First, if this is in the wrong place or not allowed, let me know and I will fix it.
I wanted to show off my new Mac Pro.
I recently picked up 5 cMPs from Facebook, $100 for all 5. Each was complete minus the hard drive.
I am restoring one, a 2009 dual CPU.
The original reason I bought these, and was looking for 1, was to build my Ryzen 7 5800XT PC inside of. I have always loved the look of the cMP and have wanted one for a while. However, now that I can afford one, they are so outdated that using them everyday comes with its share of challenges. Limits imposed by the hardware and Apple.
I wanted one to run my flight simulator. I am just in the beginning stages of the flight sime build, but it will be a full cockpit WWII warbird. Not an accurate replica of any one plane, but a representation of the look and feel of the aircraft from that era.
With its all aluminum case, the cMP is the perfect choice for my Simpit, but the hardware is just not up to the task.
I chose a 3.1 from the 5 and gutted it out. I wanted to retain as much of the original look, feel and function of the original cMP.
I Started with a Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 Motherboard for the AMD AM4 Cpu. This is a MATX board. It allows installation without the need to cut the upper tray. This was important to maintain the look.
I added a Ryzen 7 5800XT 8 Core 16 Thread CPU from AMD. For now I am using the AMD CPU cooler, but would like to use the cMP CPU cooler at some point.
I have seen so many of these done where the back of the case looks like a hack job, or has a flat aluminum plate screwed on. This is not what I wanted. I removed the standoffs from the case, installed them on the MATX board and then installed the GPU to position it into the original PCIe slot. I then positioned the O/I shield and cut out just enough for the I/O Shield to fit. I then designed a housing for the I/O and cut it out of acrylic on my Co2 Laser. I had to trim the plastic surround on the PCIe box, then I attached the I/O housing and covered it all with aluminum tape to keep the aluminum look and help to make it look factory.
I really wanted to use the original PSU, but after opening it up I found out that it is 12V only. A PC requires 12V, 5V and 3.3V. Luckily the guy that I got the 5 cMPs from also sold me an EVGA 650 Watt modular PSU. I cut apart the Mac PSU and installed the EVGA using the Mac power inlet. The PSU fan faces up into the open space above the PSU. Air flow is plenty.
I had to cut the PSU fan mount/guard to allow room for the modular cables to fit, but this is all covered by the optical drive cover.
There is a lot more that had to be done, I trimmed the rear fan to fit the original hole, trimmed the memory slot bay to fit over the new Mobo. Added a clear window and magnets to hold it in place.
I rewired the drive bays to be able to use swappable drives just like original. I made an acrylic mount for the power and Sata cables and press fit them in. Some CA glue holds them in place.
I used the original power button and LED, this works just like the original. I also used a small 3mm green LED that fits in the holes for the HDD light.
Things left to do. I still need to finish the front USB and I/O. I want to avoid the hot glue mess, so I will be adapting or making a new board for that. USB 3.2 is supported on this board, so it is just a matter of a mount, no conversion needed.
I also need to fix or replace the fans. One item I overlooked was that the PSU only supplied 12V. The Mac fans are then 12V, however the PC uses 5V fans. I wired them up, plugged them in and didn't even think about the issue until I turned it on and the fans were just barely moving or just twitching. So, I will either use a small board with some MOSFETTs to control them, or just replace them with new 5V fans. I want to keep them as they are original and are the right color. However, I think Noctua makes a nice Grey 120mm fan that would be a much simpler way to go.
I wanted to show off my new Mac Pro.
I recently picked up 5 cMPs from Facebook, $100 for all 5. Each was complete minus the hard drive.
I am restoring one, a 2009 dual CPU.
The original reason I bought these, and was looking for 1, was to build my Ryzen 7 5800XT PC inside of. I have always loved the look of the cMP and have wanted one for a while. However, now that I can afford one, they are so outdated that using them everyday comes with its share of challenges. Limits imposed by the hardware and Apple.
I wanted one to run my flight simulator. I am just in the beginning stages of the flight sime build, but it will be a full cockpit WWII warbird. Not an accurate replica of any one plane, but a representation of the look and feel of the aircraft from that era.
With its all aluminum case, the cMP is the perfect choice for my Simpit, but the hardware is just not up to the task.
I chose a 3.1 from the 5 and gutted it out. I wanted to retain as much of the original look, feel and function of the original cMP.
I Started with a Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 Motherboard for the AMD AM4 Cpu. This is a MATX board. It allows installation without the need to cut the upper tray. This was important to maintain the look.
I added a Ryzen 7 5800XT 8 Core 16 Thread CPU from AMD. For now I am using the AMD CPU cooler, but would like to use the cMP CPU cooler at some point.
I have seen so many of these done where the back of the case looks like a hack job, or has a flat aluminum plate screwed on. This is not what I wanted. I removed the standoffs from the case, installed them on the MATX board and then installed the GPU to position it into the original PCIe slot. I then positioned the O/I shield and cut out just enough for the I/O Shield to fit. I then designed a housing for the I/O and cut it out of acrylic on my Co2 Laser. I had to trim the plastic surround on the PCIe box, then I attached the I/O housing and covered it all with aluminum tape to keep the aluminum look and help to make it look factory.
I really wanted to use the original PSU, but after opening it up I found out that it is 12V only. A PC requires 12V, 5V and 3.3V. Luckily the guy that I got the 5 cMPs from also sold me an EVGA 650 Watt modular PSU. I cut apart the Mac PSU and installed the EVGA using the Mac power inlet. The PSU fan faces up into the open space above the PSU. Air flow is plenty.
I had to cut the PSU fan mount/guard to allow room for the modular cables to fit, but this is all covered by the optical drive cover.
There is a lot more that had to be done, I trimmed the rear fan to fit the original hole, trimmed the memory slot bay to fit over the new Mobo. Added a clear window and magnets to hold it in place.
I used the original power button and LED, this works just like the original. I also used a small 3mm green LED that fits in the holes for the HDD light.
Things left to do. I still need to finish the front USB and I/O. I want to avoid the hot glue mess, so I will be adapting or making a new board for that. USB 3.2 is supported on this board, so it is just a matter of a mount, no conversion needed.
I also need to fix or replace the fans. One item I overlooked was that the PSU only supplied 12V. The Mac fans are then 12V, however the PC uses 5V fans. I wired them up, plugged them in and didn't even think about the issue until I turned it on and the fans were just barely moving or just twitching. So, I will either use a small board with some MOSFETTs to control them, or just replace them with new 5V fans. I want to keep them as they are original and are the right color. However, I think Noctua makes a nice Grey 120mm fan that would be a much simpler way to go.
