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Babyboi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2008
123
8
Hey all, I have a power mac G4 and i'm thinking about replacing the logic board.
I'm not quite sure how i'm supposed to be going about this. I'm thinking about following this guy matt's guide. posted here.

I was wondering if the motherboard he suggested to get (intel quad core) will be compatible with the G4. I'm not sure if the form factor is right for it or not.

Can anyone confirm this to see if this will work? Any other information would be appreciated! thanks =)
 

zen.state

macrumors 68020
Mar 13, 2005
2,181
8
Not the same form factor at all. Mac Cases are not ATX. Not even intel Macs are. That guide you linked to is to build a hackintosh in an ATX case not a Mac case.

It can be done but only if you can do things like custom mount a board and very accurately cut metal.

This guy put x86 parts in a G4 case and also ripped off my paint job concept on my case but his is crappy spray paint.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47388109@N07/sets/72157623298191439/

http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/660371-macbane-apple-powermac-g4-modding-fun.html

For the record this is the area where people ask for help with PowerPC Macs. Your request for help pertains to Intel hardware. I would even go as far as to say that this whole forum in general is not that great for anything Hackintosh related.
 
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Babyboi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2008
123
8
thanks for your reply. so for what i want to do, would you be able to suggest what i can do?

a motherboard that will fit in to the case, or just get a case that can fit the motherboard?

maybe i should register for overclock.net
 

hansolo669

macrumors regular
Oct 5, 2009
201
0
thanks for your reply. so for what i want to do, would you be able to suggest what i can do?

a motherboard that will fit in to the case, or just get a case that can fit the motherboard?

maybe i should register for overclock.net

First google it something like hackintosh in a Mac case. Second if you can't improv and don't know what/how you would do this... I think you should consider that.
Also registering on some more osx86. Friendly forums *cough*insanely Mac*cough*tonymacx86* and do some more googleing suffixing with OSX 86

Or you could continue here and possibly get banned or something :p
 

Babyboi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2008
123
8
First google it something like hackintosh in a Mac case. Second if you can't improv and don't know what/how you would do this... I think you should consider that.
Also registering on some more osx86. Friendly forums *cough*insanely Mac*cough*tonymacx86* and do some more googleing suffixing with OSX 86

Or you could continue here and possibly get banned or something :p

o really haha we don't talk about that here? i like your hint. maybe ill register for that *cough *cough forum too thanks hans69
 

old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
Even if you can replace the logic board, you will have to replace the power supply, ram, HDD and figure out how to connect the monitor. Far cheaper to simply buy another machine.
 

zen.state

macrumors 68020
Mar 13, 2005
2,181
8
Even if you can replace the logic board, you will have to replace the power supply, ram, HDD and figure out how to connect the monitor. Far cheaper to simply buy another machine.

He obviously doesn't really understand what he is getting into in the first place. A clear case of "hey some other guy can do it so I can too" but forgets or doesn't understand that you need a pre-existing bag of tech tricks to be able to make this kind of things happen.

A random online guide can't give you skills you don't already have.
 

jchase2057

macrumors regular
Dec 6, 2010
234
2
Detroit
Im all for new people getting into computers but zen is right. You should start with something a little easier. If you want a hackintosh then put it in an atx case. Without the knowledge and experience all your gonna do is wreck a nice g4 case and probably some hardware as well.
 

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,662
5,496
Sod off
o really haha we don't talk about that here? i like your hint. maybe ill register for that *cough *cough forum too thanks hans69

You aren't going to get banned for talking about hackintoshes, but this particular sub-forum is dedicated to PowerPC Macs, not hackintoshes.

What you're proposing doing is not a logic board swap, but a "case-mod" hackintosh - you are essentially removing all of the Mac-related "guts" and sticking in a PC. It's going to require some fabrication work to install the new hardware, and you'll need a completely new PSU as well. G4 Power Macs, as zen.state says, are not ATX standard.

You're better off going to InsanelyMac or other similar forums for info on how to build a hackintosh.
 

old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
The people that successfully do this kind of mod are people with lots of experience fooling around with computer hardware. This type of mod is far far more than simply finding the right logic board. When I still working I was quite comfortable taking PCs apart to to upgrades and find broken things. However, if you've never done anything like that don't event hink of trying to put an Intel board in a Power Mac, or any PPC mac.
 

Babyboi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2008
123
8
i think i'm just gona have to build a hackintosh from scratch rather than taking apart the G4. well thanks for the information
 

MacHamster68

macrumors 68040
Sep 17, 2009
3,251
5
start this whole hackintoshing project a bit slower
as it is far more complicated then it looks on some youtube videos
to get those hackintosh's working , and quiet often you will notice that they run older versions of leopard or snow leopard not because they'd been to lazy to press software update, no most times because after that software update the whole thing stopped working and they could not get around that
so start hackintoshing on something where its known to cause the least problems (netbooks like the MSI wind or dell mini 10v , as those are if you ignore the atoms inside .. basically.. early MacBooks with the gma 950 in a netbook case ) to get a idea how its done to get really everything to work

learn to walk first before trying to run a marathon
 
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chrismacguy

macrumors 68000
Feb 13, 2009
1,979
2
United Kingdom
start this whole hackintoshing project a bit slower
as it is far more complicated then it looks on some youtube videos
to get those hackintosh's working , and quiet often you will notice that they run older versions of leopard or snow leopard not because they'd been to lazy to press software update, no most times because after that software update the whole thing stopped working and they could not get around that
so start hackintoshing on something where its known to cause the least problems (netbooks like the MSI wind or dell mini 10v , as those are if you ignore the atoms inside .. basically.. early MacBooks with the gma 950 in a netbook case ) to get a idea how its done to get really everything to work

learn to walk first before trying to run a marathon

Or if you must go with a desktop try and stick to an exact replica of hardware used online in a tutorial - its not as likely to work as a netbook, but it will at least mean that your using parts that should/have been proven to work. - Also agree with the marathon comment.
 
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