[ Case Mod ] Powertosh i5 / Powermac G5 watercooled Hackintosh

[perestrojka]

Hi to all people of Linus Tech Tips !

 

 

So, I decided to finally put my hands on Powermac G5 case, and build my dream computer / cooling system.

 

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System specs:

 

CPU: i5 4690k // de-lided @ 5.0GHz 1.5V

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro 2 x 8GB 2400MHz CL11

GPU: Gainward Phantom GTX 980

MBO: Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1

HDD: Intel 520 120GB

PSU: Seasonic 520W Fanless 

* Other parts are still unknown *

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Liquid cooling loop specs:

 

Laing DDC-VC pump

Watercool HK CPU Rev. 3.0 LC

Watercool HEATKILLER® GPU-X3

EK-CoolStream PE 360 3 * 120 mm radiator ( 19FPI double fin ) 

Noiseblocker NB-eLoop B12-PS Bionic loop *SPONSORED*

EK-XTOP DDC - Acetal (Original CSQ) 

Alphacool tubing AlphaTube black

Monsoon 13/10mm (ID 3/8" OD 1/2") White Free Center fittings *SPONSORED*

Cable managment and sleeving is sponsored by ICEMODZ

 

 

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Many thanks to the sponsors :

 

www.blacknoise.com

 

 

www.icemodz.com

 

www.monsooncooling.com



www.pcaxe.com

For years i was trying to find used case on our local cragilist-a-like website, and pretty much there was no super deals, people often wanted like 300 GBP for bare Powermac case, or some very old Powermac configuration. 

 

And finally ! Few days ago, there it was, one ad got my attention, Powermac 7.3, with LCS ( non functional LCS drained out all over the PPCs and PSU ), i was happy as hell , instantly got on my e-mail and started communication with seller.

 

Aaand in less than 36hours,  here it is, DHL knocked on my door, yeeeeeeeeei

 

 

 

LCS was of course malfunctioned, but no worries my friends! Pump is still functional

 

 

 

 

 

So here it is, sweet little DDC guy

 

 

 

As i was talking with seller about our deal, i worked on 3d sketch for my project in the same time, and here it is.

 

Front

 

 

Back

 

 

Renders

 

 

 

 

My dream is to build as quiet as possible, yet well cooled and re-usable case / cooling system that will fit to any motherboard / gpu / cpu configuration in future. 

 

So, what are these compartments inside of it ? Well, i had in mind to use only 3 fans to cool whole pc, and to achieve maximum airflow / cooling effect without any additional fans except these on water radiator. 

 

So in this build i will go with fanless PSU, 3 x 120 NoiseBlocker Bionic eLoop fans on pwm and i will try to make thermal zones, so fans can speed up individually if there is a problem with temperature arise in one of the compartments without need to speed up another 2 fans. Apple Powermac case is perfect for build like this, as his perforated front and back side are ideal for vertical radiator placement and it will enable me to do what i want. Also i think that build quality is well known, this thing is built like a tank

 

[Laputacake]

Looks great, cant wait. Subbed

[Ostwind]

Didn't know those were watercooled, subbed.

[perestrojka]

I decided to pull out all things from it, and leave the rest for tomorrow, but Battlefield 4 servers were swarmed with children that day, so i decided to take a closer look on LCS pump, and to see if that machinery is still working. 

 

 

Ewwwww :sick:

 

 

I had to clean that crap out

 

 

 

What the heck? What kind of Laing pump is this ? Well, it is DDC-VC, model with volumetric compensator

 

 

 

 

Crap that got stuck inside pump, some debris, rust and who know what... I actually found something that was similar to pineapple chunks ( i don't want to know what that is  )

 

 

Case is 90% cleaned out, I'am waiting for my Dremel tool to arrive to continue work on it ( old one wasn't in use for 6 years, and decided to die when i powered it on to do some cut-outs on that case   )

 
 

And for the end of that night, random workplace pic, i was 50hours awake because of some other projects / work, and that was all for this night. Time to sleep

 

 

 

 

Current status: 

 

* Waiting for Dremel tool delivery

* Waiting for some cash to buy remaining parts

* Waiting for sponsors to arrange parts sponsorships  ( Don't worry, i have this project 100% covered by myself, but sponsors are always welcome )

[perestrojka]

Looks great, cant wait. Subbed

 

Thnx m8

 

Didn't know those were watercooled, subbed.

Thnx m8

Yeah, they build them with LCS because of 2.7GHz PPC had really big TDP, and they needed to cool 2 of them in such small space  ( Considering the fact that PPCs were watercooled, they still reached 80 - 100 degree Celcius )

[cesrai]

Please use sopiler guys, [*****] [/****]  replace ***** with spoiler and don't forget to put / in the last brackets.

[Anthony_95]

Very Interesting, Followed !! 

[8uhbbhu8]

This is going to be good! Followed!!

[z3kron]

This is really going to be good.

Will you make a windowed panel?

 

 

 

 

 

Followed 4 sure !

[perestrojka]

Very Interesting, Followed !! 

 

 

This is going to be good! Followed!!

 

 

This is really going to be good.

Will you make a windowed panel?

 

 

 

 

 

Followed 4 sure   !

 

Well, i don't know, maybe   maybe not,   it's classified 

Thanks guys  

Fresh update, just got really exciting e-mail from Aquatuning.de,  "Betr.: Shipping confirmation of your order." :)

 

[snoopy6489]

Looks like this is going to be good. Do you know what that brown burnt stuff on the bottom was?

[Norman_the_Owl]

@LukaP look another one of us

 

Really looking forward to this, and boy, you are way better at autodesk inventor than i am

[Tearass]

Interesting!

[perestrojka]

 

Looks like this is going to be good. Do you know what that brown burnt stuff on the bottom was?

Rust and coolant residue, that original coolant was really really nasty when he got into contact with air, stuff started to crystallize and eat every metal surface it touched

 

Interesting!

 

 

@LukaP look another one of us

 

Really looking forward to this, and boy, you are way better at autodesk inventor than i am

@Norman, Autodesk ?  

Thnx guys


Edit: 

Update: As it seems, negotiations with Silverstone aren't going as planned, so I'am thinking into using that 2 heatsinks from PPC memory controllers on my current PSU to boost its cooling and convert it into passive PSU.

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

Awesome! I can't wait to start working on my 2009 Mac Pro case again, would you mind heling me with some renders of it, but with a mATX motherboard and I/O facing downwards? I'll pm you with some handmade sketches(I am terrible at 3d rendering, even at 2d)

[perestrojka]

----

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

Sure mate, pm me on skype: juggernaut_vz

Can't find you on skype, I am sending you a PM on the forum

[snoopy6489]

 

 

Rust and coolant residue, that original coolant was really really nasty when he got into contact with air, stuff started to crystallize and eat every metal surface it touched

Ok. It looked like when my dad spilled powerade on his motorcycle exhaust pipe while it was running.  What were you using to 3d model the parts? 

[perestrojka]

Can't find you on skype, I am sending you a PM on the forum

Okay

 

 

Ok. It looked like when my dad spilled powerade on his motorcycle exhaust pipe while it was running.  What were you using to 3d model the parts? 

3D renders: SketchUp + Indigo Render plugin  ( mbo colour is black, also pictures are LQ, because i didn't want to wait for like 2h for one picture - my current gpu is fucked i guess, or we can say that this is amd driver problem lol, so i had to use cpu for rendering  )

Front / Back preview: Photoshop 

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

Okay

Just sent you a PM, if I don't reply in the next 10 minutes, I will answer tomorrow

[snoopy6489]

Okay

 

 

3D renders: SketchUp + Indigo Render plugin  ( mbo colour is black, also pictures are LQ, because i didn't want to wait for like 2h for one picture - my current gpu is fucked i guess, or we can say that this is amd driver problem lol, so i had to use cpu for rendering  )

Front / Back preview: Photoshop 

thanks.

[perestrojka]

Got some presents from:  Monsoon / 3/8 - 1/2 White compression fittings

 

http://monsooncooling.com

 

 

 

 

 

 BlackNoise Technologies / three B12-PS PWM eLoop fans.

 

www.blacknoise.com

 

 

-- Edit: 1hour ago received package of parts I've ordered from AquaTuning  --

 

 

 

Phobya Nano Grease

 

 

Phobya 2 component thermal glue / grease

 

 

AlphaCool VRAM heatsinks

 

 

Watercool Heatkiller GPU X3 

 

 

Watercool Heatkiller CPU LC 

 

 

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Waterblock base from the inside ( They both use the same base design, but in CPU block water is striking into middle of that base, and for GPU water is flowing from one side to another )
 

 

Monsoon fittings on CPU block

 

 

Monsoon fittings on GPU block

 

 

I had to put tubing on it, to see how this will look ( Alphacool 10/13 Black UV )

 

 

+

 

Got update from EK Waterblocks, they shipped packet to Croatia just few hours ago ( CoolStream PE 360,  RES X2 - 100 Basic, XTOP DDC - Acetal (Original CSQ) ) 

 

 

[perestrojka]

Got some candy from EK

 

 

 

 

 

Double fin radiator, hell yeah !

 

 

 

 

I'am still waiting for: Dremel ...

But hopefully it will be here in a few days

[z3kron]

Are you going to route tubing trough those "zone" panels or you going to do it in some elegant way?

Also why not hard tubing??

[perestrojka]

I have 2 options, either route them thru zone panels, or hide them inside original channels that are in case.

Why not hard tubing? - I want to keep myself out of tubing trouble when it comes to future hardware upgrades, soft tubes are much more "hassle free" + hard tubing kinda looks too plumber-ish to me