PowerPC to Intel conversion....

M1keyb77 said:

Has any of you tried?

Click to expand...

ERMAHGERD

Dude, juse accept that it wont work. There are several things:
1) How are you going to connect the internal display to your new motherboard?
2) How are you going to fit a standard PSU in here?
3) Most if not all modern heatsinks wont fit in there.
4) No motherboards support the layout of the machine.
5) The IO doesn't line up.
6) It just wont work.

If this is the kind of thing you want from a forum I'd suggest instructables, or Overclock.net

M1keyb77 said:

Not strictly true. I have a Imac g5 17" All the ports are the same logic board has the same mounting holes, psu is in same position amongst other things. I think some of you are mixing up models. Granted my 20" Imac is totally different in side from the 17"

For one the 20" you remove the back panel to gain access
17" You remove the front screen bezel to gain access.

Look at this image top right and middle. One is intel one is power pc. Only difference i see is the colour of the psu which makes me thinl i may need a psu too.

Click to expand...

Quite true. You're going about this as if you've never seen the insides of both of the iMacs in question with your own eyes up close and from different angles. I have and I've replaced nearly ever part in both models. It won't work. Let's use 2006-2008 Macbooks as an example. Yes, they look the same on the outside. Even on the inside their boards are very similar. But, the mounting holes are not the same, the heatsinks don't line up, the internal connectors are different and on different parts of the logicboard.

M1keyb77 said:

I have looked at mine and of the one I'm getting and the mounting holes and all connectors are the same.

Click to expand...

Apple service documentation says otherwise. Hope they have a good return policy.

M1keyb77 said:

Instead of just chatting crap why not have something constructive to say!!!

Click to expand...

There is only one person in this thread "chatting crap" by insisting over and over again that the innards of an Intel iMac are exactly the same as a PPC iMac without any shred of evidence. Your assertions are not fact.

Intell said:

Hope they have a good return policy.

Click to expand...

And hope you're spending a lot less than buying a 2006 Core Duo iMac and selling your G5.

B

rabiz7=M1keyb77?

The intelligence level, tone and language use of the two posters is pretty much identical....

If I am mistaken and this is not the case, then as others have noted, why not just go build yourself a hackintosh? There are cases made for just that, sites and forums devoted just to that and only that. We are all about PowerPC here, getting the most out of the hardware we have, not trying to build some mythical machine that cannot exist in the known universe.

Next thing you'll be asking us help with is cloning a Tyrannosaurus Rex using chicken DNA.

Very nice one-sided discussion we have here
I'd encourage the OP to take up the gauntlet and prove all wrong. But it could be not so cost effective. Case surgery will be necessary too.
Carry on OP!

Hint: G5 LCD won't work with Intel iMac's logic board, unless you'll change EDID (succesfully) and other settings. Didn't hear about anybody who did it in iMac, but some people in MacBooks did.

Imixmuan said:

rabiz7=M1keyb77?

The intelligence level, tone and language use of the two posters is pretty much identical....

If I am mistaken and this is not the case, then as others have noted, why not just go build yourself a hackintosh? There are cases made for just that, sites and forums devoted just to that and only that. We are all about PowerPC here, getting the most out of the hardware we have, not trying to build some mythical machine that cannot exist in the known universe.

Next thing you'll be asking us help with is cloning a Tyrannosaurus Rex using chicken DNA.

Click to expand...

And how they type with nearly no punctuation or capital letters where there should be...

Why not just buy an Intel iMac whole? At the end of the day it would be cheaper.

M1keyb77 said:

Ok sorry why would I need to hacksaw the back of my existing imac?

Click to expand...

Are you Rabidz? I don't know but insisting on the same topic over and over again? It is not possible. It would be like trying to fit a macbook pro into a powerbook G4.

In the end, it would be cheaper to get a second hand Intel iMac.

Also, if you want to replace a processor, no. You cannot change the pins/connectors/etc It is just impossible.

However...


If you by any change, miracle, meteor, etc, get to actually accomplish this, Do not forget to take a video, post pictures, etc of it.

I just went through the service manual for the iSight G5 iMac and the CoreDuo iMac. There are lots of differences. I'll list them here: the camera board, optical drive sensor cable and sensor, the G5 has a TMDS video cable the Intell has a LVDS cable, the hard drive SATA cable, Airport card, Bluetooth card, screen, power cable for connecting the power supply to internal componets, wireless antennas, ram, clutch, and DC\DC inverter. Also when looking at the logicboard, the Intell board has a bigger lower left corner than the G5 board. The optical drive connects to a different part of the board. The G5's heatsink has special brackets that are not on the Intell board that are used to hold it down.

M1keyb77 said:

Last thing I'm going to say seeing as half of you have less of a clue than others. Oh I'm not saying I'm 100% in the know, but where the hell have I said about just changing the CPU?

Click to expand...

You didn't. I'm just putting that out there so that you don't create another thread about "Changing CPU"

And yeah you're better buying an earlier intel iMac

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't have a clue? Well most of the time, and that's why I do some research first.

Just reflow the graphics card or install a new GPU? Buy an early Mac Pro? Or a new Mac Mini?
The parts you need to do this conversion (RAM, CPUs, logic board, etc.) will be > a complete Mac Pro. The sum of the parts are more expensive then the whole, so to speak.

As a long time reader of this forum (slightly less time as an active member) Power PC integration/customisation to Intel is a frequently discussed topic.

Many ask, receive a response similar to those in this topic, do a bit more research, realise the Mac Rumors members were in fact correct, and carry on their lives, with the knowledge that whatever they were trying to do over the two architectures cannot be done.

Surely the way the OP has consistently challenged the facts presented to him, with no real argument backing his claims implies he is clearly just "trolling" this forum....

I normal follow the Power PC section as it's full of wonderful things people are doing to keep their machines alive, not causing pointless arguments for the sake of it.

End of Rant!

Looking at this thread I'd say conversions like this are possible if you have a lot of time and some engineering skills but whether it would be worth it both in time and cost.

The same thing goes when upgrading PCs, by the time you replace the mainboard and other components like the RAM, Video Card, maybe the HDDs you're left with the case and maybe power supply. I've had several PCs and found it much better just to replace the tower when needed, swap over the storage HDDs and sell off the old PC on eBay.

JMHO something like this is a nice project if you have the time.

My personal opinion

I think we all should be concerned about extending the life of our PPC machines instead of making them into PC machines.. It just won't work so please forget about it.

Integrating PC parts into a PowerPC case is not going to work in most instances, but the thought of someone doing this just kills off one less PowerPC machine..

If you want to make your Intel Mac Pro a PC with alien type effects and hardware, then please do it on an Intel machine, not a PPC one. There are so few left of us, we don't need to lose anymore from the PPC community.

enuf ranting..

PPCMM

M1keyb77 said:

1 same way it connects to the motherboard now
2 psu is the same size and firment
3 similar heat sink in size and shape
4 incorrect as the cases are the same
5 io do line up
6 I'm sure it will

Instead of just chatting crap why not have something constructive to say!!!

Click to expand...

I think it's a waste of money trying, but it's your machine. The same question has come up with G5 towers to mac pro conversions. It wasn't practical there either. You still can't run the latest software without workarounds. On a first generation intel imac, I would go with Snow Leopard.

rabidz7 said:

It is amazing how other people on this forum are so opposed to new ideas!

Click to expand...

I believe the issue is that it's being rehashed. Macs have been modded and upgraded in various ways for years. With recent mac pros, the 2009 to 2010 cpu swap became popular after pricing dropped on the part. Generally with the imacs, most things don't work due to the lack of industry standard parts and connections. Going from a G5 to an early intel isn't great anyway. The display must have a huge number of hours on it by this point, and even if everything fit without drilling holes for ports (which it won't), you would still need to replace practically every electronic part. It isn't likely to be a cost effective project, and it merely moves you from one generation of de-supported hardware to another. Something like a new mini + a decent third party display seems like a much better purchase. Even when they were new, the 20" imac G5s didn't have great displays (pretty sure they were stuck with TN). Now it has a ton of hours and consumer grade displays have improved immensely.

Lancer said:

Looking at this thread I'd say conversions like this are possible if you have a lot of time and some engineering skills but whether it would be worth it both in time and cost.

The same thing goes when upgrading PCs, by the time you replace the mainboard and other components like the RAM, Video Card, maybe the HDDs you're left with the case and maybe power supply. I've had several PCs and found it much better just to replace the tower when needed, swap over the storage HDDs and sell off the old PC on eBay.

JMHO something like this is a nice project if you have the time.

Click to expand...

Well, if it is possible or not is a matter of definition.

In my opinion: If you replace every vital core component, it is not a conversion at all. It is reusing the case; a nice case mod and a neat hack retrofitting newer components in a older case.