6100/60 PC Mod Project

Its sort of a log. I started like 5-6 months ago, but I am going to stop for a bit and catch up with my gaming and school.

Earlier this year I came across a free PowerPC 6100/60. A guy at my work had it and didn't want it anymore. So I took it as a new computer modding project. Before starting I had seen a project over on http://www.koreamod.com using the same Mac case. This made me drool and changed my plans. Below is the result. Its not completely finished, but thats how computer mods are. I still have yet to finish the acrylic feet (that will glow blue), put the power switch in the front behind the real power button, and cut out the exhaust opening on the back some more. So anyways, on to the show:

Front


Back


Back. Here you can see the exhaust holes which will be opened up completely at a later date. Also you can see the network port on the right. Thank god for SMC making such a small network card. It sits right in a PCI slot with the only mod being to remove the metal plate. I even got lucky and had it mounted next to the network symbol on the back of the case. With that I ground off the other 2 symbols so it looked better.


Inside


Inside showing more of motherboard. Its mounted with just 3 screws and no standoffs. Couldn't use standoffs since it would then sit too high and the cables wouldn't fit under the CDROM. I used the plastic sheet that sat under the original mac motherboard and put some foam sheet on top of that to sit between the motherboard and the plastic sheet. This acts as a cushion and protects it from grounding either more than just the plastic sheet (since the plastic sheet has some holes in it).


Power supply setup with fans. Grabbed an older Pentium2 cooler made by GlobalWin. Had a dual fan setup, so I stole the fans off it (since they push alot of air, unfortunately they are loud) and used one for intake and one for exhaust. When I get the money, a proper 1U PSU or mATX PSU with flush mounted fan will be put in its place for better protection (makes me feel better too since I've already shocked myself on this open one).


Running WinXP




Originally the power LED, now changed to a bright green HDD LED


I'll update it as time goes on, but for now I'm gonna rest a bit. Here are the specs of the PC right now:

Celeron 400mhz
ECS P6SEP-Me motherboard
192mb SDRAM (64mb in PC100, 128mb in PC133)
52x LG Electronics CDROM
6gb Quantum HDD
SMC 10/100 NIC
onboard video and sound

 

looks alright, but not really modded a lot. Maybe a top window should look nice?

 

I have a Mac like that sitting here, Ive had the bloody thing for ages and had'nt thought about sticking pc gubbins inside it, as im now building a TiVO type thingy I think I might use that.

 

Ramelair - Not modded alot?

- I had to cut 2 of the original standoffs off the motherboard area of the case
- rip apart the PSU til I had just the guts
- place both the mobo and PSU against the case and drill mounting holes
- locktite the standoffs for the PSU onto the case
- cut the back panel MANY times
- fabricate the metal bracket in the back
- cut holes to allow the rear fan to push air out the back
- fabricate the intake fan mount and drill holes in the case to mount it
- cut the CDROM mounting tray to fit without hitting the DIMM slots
- replace the LED with a bright green one
- paint the case top
- plus specifically finding and buying a really short height network card

Trust me, it has alot of mods done to it. It just doesn't look like it since its all internal or on the back. But like I said, I'm not done and there are more visual-type of mods to be done (acrylic blue-lit feet, lexan blue-lit cdrom bezel, switch being located behind the real power button).

 

Interested in network card, wanna do something similar ... what exactly net card it is ?

 

It is an SMC1244TX made by SMC.

 

I'm preparing a linux box.... I'll make a plexiglass case (ie ... I'll order one ), get some leds for light and ... .... .. hmm, dreams only probably, no money, no money ...

 

Hey, thats pretty cool, I got 3 of those things sitting here, lol. Maybe I could do that to one of them and put my little P200 server into it, that would be cool. Thanks for the idea, I never thought of sticking a pc inside it either.

 

BTW, here's a link to the original mod that I got the idea from. Very cool, but takes some time and resources.

http://koreamod.com/ttboard/ttboard...ew&code=49&bname=GALLERY&page=3&SearchBlock=1

 

isnt it dangerous to eave the psu uncovered like that?

 

Yeah....but the lid is staying on so not a real harm unless you run it with the lid off.

 

open PSU'S aint really that dangerous well the new atx ones aint but the older at ones are got myself wif that in my cellery 500 a few times but i had my atx one open longer and didnt get zaped once

Yammosk