HOME > G5 CASE MOD






I had to cut off the Apple mounting brackets to make room for a custom
motherboard mounting plate. Also shown is the power supply harness
in the bottom of the machine.


The G5 case has a lot of breathing space. notice the configuration of the power supply underneath the custom card slots.


Okay, so it's a bit more of a mess than the original G5's perfect snap-in
components, but it works.


Okay, I'm gonna give you my secret. A company called FrontX in the Philippines makes a great product for moving all of your peripheral ports from the back of your PC, in through a slot, then up to the front of your PC for easier access. This was just what I needed to complete this project.

Yep, it's what everyone feared. I put a PC inside an Apple G5 case. For real. Here are a few pics to make you sick.


I rewired the power box at the front of the box to turn on the machine, light up,
and accept the headphone, USB and Firewire ports.


The front power box from the inside, with all new port extensions installed.


Here is everything completely installed.


With the motherboard chassis and card slots tucked well inside (since PC mobos
don't line up even close) I used short extension cables to enable all of my actual connectors to still be located on the outside of the machine. The only thing that
still has to be plugged in from internally is the power supply.


Here you can see the short leads coming from the card slots to the
proper exterior port locations. My 3.5" floppy (not shown here) even sits in the
second hard drive bay. Since I barely use it, I don't mind popping the side of
the quick-release case off.

 

 

THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

I remember a similar project a few years ago, but it was just a hoax. They had bolted some PC parts inside an empty G5 case, but it didn't work. This is my personal, everyday home computer. I love it.

As a designer, I love Mac's visual style. As a techie, I hate Mac's idea that somehow after they sell you something... they still own it.

I guess that's why it took Apple over 25 years to corner a whole 2% of the market.
And THAT was just because they started selling MP3 players and cell phones.

Way to go there. Welcome to MY playground.


And, to top it all off, I'll give you a screen grab of my desktop.
It's Windows XP all the way, reskinned with Stardock WindowBlinds, along with ObjectDock, icons ripped from OSX, and even a Flurry screensaver.
I almost forgot: a keyboard remapping program called AppleKeys lets me use an Apple keyboard and a Mighty Mouse for even more emulated goodness.
Let the hate mail begin.
WEB DESIGN © DAN BAKER  •  G5, OSX, FLURRY, MIGHTY MOUSE (& ANYTHING ELSE THEY CAN MAKE YOU SHIP BACK TO THEM JUST TO CHANGE THE BATTERIES IN IT) IS ALL © APPLE INC.