The Apple Mac G5 is a gorgeous computer. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of Apple’s PC division, there’s no denying the fact this giant aluminum cheese grater certainly looks incredible, but it had proprietary parts and wasn’t available with a standard PC in mind. Having the ability to test many ATX cases that pass through XDA for review, I enjoy where the industry has progressed, but there has always been something alluring with the Mac G5. So, I’ve decided to rebuild my main PC … inside an old Apple Mac G5.
A gorgeous aluminum chassis
The Mac G5 case is a unit, measuring 511 x 206 x 475 mm. It’s about the same size as an ATX mid-tower but with some added elements and no internal compartments. With all the plastic parts and internal hardware removed, the inside of the G5 is an expansive void ready for a PC build. It’s easy to plan an ATX motherboard and even the largest GPU you can find without any problems. I’ll be migrating the internals from my existing PC case to the Mac G5 and as such, here’s what will be powering my Mac PC:
- AMD Ryzen 9 7900
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
- 32 GB DDR5-6400
- 1200W be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12
One concern of mine was the power supply as it’s slightly larger than your standard ATX unit. There’s ample room at the top of the Mac G5 and I envision it’ll open up further once the rear panel is cut out, but it’s something I’ll need to consider when moving across all the parts. There’s also weight too as the Dark Power Pro 12 is a heavy PSU and the brack it will be attached to may not have the structural strength to support it. We’ll have to see as the Project G5 build develops!
But why the Mac G5? This case has a “cheesegrater” grill on the front and rear that spans top to bottom and allows for plenty of air to be sucked through the entire chassis. There’s plenty of internal space for larger GPUs and CPU coolers, so I’ll be using the excellent be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 to keep the AMD Ryzen 7900 adequately cooled. A single 120mm case fan will be used on the rear and I’ll see how temperatures are through the summer to see if an additional bracket up front is required for two 120mm fans.
What I’ll need to transform the Mac G5
There are a few tools I needed to acquire to make the process of transforming the Mac G5 into an ATX-compliant PC chassis. I could go down the route of purchasing metal sheets myself and measuring everything out, but this is time-consuming and I have little metal work experience, which is where The Laser Hive came in. David’s site has numerous products and services for sale but it’s the G5 conversion kits that caught my eye and I ordered the G5 Full ATX conversion kit with integrated PSU mount for Project G5.
This kit includes a steel motherboard tray, aluminum rear panel and PCI expansion bracket, as well as all the necessary parts to secure everything to the main chassis. The front I/O wouldn’t be compatible with an ATX motherboard, which is why I also ordered the Front Panel Conversion Kit which replaces the original I/O with a power button, four USB-A 3 ports, and two 2.5mm jacks for audio. With all these parts at hand, I’ll be able to mark out everywhere that needs cutting on the original case and start to put everything together.
A Dremel cutting tool will be used alongside a filer and drill to cut out the Mac G5 and get it ready for the purchased mods. I’ll loop back with the end result once the process has been completed and share my experience modding this case and what I learned (and messed up) along the way.