Hack Pro

[JTP]

Let me start off by saying this: I don't like Macs. I'm a die-hard Windows user. But there are a couple programs I need for work, which are only available on Mac. I had a crappy old Macbook I was using for this purpose, but one day the screen decided it no longer felt like being connected to the rest of it, so it's basically useless for what I need. I've been meaning to build a decent Hackintosh for a while, but I didn't know which direction I wanted to go with it... Fate decided for me when someone near my girlfriend's house was throwing out a gutted Powermac G5 case. I decided it was perfect.

 

Day 1.

 

Original condition...

 

Gutted. Important bits I need to re-use are carefully bagged. Everything else... not so much.

 

Original back panel. Some work to be done here to fit an ATX board...

 

Front panel jacks are missing. Ordered some replacement bits from eBay.

 

Test fitting with an old PSU. This is where the hard drive cage used to be. Original PSU was a ridiculous 1000W monster that took up the entire bottom of the case.

 

Day 2.

 

Picked up the box of goodies from NCIX:

 

Also received the front panel jack bits from eBay:

 

Figuring out PSU placement.

 

I'm mounting the PSU using the fan screws. Mounting holes drilled, fan cutout marked.

 

Fan hole cut.

 

Power supply mounting complete! Almost. Need to find some longer fan screws, with the added thickness of the shelf, the stock ones are barely in there because they're recessed on the PSU itself.

 

That's all for now.

 

Update 3

 

(This is several days worth of work, so I'm going to stop calling updates days.)

 

More packages came. Mountain Mods motherboard tray. Also, RAM. 

 

Found this 2.5" hard drive cage on eBay. Since I only plan on installing the SSD and a laptop HD I had lying around in this machine, it will do nicely.

 

Time to break out the rotary tool. I cut out the PCI slots from the back of the case to make it easier to figure out placement of the motherboard tray.

 

Test fitting...

 

So this weekend I brought everything up to the cottage, because there happens to be a drill press and an ample amount of free time up there. After test fitting the tray and doing some measuring, I decided that the ideal height for the tray is 5/8" from the side of the case. So I went to Metal Supermarkets and asked... and they had a scrap of exactly what I wanted - aluminum bar 1/2"x5/8", which they gave me for $5. I also picked up a cheap tap set from Canadian Tire. Can you see where this is going yet?

 

Two holes drilled, and 1-1/4" length marked...

 

Holes tapped out to #8-32 thread.

 

Here's the first one cut free from the bar. One down, three to go. Basically, I'm making my own standoffs that I'll attach to the case with epoxy, so I'll be able to screw the motherboard tray into place (and remove it if I need to).

 

Full set of 4 complete!

 

Made a little template to transfer hole locations to the motherboard tray. I didn't like the locations or size of the stock holes.

 

Drilling them out. I temporarily screwed the tray to a piece of wood to act as a backup for my holes.

 

Success! All 4 mounted.

 

Test fitting again. Time to mark up the case for cutting. I covered the backplate with masking tape to protect it from scratches and grease, since it's the part that's actually going to be visible...

 

... And the inside.

 

Now the nerve-wracking part... cutting out the back of the case. The cut in the middle between the fan holes was a test to see if I could easily control the saw and make a nice straight cut. It was actually a lot easier than I was expecting.

 

Oh look, a Mac with a big hole.

 

Now I need to cut the Mountain Mods backplate to make space for the case latch. Here I marked out the corner to drill a hole, so that it will be a nice rounded corner.

 

Drilling...

 

The rest of the piece cut out. It's straight but pretty rough.

 

A few minutes with the sanding wheel and it's almost as nice as the factory edge.

 

Success!

 

If you've been paying close attention to the photos, you're probably wondering about this hole that the backplate doesn't completely cover. It's left over from a plastic cover that used to hide a wifi antenna. I'm filling it with this piece of 1/16" aluminium I had lying around.

 

Piece cut, corners rounded, and it was a bit scratched up so I used a little wire brush to clean it up.

 

The tray fits nicely in the hole.

 

Last step for now: putting in the filler piece I made, and drilling and riveting it to the backplate.

 

More coming soon! Maybe I'll actually get around to putting a computer in it at some point!

[MrDavid]

The ultimate case for the ultimate Hackintosh! I've always admired Apple's clean packaging.

[felixbearpig]

haha never thought of this

[extremescouter]

This looks amazing! Ive always thought it was cool when people make hackintoshes inside powermac and mac pro cases. 

[GuppyTech]

Your on to something mate.

 

love what you have done with the psu.

 

i am really looking forward to how you continue.

 

thanks for sharing.

[joelthezombie15]

I think that case looks like a big prodigy 

[FpsRanga]

nice looks 10 times better then the OG

[JAKEBAB]

wanna see more :(

[virusal19]

Looking good.

[Raptus]

Can't wait to see how this turns out! 

[MathijsZ77]

That is just so awesome! Defenitely following this topic!

[Ymac]

I think that case looks like a big prodigy 

 

 no, the Prodigy looks like a small Mac Pro... sins 1999. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G4

[Sundanc3]

I built a Hackintosh in Prodigy...the next best thing. Good work man! 

[SirReallySam]

Seems awesome so far :)

Keep us up to date

[Aerozonea]

Looking forward to more of this build!

[izaakski]

Wow. That looks awesome, looking forward to seeing the finish product.

[dylandylandylan]

I like that case eh, Might look into doing something similar.

[AvoK95]

I like that case eh, Might look into doing something similar.

Consider an R4 ;) 

[dylandylandylan]

Consider an R4 ;)

 

I did consider a R4, not for my new build, but as a new case for the build I have now. It's a good looking case.

[Jack Wignall]

I think that case looks like a big prodigy 

I second that haha

[SirReallySam]

I second that haha

third

[Parkway Drive]

I noticed you didn't have a GPU in the photos, will you be running onboard graphics or what are you planning on getting?

[XiaoPigs]

Another build log I am looking forward to :D Moar!

[enRodjavel]

well its a Hackintosh so it should be in a Hacked Up Macintosh 

 

its lookign good and allways fun to watch some building going on =D

[JTP]

Wow, lots of enthusiasm for this, thanks everyone... Sorry, I won't have much in the way of updates for a while as I'm waiting on some more parts.

 

I noticed you didn't have a GPU in the photos, will you be running onboard graphics or what are you planning on getting?

Still deciding how much GPU horsepower I need (aka, how much I want to spend)... Not going to be gaming on this but I will be doing some light video work. I don't want to dump a huge amount of money into this, especially since it's not my primary machine. Probably going to go with something in the GTX 650-660 range. I'm watching the sales...

 

In any case, I'll be putting the GPU in last because the OSX installation will probably go smoother running on the onboard graphics - then I can get the drivers installed and put the card in.