buildlog Black Mac, a silent workstation/F@H machine

[RollinLower]

 

So, here's gonna be my very first build log! Are you excited? I know i am!

 

This is by no means my very first build. I've build around 5 PC's before, some really nice ones too imo, but never really got to making a real proper build log. Time to change that, no?

So, let's get to it then. The name of the beast: Black Mac. "Why?" You ask? Well, because this PC is gonna be build in a modded Mac case. Specifically this one:

 

Now that right there is a beauty, isn't it?

 

This beast will be a video editing workstation for my older bro, who is in need of a new one. I originally planned for this to be a F@H PC, but as my post in the thread below describes, those plans are off for now. 

 

Now for the meat and potatoes, the actually important stuff. The (updated) specs!

 

Case- Powermac G5 (m-ATX modded) (purchased)

CPU- Intel Xeon E5 2603 V4 (purchased)

MOBO- Asus X99-M WS/SE (Purchased)

GPU- Nvidea GTX Titan X (Maxwell) 2-Way SLI (Purchased)

PSU- EVGA Supernova 850W (Purchased)

SSD- WD Blue M.2 1TB

RAM- 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 (purchased)

Cooling- Custom Cooling loop! (hardline?) Right now i'm going to keep the stock cooling in because of time constraints.

 

So, expect updates as the parts start rolling in. I, for one, am really looking foreward to this building adventure.

Adios!

Edited February 9, 2017 by RollinLower
won't you look at that, i even made a banner for this in paint which looks super original and professional!

[Guest]

How much to spend on a PSU?

[RollinLower]

Just now, deXxterlab97 said:

How much to spend on a PSU?

Well, i want reliability and SLI Titan X's, so a good amount of watts too. I guess the max would be 200 euro's for the PSU. or a little over if it's worth the extra.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

Well, i want reliability and SLI Titan X's, so a good amount of watts too. I guess the max would be 200 euro's for the PSU. or a little over if it's worth the extra.

Location? But something like a GQ or P2 Supernova 1000w

[RollinLower]

2 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Location? But something like a GQ or P2 Supernova 1000w

The netherlands! Are Corsairs' 1000+ watts models any good?

[Guest]

Just now, RollinLower said:

The netherlands! Are Corsairs' 1000+ watts models any good?

Yeah they are good too. But I don't think we actually need 1000w.... 

[ProjectBox153]

That case looks really nice. Man, I've always wanted either a PowerMac G5 or an early Mac Pro to mess with. I love the case design.

[corrado33]

13 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

That case looks really nice. Man, I've always wanted either a PowerMac G5 or an early Mac Pro to mess with. I love the case design.

That's awesome man. I've also always wanted to build a PC out of one of the G5 or Mac Pro cases. They're just so... pretty... Much better than all of this bullcrap LED windowed stuff that makes your PC look like an alien spaceship. 

 

I'm assuming you had to mod the case to get a standard (or in your case m-)atx motherboard to fit? What did you have to do?

 

EDIT: Just for the record, the computers that used to come in those cases (specifically the G5s) sounded like jet engines, so I hope you're not planning on using the stock fans. 

 

Check out the 8bitguy's video on it.

 

[pinksnowbirdie]

1 minute ago, corrado33 said:

Much better than all of this bullcrap LED windowed stuff that makes your PC look like an alien spaceship.

T R I G G E R E D. /s

 

I'm doing a build with an H440, but my plan with LEDs is to not over do it. Accent lighting if you will. 

I'll probably get a few NZXT Aer P RGB fans set them to white which will go with the Kraken X52 also set to white with white LED Corsair Vengence LED Ram and that'll probably be it for lighting in my build. Well I suppose if you exclude the G610 with the Brown switches I have and the G502 Proteus Spectrum which I plan on buying set to White. But then otherwise that's it for my build.

I have to agree though, lots of builds over do the LED lighting. Sometimes it's good, but often it's too much.

[RollinLower]

16 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

That's awesome man. I've also always wanted to build a PC out of one of the G5 or Mac Pro cases. They're just so... pretty... Much better than all of this bullcrap LED windowed stuff that makes your PC look like an alien spaceship. 

 

I'm assuming you had to mod the case to get a standard (or in your case m-)atx motherboard to fit? What did you have to do?

thanks! i've spoilered some pics so you can see to what extend the mods go. it's basically a normal PC case now.

Spoiler

 

12 minutes ago, wcreek said:

T R I G G E R E D. /s

 

I'm doing a build with an H440, but my plan with LEDs is to not over do it. Accent lighting if you will. 

I'll probably get a few NZXT Aer P RGB fans set them to white which will go with the Kraken X52 also set to white with white LED Corsair Vengence LED Ram and that'll probably be it for lighting in my build. Well I suppose if you exclude the G610 with the Brown switches I have and the G502 Proteus Spectrum which I plan on buying set to White. But then otherwise that's it for my build.

I have to agree though, lots of builds over do the LED lighting. Sometimes it's good, but often it's too much.

i agree. for me, simple white accent lights are all i need. my current main rig uses only a single strip of white leds an imo it looks fantastic.

[RollinLower]

32 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Yeah they are good too. But I don't think we actually need 1000w.... 

agreed. though in theory a 1000W PSU should keep quieter under load when compared to like a 850W unit powering all this, right?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

agreed. though in theory a 1000W PSU should keep quieter under load when compared to like a 850W unit powering all this, right?

@Energycore @STRMfrmXMN @Starelementpoke 

[ProjectBox153]

17 minutes ago, wcreek said:

T R I G G E R E D. /s

 

I'm doing a build with an H440, but my plan with LEDs is to not over do it. Accent lighting if you will. 

I'll probably get a few NZXT Aer P RGB fans set them to white which will go with the Kraken X52 also set to white with white LED Corsair Vengence LED Ram and that'll probably be it for lighting in my build. Well I suppose if you exclude the G610 with the Brown switches I have and the G502 Proteus Spectrum which I plan on buying set to White. But then otherwise that's it for my build.

I have to agree though, lots of builds over do the LED lighting. Sometimes it's good, but often it's too much.

I personally don't care about LEDs. I have none on my current system except for the power and disk activity indicators. 

[RollinLower]

Excuse the phone-quality pictures, but guess what i got in the mail today? 

 

oh yes..

this is indeed going to be awesome.

more updates as the parts come rolling in!

[corrado33]

31 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

Excuse the phone-quality pictures, but guess what i got in the mail today? 

A 7 foot blow up barney the dinosaur decoration piece? 

[JonU]

14 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

A 7 foot blow up barney the dinosaur decoration piece? 

I guess he never specified that it had to be a good guess. Lol

[TubsAlwaysWins]

Is this supposed to be a space heater? Because it would be a good one

[RollinLower]

23 minutes ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

Is this supposed to be a space heater? Because it would be a good one

Yeah it should be pretty good at keeping my bedroom nice and warm. Nice right now, not very when summer comes around.

[corrado33]

1 hour ago, RollinLower said:

Yeah it should be pretty good at keeping my bedroom nice and warm. Nice right now, not very when summer comes around.

Sick a dryer vent on the back of the cards and put a 120-140mm fan on the other side and stick it out a window.

 

Ugly, yes, functional... probably. 

[ProjectBox153]

On 1/9/2017 at 9:41 AM, corrado33 said:

EDIT: Just for the record, the computers that used to come in those cases (specifically the G5s) sounded like jet engines, so I hope you're not planning on using the stock fans. 

 

Some of the G4's were known as "Windtunnels". My G4 happens to be one of them.

[RollinLower]

Updates! Today the mailman delivered the mobo, so i got a first test fit done in the case. so far i gotta say, this looks pretty damn awesome!

now the modding starts. oh yes!

 

to do list:

-radiator/fan mounts.

-pump mounting location

-res mounts

also possibly a bottom intake with more rad space, but that's gonna be a tight fit. PSU is gonna be in the ODD location at the top.

[Heesleemer]

did not realize the inside was black too! I have a g5 case... but it's 2000 miles away at my parents... been wanting to mod it forever! That motherboard tray just works! 

[ProjectBox153]

Good job mate! That's looking wonderful! Now if only there was a way to flip the "GEFORCE GTX" logo, that'd be really cool looking.

[RollinLower]

1 hour ago, Jamiec1130 said:

Good job mate! That's looking wonderful! Now if only there was a way to flip the "GEFORCE GTX" logo, that'd be really cool looking.

 

2 hours ago, Heesleemer said:

did not realize the inside was black too! I have a g5 case... but it's 2000 miles away at my parents... been wanting to mod it forever! That motherboard tray just works! 

Thanks! The mod to convert it to mATX happened a while ago, and i sadly have no pics of the process. I'll make sure to document making the watercooling parts though!

[lieder1987]

23 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

and i sadly have no pics of the process

I was just about to ask if you had any pictures or information about the parts that you used. I want to through my Hackintosh into a G5 or a Mac Pro case but the upfront costs are making me cry man tears :(.