Yet another G5 mod

D

Destos

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 4, 2003
Messages
66
Well I thought I would join in on the G5 modding spree and make something functional that can be my main/only rig for a while. One of the main things I want to do on this mod is not alter anything externally on the case that includes the rear I/O and expansion slots (besides maybe a paint job). So it will not be like most past G5 mods where the whole backside of the case is removed and replaced with an ATX MB tray.
Ill have to make custom M/B standoffs and probably J/B weld them to the case.
As the Power PC M/B is designed differently around the I/O ports with a regular ATX motherboard there is a gap between the holes for the I/O ports in the case, which will allow me to make adapters that are easily removable in case I need to swap MBs. however making the adapters is going to be challenging in such a small space. (3/4" gap)

I plan on having the front I/O fully functional with possibly some extra functions to the power led and button.

As the G5 doesn't have and buttons for opening and closing the CD drive, I'm thinking of using a motion detector mounted on top of the drive facing out the front. so when you wave your hand in front of the drive it would open. I'll have to check it it can actually sense anything through the mesh.

OR I could make a circuit that would use the power button, and with short presses and releases it could open the drive. the motion detector might be easier to make but might not work all the time, which could get frustrating.

Here are some designs I came up with a while ago for possible paint jobs.
designs.jpg

I made them kinda quick so W/E ill touch back on it later when I actually get to that point.
I also thought maybe it would look cool with just the external/not mesh part of the case to either be painted/powder coated, and here are some of those paint palette ideas.
pick_color.jpg

Tell me which you like best or suggest others!

For cooling I'm going to use 2 HUGE fans rated at 235 CFM at 12V
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=search&item=CF-221&type=store
At 7V and 5V they sound very silent and still move more air then my two current 120mm fans.

The fans will positioned on top of each other in front of the case, with a (hopefully) well designed sound dampening system that wont impede airflow. I'll post those design ideas later for critique.

I should be able to update later tonight with pictures of the fans in the case and I/O socket ideas.
 
second desgin, black outer panles and handels, aluminum front bezel and have the side panel design be white in color, bezel be in black :D
 
It is that time again kiddies. (sorry I'm feeling silly at the moment)

So I have some actual Pictuarz of the case this time. yup for realz.
Be warned this case was purchased for a mear $41, as there are damages. (ya you know whatever!) Just some minor coolant leek spills that have left some small rust splotches and what have you. Nothing drastically horrendous. ;)
So on with the pics!

Top down view of fan position and stuff.
fans1.jpg

Yes I know the antistatic bag doesn't protect the Mobo (The mobo is fried, I just don't want to scratch anything)

not much room here! I might consider turning the Fans 90* but then I wont have much space on the sides for sound absorption material.
fans2.jpg


These suckers are BIG! :D 6" is the smallest width.
fans3.jpg


and the centerpiece of this post. My Airflow Schematics of DOOOM please do enjoy

cl-icky for larger version

Now I would like to call upon all the powers of [Hard]ness.
*where can I find really good THIN sound absorption material. I'm not sure what frequencies I want absorbed as of yet, so any suggestions into that matter would be appreciated.
I found some materials that are used in small airplanes to reduce noise, and just around 1cm in thickness it sounded alright, however it was priced rather.... pricey.

And thanks for all your comments on the color scheme. I'm not going to focus on the paint job just yet so I'll bring that topic back up when it comes time.

-Till later!
 
Destos said:
*where can I find really good THIN sound absorption material. I'm not sure what frequencies I want absorbed as of yet, so any suggestions into that matter would be appreciated.
I found some materials that are used in small airplanes to reduce noise, and just around 1cm in thickness it sounded alright, however it was priced rather.... pricey.

And thanks for all your comments on the color scheme. I'm not going to focus on the paint job just yet so I'll bring that topic back up when it comes time.

-Till later!
Click to expand...

here or here. Not sure if this is more or less expensive than what you are looking at currently.
 
possibly use the spray sound absorber from dynamat? i saw it in the crutchfiel catalog... just an idea :)
 
Erks me the way you all take the easy way out and just give up and mount the board upside down :(

but thats just a personal thing, ;)


Love the idea of the color and the patten tho!!! awsome stuff, :)
 
Defyant said:
Erks me the way you all take the easy way out and just give up and mount the board upside down :(

but thats just a personal thing, ;)


Love the idea of the color and the patten tho!!! awsome stuff, :)
Click to expand...

Plenty of cases have the motherboard mounted that way now. Look at the very sucessfull lian li v1000 case for example.

Frankly I think that way up is better as the gfx card heatsink is not acting against nature (heat rises after all)
 
I could mount it the right way up by flipping the panels around by unscrewing all the screws that hold everything together. However I have never worked with BTX cases so thought I might as well try on this one. I personally don't have any preference, but as my case usually sits on the right side of me so that side panel would be facing away. Also I'm not going to cut a window so it doesn't matter! :)

amohedas: One can buy one on eBay or at many other apple parts online stores. I got mine on eBay for $41, they usually sell for $100 but mine was damaged.

GoFastNova: I would use the spray Dynamat if the case didn't have all those holes!. However If I figure out a way to make sure nothing seeps through the holes when painting the insides of the perforated panels, I would do it.

SpangeMonkee: Thanks for the links! I had forgotten about Dynamat, and if even looks quite thin! I'm probably gonna get Four 10" x 32" sheets as that should be enough to cover most of what I want to be covered.....

I'll be revealing my sound dampening ideas for the front of the case later today. I have to draw up some spiffy diagrams that would be easy to understand. So I can get some feedback from all you sound engineers out there!

I'll also probably post some cardboard mock ups for how the fans will be mounted.
I really want to make a lot of the internal structural pieces out of carbon fibre. So I might make wood molds after the mock ups are done and plaster some good ol CF on em!

-bis später!
 
Well I got some Dynamat and started with the bottom of the case.
snug_2.jpg


With my leet meazuring skills It fits very nicely.
snug_asa_bug.jpg


You can see I made many holes in the Dynamat, as there are 4 screw holes I am going to use to mount the fan shrouds and the power supply, and a bunch of areas where the Dynamat was hitting certain screws.

Swiss cheese baby!
dyna_holes.jpg


The start of the two different intake sound dampening designs.
alt_designs.jpg

note: these are mockups as to get the right size/positions to make sure everything will fit snugly.

The two designs completed.
alt_designs2.jpg


Please note that there will be Dynamat on most of the internal surfaces of the intake shrouds as that’s the whole purpose of these designs. I didn't place or cut any now as I don’t want to waste any. The designs are mainly for turbulence and airflow testing.

I probably will make a couple more intake designs and see what works out best.
I'm mainly looking at good air flow and creating a less turbulent flow path so the air doesn't create more noise as it goes thru the intake. I also have to make sure not to create and resonating chambers or walls as that will just add to the systems' noise.

Here are some vids I took of one fan at different voltages on my box type shroud.
Fan at 12V
Fan at 5V

Its fairly silent at 5V while still moving a good amount of air, at 12V its insane. I'll probably set it at around 7V and hopefully design a good sound dampening intake manifold.

If you have any suggestions on effective sound dampening designs for an intake system let me know.

TTFN
 
Its always interesting to see other's ideas for this case. I am VERY into car audio and had NEVER thought about creating an acoustical chamber to DAMPEN sound resonance. One ofthe things that I use to elimate air turbulence in subwoofer boxes is an aeroport. Crutchfield has them. I have 2 actually that I can sell to you for less than you can get them there. I would reccommend the 3" port since you would want to cover the entire fan.. The flanges on these are quite large and Reduce SIGNIFIGANT amounts of turbulent noise. Another option is to actually use an RTA and your computer to analyze the sound and figure out specifically what frequencies are prominent. Then you can make a chamber that would resonate at 1/3 of that frequency to break up the sound more and the dynamat would to the rest. Though I think from fan noise you are mostly looking at vibration issues and the vanes of the fan beating aginst the air at higer speeds. Perhaps try the spray on dynamat on the actual fan... the vanes' vibration would be absorbed there as well. Hope this helps and you have given me something to think about. Perhaps I will have a moment of inspiration and post again. GOOD LUCK!
 
I actually laughed at your 12volt video. Why not just have a fan speed controller (sorry if this was brought up already, I didn't read this whole thread yet.
 
Qtip: Glad you had a laugh at it.... It was meant to be comical. :D at least that’s what I think you are getting at... and possibly my stupidity.
BTW the fan does have a wire where one can hook up a potentiometer to control the fan speed, I just haven't gotten around to installing it yet.

Willsonman: The fans will have two grommets on either end of the fan mount when I’m done, and they will screw into the bottom of the case and underneath the optical drive. I hope to reduce some vibration that way. And thanks for the great feedback!

I have a new idea for the shroud which I will mockup and hopefully post soon.
 
I should elaborate, I was laughing at how loud it was and then got some crazy idea to make the loudest case ever. Then the laughing turned into more of "mu-ha-ha"


edit: as far as the stripe goes. Racing stripes are stupid however if you put a stripe where the I/O's are on front (just add a line above and below it), it'd look cool. Only if it's silver though.
 
Yeh that video reminded me of a project that was posted here, has 2 big turbine like things :p

I guess Qtip means somethings like this:

g5silstrip4dx.jpg


Am I right?
 
exactly. Now that I look at it though, the cdrom part looks a bit weird. Maybe space the stripe 1/4" from the tray .....heh i dunno. Nice pic though.
 
g50qy.jpg


Looks pretty good in my opinion.

This might be something worth checking out Destos if it interests u at all.
 
lawl Qtip... I can see that one... x1800xl's in it I assume? man alive that would be an absolute hoot to see. AS for bringing this post back on track, I see what you are getting at in terms of the mounting.. Interested in your new shroud. I guess I am still unclear as to which noise specifically you are trying to eliminate.
 
I'm mainly trying to eliminate as much sound as possible coming from the front of the fan.

Here is what I’m thinking of currently.
channels.jpg


However It will most likely have to be made with a CNC machine in multiple parts, and the internal surfaces dampened with some spray on Dynamat.
 
hrm... then I think you will be facing some tough opponents. The grill mesh will cause serious amounts of air turbulence that will make noise. I think that your idea to make a flange first then go to the fan is a good one to isolate the fan deeper inside the case but I dont think that you will need such an elaborate flange. I think it is VERY COOL though and would give you big modding points in my book but it would make me scratch my head and say well, whats the darn thing fer anywho? I think if you used the combination of the aeroport idea and coat the fan with one layer of spray on dynamat you would get great results. Maybe even a coat on the inside of the port as well.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Q80fxWyXikO/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=745&I=495PNR3&search=aeroport
linky fer the aeroports.
 
ive always wanted to see a non-shit mod using those gigantic fans......



SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!
 
A quick little update one what’s happening

I took off the outer casing of the G5 in order to line the inside with Dynamat
dyna_in.jpg

Yes you can call me crazy If you want.

pwr_o.jpg

Modified a power plug to fit in the back. I don't remember where I got it. :eek:

pwr_back.jpg

how it looks installed in the back of the case.

front_IO_1.jpg

and here is the start of me splicing and extending the front I/O panel

later on I will add jumpers to the ends of the extended wires to interface with the I/O button and power light output on the Motherboard.
If I'm feeling snazzy I might add some more functionality to the power button. (open the CD drive)

As for the fans I might just drop the shroud designs as they produce more sound than its worth, and I dont have the time of money to research other means of quieting the fans.

Willsonman: If you are willing to maybe talk to me over aim on how abouts I would go using aeroports that would be swell.
 
It seems like you may already know this, but I couldn't get confirmation from any of the pics. I have one of those fans and I believe the yellow wire is a speed control wire, just hook a 5k pot between it and gnd and instant fan control. :D The blue/white wire is standard rpm signal.

Whats wrong with the rally stripes? I guess im a bit biased against the tribal like crap though.
 
My concern is that the Dynamat is somehwat wasted because the entire front and back of the case is perforated. You'd have to cover as much of the perforated areas as well (aside from the front intake) in order to silence the case.
 
Spare-Flair said:
My concern is that the Dynamat is somehwat wasted because the entire front and back of the case is perforated. You'd have to cover as much of the perforated areas as well (aside from the front intake) in order to silence the case.
Click to expand...

Well sound bounces too. The dynamat will prevent any sound from bouncing along the case sides that would otherwise eventually lead out of the case. That will make the noise very directional and most likely near silent around the sides. Walking by, you may only hear noise for a split second as you walk in front of it.
 
Well sorry for the lack of updates, nothing much is happening. I'm deciding on the best way to mount the motherboard.
what I'm going to do unless someone suggests a better way it cut out little pieces of plexi about 6mm thick and then drill-tap and mount a 6mm motherboard standoff stud. Then I am going to drill some holes in the backside of it plaster it with epoxy and screw them all onto a motherboard and mount it in the case and let it dry.

It probably will be strong enough to hold up the motherboard, but if anyone has any other ideas that would be cool.

Now for some pics! :D

mounts.jpg

I have 2 sets of these mounts fabbed. These where cut out with a dremel and then sanded and polished. (they are quite smooth now) these will be used to mount to the fans and then the whole shebang to the case with grommets somewhere snug between em.

gromet_mounts.jpg

about where the grommets are to be mounted. I had to go with some cheaper grommets and I hope they work alright.

temp_fan_mount.jpg

And here is one of the fans test mounted with some nuts and rods, I ordered some rubber fan mounts that should hopefully fit.. :(

font_IO_spliced_oneside.jpg

The Front I/O cable fully spliced and wired to extension cables. I'll wire the other end when I figure out what I'm gonna do with the switch/light

I could have taken a picture of how the bolts are mounted in the case where the fan mount is going to sit on, but don't have the camera atm.

Hopefully I can get more done next round get the fans all mounted and square away the motherboard, then things should really pick up.
 
Another paint design idea.
paint_2.jpg


I dont like the things on the sides, but I have to come up with something as there is a scratch on the side I want to cover.
 
Destos said:
Another paint design idea.
paint_2.jpg


I dont like the things on the sides, but I have to come up with something as there is a scratch on the side I want to cover.
Click to expand...

i agree the things on the side are a little overkill... (atleast extending to the front they are...)

the multi tonal stripes are awesome looking though :D
 
I like it... but I suggest adding the little tabs that wrap around on the back edges as well, so the apple will be in the center, surrounded by the tabs. An alternate typeface for the word "intake" would help too. :D

notice I didn't include the photo again in my reply :rolleyes:
 
An update of sorts. Note: I'm gonna sleeve as many wires as I can later, I just wanted to get everything together so I could use my PC again.
(I'm on it now)

And all those who like to see the latest most fast hardware being installed in mods, turn away now you have been warned.
(I don't have any money to get any of the latest hard core hardware. Feel free to donate :eek: )

I really would like to have one of those GIANT 6 heat pipe coolers to make the actually look like there was something worth cooling in the case. :(

PSU_poke_poke.jpg

"poke poke"

PSU.jpg

PSU mounted and grounded to case

cd_mount.jpg

CD mount area with extra material cut for airflow

drive_mount.jpg

Hard drive mount uses some old HDD mount holes.

fans_mounted_1.jpg

Fans position tested and everything clears with a good couple millimeters on both sides.

fans_mounted.jpg

plexi was used to complete the fan mount assembly.

g5_ideas_2.jpg

And I think this will be the final design, as the letters should be easy to make with tape.

drill_press.jpg

My dad and me just bought this to make our lives easier, and boy does it help.

the motherboard tray was mounted with standoffs mounted into tapped 6mm plexi and then double sided tape was used to mount that to the case. However the tape isn't holding up so I'm going to have to use some epoxy.

I also am going to make a air baffle to divert air towards the HDD and CPU. It will be of a similar design to the one that comes with the G5.
 
wow. very cool mod. i cant wait to see the finished product!

plus, i really like the final case design. thats gonna look spectacular :cool:
 
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