Project: Citrus G5

[J-Roc]

I'm building a HTPC. Im not sure what i want my project name to be but Bad Apple or Rotten Apple seems appealing to me since i will be using an Apple G5 case for an IMB clone. Im still debating the operating system but i'll probly go with Linux MCE.

[edit] name changed to Citrus G5!

The initial parts list:
Proc: AMD Athalon X2 4200+
Mobo: Biostar TA690GAM2 (one of the best htpc mobo's)
Ram: 2Gb Kingston HyperX pc2-6400
HDD: 20Gb Fujitsu IDE (i will upgrade this later)
PSU: Dont have one yet but i'll probly get a 300-400watt generic
CD: Sub standard 40x cd reader ( i will upgrade this to a LiteOn dvd-RW later on)

I managed to get this case from someone on thies forums a long time ago. I cant remember who but if they are still around, speak up plz. It was in a flood and the internals were damaged so i bought the case. I need to get some batteries for my cammera but i have two old pics on photo bucket.

Possible Layout:

Fan mod & I/O problem:

There are some problems i face with this build.
#1 Mounting the mobo. The mobo tray is also the exterior of the case so protruding stand off's are unacceptable. I'm thinking that i'll have to epoxy plastic stand off's to the mobo tray.

#2 The I/O area on the back of the case. What im thinking here is to cut a rectangular hole and put an aluminum plate moulding over it to cover any mistakes. I wont be able to use the I/O plate as the mobo will be resesed compared to the back of the case. It will be a big hole around all the connectors but im looking into ways to make this better.

#3 Painting. This will be a challange, the case cannot be dissassembled. I think i'll leave the center perforated strip its normal color and paint just the exterior wrap around aluminum shell. I think black & silver will give a nice contrast. I havent decided wether or not to put back the apple logo. It might be cool to have a decal of a rotting apple or possible calvin pissing on the apple logo.

I havent desided if i want to install a 3.5" rack to hold 2 HDD's or build the case for a single drive.

As for the PSU... If i can get one with a fan of the top or bottom (depending which way its orientated) i'll place it so the intake is pointed towards the front of the case and the exhaust is pointed down and out of the case. If i do this, i'll have to mod the psu. I'll remove the power plug and soldier in a power cord so i can redirect the cord out the back of the case.

I have some other mods in mind too. I'll be adding USB ports to the front bottom of the left side of the case. I need to add a power & reset button to the front of the case aswell. I hope to get somthing cool like a Vandal switch but im not holding my breath for a $20 switch. I'm adding a window to the removable side pannel which i've allready gave it a rough cut.

Later, i want to install an Imon Ultra Bay to the front of the case for the look and functionallity of a true HTPC.

[J-Roc]

Well my hardware is ready to be picked up which i'll do on my way home from work tomorrow.

Here are some pics of the case.

This one shows the window i'll be putting in it.

Here i'll have to come back and touch this up with a file. My brother was supposed to get me some today but his lazy arse forgot!

This is how i plan to mount the PSU.

This is the front with a half assed overlay of the proposed Imon Ultra Bay and the location of the power / reset switches.

And this is a consept paint scheme, i might change it up a bit but it looks pretty cool now that i can "see" it.

I'll upload some pics of the hardware when i get it home tomorrow.

[J-Roc]

Dude, your the man! Yeah that was i who bought your case. Under the nick CanaBalistic.

I got the hardware i order'd in today. My lazy ass good for nothing brother hasnt brought me any files. He offered to take the side pannel into work today and trim it up for me but he didnt do that either. Familly, cant live with them, go to jail if you kill them.

Here's the new hardware

And a quick mock up of the mobo, i used stand off's to hold the board at the correct hight and used an network card to allign the pci slots.

I think im going to try forming the window with some scrap stuff i have laying around to get a general idea of the temps and techniques.

I'm also thinking of changing the paint. Slytherock is doing another apple case and he had a georgous orange picked out but he desided to go with black insted. I want to be unique so i think i should go with an orange/silver scheme. It fits in with the colors of the mobo too. I also have some orange plexi that i can use for the window.

[J-Roc]

The paint will be somewhat like this

I'll also paint the PSu this color and i might paint the metal plate that the HDD and cd drive bolt to. Allthough i might paint the cd plate black. I'll deside that when the time comes.

Does anyone know where i might be able to buy some orange led 80mm fans? Aluminum frames would be nice so it fits in with the theme but i'd like there to be a nice orange glow from within. Maybe an AM2 cooler with orange leds?

[J-Roc]

Yeah i was checking that out yesterday. I wanted to change the name right away! He's damn good by the looks of it. I dont plan on beating myself up trying to be such a perfectionist as he is and the goals are totaly diffrent. He wants sli and to make it look like it came from apple. I want a HTPC and i dont care if it comes out looking like a mac or not. He's got some good points and tricks for doing things but unlike him, i dont want to redo the entire backside of the case. Ofcourse i'll try and keep things neat and tidy but not to the lengths he goes to.

But since you brought up the name, i'll need a new one so people dont get confused. Any ideas?

Quakken, i'm going to sand the anodizing off the outside only and repaint. The paint will lay almost exactly as shown in thoes illustrations. BTW, my brother who is a glazier told me that anodizing is the second hardest substance known to man. Allthough he says he used his textbook to start a fire while he was drunk and wiki cannot confirm his allogations.

[J-Roc]

Well i had to bite the bullet and buy a power supply. I tried to find somthing localy through friends and stores but no one had anything and the stores were way too expencive. NCIX didnt offer up much either as did tigerdirect.

I found a decent deal at Xodide.com, a 580watt sunbeam psu. While it isnt modular which is a huge deal for me, it is black and slick looking so i wont have to paint it.
http://www.xoxide.com/casegears-blac...-580w-psu.html

While im waiting on that, i'll have some time to get a few things done on the case. I also tried moulding a window last night which yeilded less than stellar results. The plexi didnt want to form at all, it did droop though. Then it started to bubble and i called it quits. I dont know if this method is going to work at all so i might have to go another route.

[J-Roc]

Well i solved the stand off issue. I went to the local pc shop and bought some small stand off's. If i double them up, it gives me just the right amount of height compared to a normal stand off. My cammera doesnt like close up shots but its still visible. I stuck a regular height stand off in the corner so you can see how much height im getting and how i plan to use them. I'll just epoxy them onto the back plate of the case.

I also brought out the dremel and made an I/O opening. While it isnt perfect and i cut it too long, it should be fine since i plan to use a piece of aluminum to hide the edge and that uneeded last port on the original case exterior.

This is the marking i used, i should have left the second to last port but it doesnt matter since it will all be covered in the end.

Half way through.

Finished!

I'll touch up the edges when my brother gets me thoes files.

For a new name i was thinking somthing like Cirtus G5, what do ya think?

[J-Roc]

Just a quick little update.

My power supply has finally shipped and should arrive about mid next week. I've got a lot of stuff to do at home, work and a lot to do on my car but im going to go buy some epoxy on satureday after work and i'll attach the stand offs and mount the mobo.

Once i get the PSU, ill figure out the best way to mount it inside the case and cut the hole to reroute a power dongle to the rear of the case. I'm still looking for cool power/reset switches. I have some switches here at home but none that will fit well with the look im after. I'll also have to come up with a way to have an orange light inside the case. The only orange thing i could find was a single 80mm uv orange fan on ebay. Totally not what im looking for so i'll have to get a white light ccfl or led stick and wrap it in orange plexi. Its a good thing i have a fair amount of it.

That is all for now, please resume your normal day to day operations.

[J-Roc]

Well my psu finally arrived and i love it! It doesnt have many power dongles which makes it easier to hide the ones im using. It has 4 molex, 1 floppy, 1 sata, and the regular cpu and mobo plugs. I didnt bother to take a pic of it as its just a standard psu. I've assembled the parts in a generica case i got from work just so i can test everything out and make sure all is working well. Allthough im having problems enabling any second display, it seems to be software related so i hope i can figure that out.

I've upgraded the temporary HDD to a 30Gb Maxtor ide drive. As it turns out, the fujitsu drive is dead. That would have left a sour taste in my mouth.

I couldnt buy any epoxy last weekend because i was busy dealing with my car accident. I'm trying to get a new car so money is tight and this build is getting pushed back a little bit. Everything should click together once i hear back from the bank about a loan extension. If all goes well, i'll be able to buy everything else i need in one shot. Then it will be straight up modding from there on out.

I also got a free 21" Apple SutdioDisplay that would fit in well with the G5 case allthough i dont think i'll pair the two up. I've got it connected to my main rig at the moment and it is killer for games.

That is all. Please continue about your daily business...

[J-Roc]

Update!

I woke up this morning to all 3 of my alarmclock's beeping. Oh snap! I missed work today. Well so i didnt waste the day i went and bought some supplies. The goal for today, mount the motherboard.

Epoxy & Methanol

I needed the methanol to clean the aluminum so the epoxy would adhear better. I had marked some stuff with a jify marker and there was dust and dirt inside.

I was trying to deside the best way to mount the board. My first thought was to use an old board so i wouldnt damage the new one.

I started to mix up the epoxy and realized that it was thick enough to stick to the stand off's in any direction. So i put the stand off's back on the good board and put a splooge of epoxy on each one.

This is kind of a 2 part deal. I dont think the small amount of epoxy will hold the board so once its dry, i'll add more around the base of each stand off.

Progress so far:

I also opened the new psu to see the best place to route the new power cord. I took a pic but it wasnt the greatest.

More updates as they occur...