a nightmare!!!

Then after another hour of filing, sanding and checking i removed the mass of masking tape, cleaned it and fitted it (without the window).

Very impressed with how it looked, i wanted to get the window fitted, so presently i have it gluing on the floor ^.^

Nicely using the old G5 heat sinks as weights ^.^
Hope you guys are liking the progress! please comment