Putting a PC in a PowerMac Case?

[MacFanUK]

Having successfully building a great hackintosh (with the help of some great people on this forum), I am now looking at the possibility of transferring the system into a G5 PowerMac Case. Why G5? Because they are cheaper than the Mac Pro cases and Mac Pro cases are even more rare than the G5 ones (in the UK anyway).

Anyway, how difficult do you reckon this would be? I have been looking on InsanelyMac forum and it appears that the way to go would be to buy a removable motherboard tray from something like a Lian-Li case but what about the PSU/Drives/Cards, etc?

What do you think? Is it worth the effort?

 

[surflordca]

Have you sat back and priced each and every piece of equipment and software that you need to get the computer up and running? If so, than you are the only one that can decide if it is worth it...

 

[MacFanUK]

Have you sat back and priced each and every piece of equipment and software that you need to get the computer up and running? If so, than you are the only one that can decide if it is worth it...

Well as I said, I've already got the components, it's just whether or not it's worth buying a PowerMac case and any other parts I may need.

 

[donuttakedonuts]

Depends how much the G5 look is worth to you. If you think it's worth it for the price of the parts, then go ahead. Me, I'd be glad to have my hackintosh look like anything, as long as it works well. What mobo/install technique did you use?

 

[MacFanUK]

Depends how much the G5 look is worth to you. If you think it's worth it for the price of the parts, then go ahead. Me, I'd be glad to have my hackintosh look like anything, as long as it works well. What mobo/install technique did you use?

Yeah I get what you mean, but at the moment, I have it stuck in my head that I really want a proper Mac Pro (not for performance over an iMac or anything, but because of the upgradeability, etc). So I'm thinking that if I can build my hackintosh into a G5 case, it might satisfy my desire. However, I don't have a lot of time to spend on it as I go back to uni in just over a month.

I used a Gigabyte P35-DS3P motherboard with an Intel Q6600 CPU. The install technique I used was the Boot-132 method as this will allow me to run software updates, etc.

The G5 case is going to be around £60-£75 (with a couple of minor scratches as I can't find a new one) and the motherboard tray (if needed) will be £25.

 

[VPrime]

There are quite a few 'guides' on this being done. Do a quick google search.
I was planning on doing the same thing, and found that the easiest (and fairly clean) way of doing it was to cut out the back, and get an ATX insert to fit in. Either rivit, or screw it in.
This will let you have the motherboard in with little issue. There are still things like hard drive, power supply etc. But at least that is one thing out of the way
Also, there are a few different wiring pinouts for the front ports/power button. So you need to figure out which is yours if you want to make the front usb and stuff work. Google has the answer

 

[MacFanUK]

There are quite a few 'guides' on this being done. Do a quick google search....

Thanks, I will have a look. Yeah, I think the way to go would be a removable motherboard tray. I noticed a few people had been using Lian-Li ones without any great trouble.

Will have to look into the power button thing though