# Mac Mod: Project MacBane - Converting my PowerMac G4 to Core i7



## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

Hi everyone, I have been a lurker forever here and I thought I would share my first Mac Modding project. I have had my old PowerMac G4 lying around the office for a couple of years just being used for website and Flash testing. It is ten years old this winter and it’s time to retire it forever as the ancient and completely obsolete guts it has now make it next to useless when compared to my modern Macs. Don't worry about the PowerPC components as they have found a new home already 

I am however quite attached to this particular machine as I started my career with it, so I decided to breathe some new life into it as my new gaming machine. I guess I am about half way to being complete, below are the latest shots from my progress.





























It has taken a lot of time and care to get it this far, more updates to follow, you can also check out the full project on my Flickr page here.

Thanks for looking


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

That looks sexy! It's like aliens have taken over the PMG4 and are rebuilding it


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## hdh607 (Sep 8, 2008)

I have a powermac G4 quicksilver I'm trying to figure out what to do with. 

You've inspired me!


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## Manatus (May 11, 2009)

I wish I had the skill to do something like that, that looks awesome.


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

cool. Are you going to leave the front panel open like that?

looks like a lot of work


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

Thanks everybody, glad to see you like my work 



i-rui said:


> cool. Are you going to leave the front panel open like that?
> 
> looks like a lot of work


Nope, the original covers will go back on, the old Zip drive opening will now be used to access the newly installed USB 2.0 and e-SATA ports. The CD/DVD drive cover will be used for airflow as there is no room for an optical drive within the case. I have a USB DVD-R that will facilitate all of my optical media needs with this machine.


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

More work has been done 

Latch plate and u-channel for all holes completed:










Bottom intake fan mounted:










A 120x12mm Scythe fan that will be mounted between the metal and plastic parts of the case providing the 5770's some fresh air:










And Mounted:










Next the PSU Was mounted:










And now it is the motherboards turn:










Fiber and rubber washers cushion all motherboard mounts:










When closed everything fits...just barely. I have less than a millimeter between the ram lever and the edge of the bottom SATA drive.










And next... I turned it on :yikes:










And with the lights out:










More to come tomorrow.


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

As an owner of a G4 tower...you're my new hero. 

Great project, can't wait to see the final result.


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## hdh607 (Sep 8, 2008)

wow.


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## Manatus (May 11, 2009)

That's really pretty remarkable. I bet you could make some good money making those.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

That. Is. Sweet!!!!   :yikes:


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## Mckitrick (Dec 25, 2005)

Very cool! Can't wait to see it all closed up. What did you use to paint it black? Don't say Rolling Stones..


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

kps said:


> As an owner of a G4 tower...you're my new hero.
> 
> Great project, can't wait to see the final result.





hdh607 said:


> wow.





Manatus said:


> That's really pretty remarkable. I bet you could make some good money making those.





ehMax said:


> That. Is. Sweet!!!!   :yikes:





Mckitrick said:


> Very cool! Can't wait to see it all closed up.


Thanks everyone 



Mckitrick said:


> What did you use to paint it black? Don't say Rolling Stones..


The case went through a little prep work before it was painted:

I finished cutting and drilling all holes before painting
All sharp edges and metal burrs were removed
All old tape and stickers were removed
The whole case was scrubbed down with steel wool
Cleaned with TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) and rinsed, then dried
Then the case was painted with Tremclad primer for zinc coated steel, other wise the paint would easily flake off the cases zinc plating
And then it was painted with three coats of flat black Tremclad rust paint with a little sanding between coats

I built this machine to last, and so far I am falling in love with it all over again :love2:


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

One more thing, if you were interested in the whole process I kept a work log that details everything step by step over at Mac Life:

Macbane Worklog at Mac Life

And here's a link to the Flickr set if you don't feel like a lot of reading:

MacBane Flicker Album

Cheers everyone


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

The 5770's have finally arrived so I can get back to work on this, all I am missing now are two 24" SATA cables to reach the RAID array up in the top of the case. And yes, the cooler on these cards looks a lot like the 1989 Batmobile.





































And they actually fit!









And with enough parts to keep moving ahead I have started wiring the case:










Had to cut the top LED strip down by a centimeter to fit properly:










And Back panel wiring has started too:


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## pcronin (Feb 20, 2005)

Awesome. 

I assume you're going to run some kind of hackintosh os on that


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

pcronin said:


> Awesome.
> 
> I assume you're going to run some kind of hackintosh os on that


Actually this is how I am hiding my gaming PC amongst my Macs, so there will be no OS tinkering here. It will run a 64 bit copy of Windows 7 as that is what will work best for gaming, I may skin it to look like OS X to throw people for a loop when they see an old G4 running Crysis in HD


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## pcronin (Feb 20, 2005)

Beauty 

I was pondering buying an old Mac tower to hide a win7 gamer in too. Very nice concept


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## Photograph (Mar 9, 2010)

And here is the final result of my *first* case mod and three months worth of hard work:


















































































I will take some real photos sometime by the weekend and post them, thanks for looking


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## IllusionX (Mar 10, 2009)

impressive..

only if i could find an old case.. hehe


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## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

Outstanding! What was the total cost on this project?


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## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

That is VERY cool! Well done!

It reminds me of something you'd see in Portal or a Björk video.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Really, really well done!! A great job, most impressive! Congrats to you and thanks for sharing. :clap:


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