Case Mod - In Progress "The Nehalem Apple" Completed! Update 06/19/09

Here's a small update which consists of removing the fan and slightly improving the cabling by sticking the molex and sata power cables under the mobo tray.


As you can see, the fan is there and the molex and sata cables are protruding at the top left corner of the motherboard tray.

The naked case (cabling nightmare!!!)

Much better! The fan is gone and the cables are tucked away nice and neatly under the motherboard tray.

Just another view...

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned
The next update will be tomorrow or after tomorrow when the heatsink arrives.

 

I have to wonder why on earth you decapitated your heat-pipes...

Seems like a nice way to fry a processor when you consider heat-pipes are supposed to be a closed unit.

Otherwise... I like

 

I was thinking about building an Micro or Pico ITX PC in one of those external HDD cases, what are your thoughts on the build quality?

 

Don't think that I did that for the hell of it lol. The heatpipes were the only things getting in the way of the heatsink fitting into the case, and because I was impatient and didn't want to cut the case I cut the heatpipes.

 

Well....
1. The powerbutton is blue when turned on, and mine came crooked although that isn't a problem because it's not that bad.
2. The housing feels a little rough, as though it wasn't sanded enough.
3. The inner casing has to be forced in when removing and replacing.

Otherwise, it's an excellent housing. It's gorgeous and compliments the G5 quite nicely. I'd say go for it:

1. The powerbutton's led can easily be dis-connected (if you know the pinout).
2. It's not that rough, just a little grainy.
3. A guess it's good that it's a tight fit; your components wont slide around.

 

you know chopping the top off the heatpipes breaks them? They have a vacuum inside which you would have broken...

 

He's making a good point though.. I understand why you did it, so that the cooler would fit in the case, but I don't think you understand the amount of damage you've done to the cooler..

Its now useless, as it won't conduct heat properly so your CPU will fry.. If you don't want our advice, then I look forwards to seeing your new CPU.

 

Now I know

 

And knowing is half the battle

 

Live and learn I guess. Love the case though, look forward to seeing it done.

 

About the poll; i would mount some alu bars inside of the case and mount those fans on those alu bars. Not on that beautiful apple grey.

 

Yeah, absolutely the way to go.

 

Update! 4/15/09

The heatsink finally arrived! I'm glad to report the installation was a success! However, I hit a snag later on. Read more to find out:

The box from Newegg.

The new heatsink in all of its glory.




Well...it LOOKS like it's going to fit....





Installed!

 

That heatsink looks nice. Matches the style nicely- even resembles the stock G5 heatsinks.

What about the snag you mentioned? Did it end up fitting in the end, then, by switching RAM slots?

 

A continuation! 4/15/09


Motherboard inserted, looking good.

Cables connected....again.

More cables

I didn't take any chances with the hole, and I was actually grateful I made the cut bigger because installing the fan was MUCH easier.

Fan installed!

Rear usb


The fabled right angle dvi connector





Fan grill installed...

Fans installed!!! The part I've been trying to accomplish for the past week!

This is where I hit the snag.... read on.






All installed quite nicely



Lookin' good

All closed up



Rear cabling....

And a top view.

So, everything went extremely well. I thought I was finished... at least up until I hit the power button. Immediately, I was greeted with the sound of two EXTREMELY noisy fans. It wasn't the fans themselves, but an odd clicking noise (probably a rpm counter gone wrong). Anyway, I disconnected the two fans and am awaiting the arrival of two new, silent fans

For the most part, it's done Thanks for reading, updates to come!

 

Lol! You caught me mid update

 

About the 120 mm front fans:
I hardly think they're required. All of my temps are actually much lower than my old system, which had 5 120 mm fans. The system would Idle around 45, now around 37/39. Same decreases all around. I think this is due to the power supply's position; it's positioned practically right over the northbridge heatsinks, sucking away the hot air and the cpu fan pulls cool air from the front.
CPU Stock Heatsink
Idle: 32
Load: 90
New, Mugen Heatsink
Idle: 22 (Room temp)
Max Load: 72

 

Looks great.
Will you be doing any exterior mods, or are you leaving it 'stock' looking?

 

Def. stock.