# Asus apple of my eye build



## Fitseries3 (Feb 23, 2012)

Im a huge asus fan. always have liked their ROG stuff and i have owned most of their ROG boards. I had this mac g5 case laying around and thought i'd make use of it instead of wasting money buying a case. thought it would give me something to do as well. i've seen alot of these mac mods but everyone always just cuts a hole in the back and slides in a mobo tray and calls it a day. not good enough for me. i want mine to look like it came that way...AND i dont want it to scream MAC when you look at it. how am i gonna do that you say?....

the first challenge is the rear panel. like i said, i dont just want to cut a big ass hole in the back and slide in a mountainmods mobo tray and call it a day. i want it to look like it came from the factory to support the hardware im putting in it. luckily i have 2 g5 cases......... so i took them apart and used 2 front panels. the case is made of 2 L shaped pieces that make up 4 of the 6 sides. with little modification you can use 2 front/top L shaped pieces so thats what i did. after i got that together i lined up the back panel for the mobo and cards then cut it out of the case. problem... theres a slot where the dvd used to be. solution.... fill it in with scrap cut from the rear panel. crap... another problem, the side panel is held on by a locking mechanism in which the latch assembly is mounted in the rear of the case. solution... skin graft the mechanism into the new rear panel. i fabricated a motherboard tray from an old antec tower parts i had laying around. cut some sheet aluminum to use for the front panel to mount dual 140mm fans for airflow. case will be split into sections... 1 for drives and psu, one for cards, and one for cpu and ram. more on this later. psu will be mounted up top like usual. dvd drive will be mounted in factory apple style but im fabricating a bracket to mount the hard drives(2) right above the dvd drive. 

i bet at this point if you havent already skipped to the pictures your dying to see some pretty soon so here you go....


this wont do....







notice the 2 fronts...


















stock back VS Fits modified front...










hardware!





heres where im at as of now....


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 23, 2012)

Build specs....

Asus Maximus III Formula
Intel i5 655k
Asus 6950 2gb DCuII
OCZ ZT650 psu
WD 640gb blue
WD 1tb green


im looking into airbrushing one side of the case to have the asus rog logo ripping through the side. of course.... the inner section of the case(top, bottom, front, back) will be black and the outter shell will be white. should look pretty sick.


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## erixx (Feb 23, 2012)

Nice!

But is the mac case strong? I have seen them handles destroyed in shops.


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 23, 2012)

erixx said:


> Nice!
> 
> But is the mac case strong? I have seen them handles destroyed in shops.



most get damaged by falling or being mistreated. the case itself is all aluminum but VERY thick compared to cases like silverstone and lian li.


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## NdMk2o1o (Feb 23, 2012)

Subbed!! always loved those G4 G5!! cases, shame about the innards most of the time. 

P.S what keyboard is that?


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## Frick (Feb 23, 2012)

I've always liked the cases on the Mac Pros. Been thinking a lot about doing something like this too.

Didn't you get that some years ago or was it someone else who thought about modding one on this forum??


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## H 3 L L S M A N (Feb 23, 2012)

Great card! I am running the same thing in crossfire for my build. Not a fan of Apple but you cannot go wrong with a full aluminium case.


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## Wile E (Feb 23, 2012)

erixx said:


> Nice!
> 
> But is the mac case strong? I have seen them handles destroyed in shops.



I weigh near 300lbs, and can use my G5 case as a step stool.


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## majestic12 (Feb 23, 2012)

Looks really really nice so far -anxious to see it once the project is completed.


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Feb 24, 2012)

Frick said:


> I've always liked the cases on the Mac Pros. Been thinking a lot about doing something like this too.
> 
> Didn't you get that some years ago or was it someone else who thought about modding one on this forum??



That was don, he was making it red with watercooling I believe, the thread just died off I really wanted to see that happen


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

well my board doesnt work. gets stuck at VGA and no video is displayed. RMA time i guess.

tried 3 different gpus which all work in my gigabyte board. 

working on the case still. more soon


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## RejZoR (Feb 24, 2012)

Fitseries3 said:


> most get damaged by falling or being mistreated. the case itself is all aluminum but VERY thick compared to cases like silverstone and lian li.



I have the Lian Li and it has a very thick aluminium plates and the frame is very rigid. Compared to Thermaltake Matrix that i had before, it's like comparing M1A1 Abrams to the Renault 4.


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

got the mobo issue ironed out. working great now


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

NdMk2o1o said:


> P.S what keyboard is that?



logitech somthin or other. and g9x. both painted to match my theme


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## specks (Feb 24, 2012)

Dont let Apple see this or else they'll sue you!


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## Wrigleyvillain (Feb 24, 2012)

Nice


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## NdMk2o1o (Feb 24, 2012)

Fitseries3 said:


> logitech somthin or other. and g9x. both painted to match my theme



Ah, I don't can't do painting, thought it might have been bought like that , nice colour combo


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## ERazer (Feb 24, 2012)

subd! always been fan of your builds


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## JrRacinFan (Feb 24, 2012)

Any updates, fit?


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## brandonwh64 (Feb 24, 2012)

Man thats a good looking case! I wouldn't mind one of those for my build!


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## Wrigleyvillain (Feb 24, 2012)

Yeah they are nice looking and sturdy but sure don't seem easy to mod. Supporting mainly Macs as I do I've had access to these for years but not really the facilities (mental as well...lol) to do it right so I never grabbed one.


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## LagunaX (Feb 24, 2012)

Love the irony, a MAC with an Intel/Windows heart.
Kinda like a Ferrari with a Corvette block.
Final pics!


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

psu is in... 







kinda kills my hdd mounting idea but i'll get it figured out. perhaps i should ask yall for help


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## Wrigleyvillain (Feb 24, 2012)

All Macs have Intel hardware (and can run Windows natively) going for more than 5 years now...


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## puma99dk| (Feb 24, 2012)

cool build, it actually looks good ^^


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## LagunaX (Feb 24, 2012)

Yeah I know especially since Sandy


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## NdMk2o1o (Feb 24, 2012)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> All Macs have Intel hardware (and can run Windows natively) going for more than 5 years now...



Not the G5's this is based on though


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

lol... the g5 internals have been gone for at least 3 years. 

gonna post more pics in a bit. got some things almost finished


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

one thing i had to do to make the back panel look like it came the way im making it is to patch up the slot where the dvd drive was, remember this was the front of the 2nd case. 

just had to cut 2 peices to match up to the hole pattern then epoxy them in place. once dry i can drill out the hole pattern and you'll never know it was there after a bit of paint.


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)

what do you guys think would look better...

my custom white ocz sticks or some red ripjaws?


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## NdMk2o1o (Feb 24, 2012)

Fitseries3 said:


> what do you guys think would look better...
> 
> my custom white ocz sticks or some red ripjaws?



Defo the white OCZ's on looks, for performance I would choose the Ripjaws though


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## Wrigleyvillain (Feb 24, 2012)

Oooo post a pic of the white OCZs please.


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 24, 2012)




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## Wrigleyvillain (Feb 24, 2012)

Wow nice man. I have a black and white theme at present so can really appreciate those.


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 25, 2012)




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## Fitseries3 (Feb 26, 2012)

teaser....


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## SirKeldon (Feb 26, 2012)

Looking so good fit, you did an amazing good job in the back part, i wish you had it painted gray ... but if you like black, go ahead ... missing some watercooling parts there anyway 

I want another PowerMac G5 case to perform another mod ... i did it 2 weeks ago and i'm feeling the itch again, sh*t!

Here are some pics of mine ... wishing to find another case in better conditions to perform it, anyway ...

Desktop with it:





And the inside at the moment, still gotta work:





G5 Case is just G-R-E-A-T


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 26, 2012)

whos up for major pic update and drool sesh?


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (Feb 26, 2012)

Great work there fit.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Feb 26, 2012)

Indeed. How difficult was that?


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 26, 2012)

its a bitch to get it all together without scratching it to shit. still got to take it back apart to do a few more things. got to cut a hole for the psu wires to com through the divider plate, got to mount the storage drive above the dvd drive. need to figure out where to mount the os drive. cut holes in front filler panel for 2 140mm fans which i still need to order. then just work on wiring, which reminds me, i need to order a power button for the front panel.


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## SirKeldon (Feb 26, 2012)

For the hard drives you can attach them below the top plate on the CD part using the original HD cage, i saw it on different G5 mods and it looks good, and also you'd have room for a dual rad in the front when you migrate that air to water.

And talking about the top plate and the PSU wiring, for me was ok with the original holes that carried, you just don't have to pass them all by the same one, use the long one to pass some sata and the 8V rail and they'll be perfectly hidden behind the motherboard ... then use the big one for the PCI-E and 24V ones, should be ok!!


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## Irony (Feb 26, 2012)

Very nice. I like the red black and white, that all took a lot of work.


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## Fitseries3 (Feb 27, 2012)




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## Fitseries3 (Mar 2, 2012)

spicin it up a bit...


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## cadaveca (Mar 2, 2012)

Nice job, Fits, looks great!

White OCZ sticks work best, methinks


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 2, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> Nice job, Fits, looks great!
> 
> White OCZ sticks work best, methinks



i like em too but they may be short lived... 4gb isnt enough ram. new kit on the way.

also hoping asus makes a decent z77 maximus to upgrade to along with ivy


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## cadaveca (Mar 2, 2012)

You and me both are waiting for that one! 

And yeah, 8GB seems to be the norm now. Surprising, but it is what it is, I guess.


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## Deleted member 3 (Mar 2, 2012)

Fitseries3 said:


> Im a huge asus fan.








Having trouble picturing that...


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 2, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> You and me both are waiting for that one!
> 
> And yeah, 8GB seems to be the norm now. Surprising, but it is what it is, I guess.



what you do with those boards when you are done with the reviews?


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## cadaveca (Mar 2, 2012)

I give them away, unless i need to hold on to them for numbers updates(and then i get rid of them, although I am very purposefully holding onto quite a few for LN2 clocking). i'm doing reviews for the fun, not the money.


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 2, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> I give them away, unless i need to hold on to them for numbers updates(and then i get rid of them, although I am very purposefully holding onto quite a few for LN2 clocking). i'm doing reviews for the fun, not the money.





can you put me down for max 5 form/extreme? im down for any stipulations.. soon as i get this case finished im gonna start folding


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## cadaveca (Mar 2, 2012)

Ha, red/black boards are a hot commodity right now. you've got several on that list ahead of you!


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## Wrigleyvillain (Mar 2, 2012)

There's a list?! 

Dave has never offered me a board. I even bought his 870. I haz a sad.


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## cadaveca (Mar 3, 2012)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> There's a list?!
> 
> Dave has never offered me a board. I even bought his 870. I haz a sad.



Heh. Honestly, i try to give them to those that cannot afford such things.

And yes there is a lsit, and yes, you are on it.  Don't ask how long it is.


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 3, 2012)

i'd never be on it.... people think im rich. fact is i just worked my ass off to get the things i've had in the past. gonna have to keep on doing that it seems. the whole reason i didnt go SB on this build was because i had to do some craigslist trading to afford what i got. i sold a machine that had a dead mobo that was given to me. 

i5 655k - CL for $100
maximus iii formula - here on tpu for $60
zt650 psu - newegg sale/used old gift certs to buy, out of pocket was $43 and i got $25 newegg card + $20 MIR from ocz
crucial 8gb ram kit  - above gift card and rebate paid for ram
i had one case and got the second off CL for $50

for what i have in the whole thing i couldnt even get an 1155 cpu or mobo.



new ram today....


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 8, 2012)

paint almost done... heres a tease


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## Delta6326 (Mar 8, 2012)

That looks great!! keep up the great work! 
I'm a ASUS fan too.



cadaveca said:


> I give them away, unless i need to hold on to them for numbers updates(and then i get rid of them, although I am very purposefully holding onto quite a few for LN2 clocking). i'm doing reviews for the fun, not the money.



That's awesome I always thought Reviews had to hold onto them. 

I'm still using a ASUS P5q Pro LGA775, it takes over 40 sec. to boot past Bios screen.
nudge, nudge, wink, wink.


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 12, 2012)

almost done... just have to make the front panel fan shroud as soon as i get some 140mm fans found. i need to finish wiring up the power switch and get a longer sata cable for the bottom drive. 

the "brain" had to be put together outside the box then installed as a whole. was tough to do without scratching everything to death. 

what you think?


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## DannibusX (Mar 12, 2012)

Lookin' good, Fits.


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## Delta6326 (Mar 12, 2012)

That looks great!


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## phanbuey (Mar 12, 2012)

A white DVD bezel instead of red would tie it all together...

But damn that is nice...  Its like a much better lian li.


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## brandonwh64 (Mar 12, 2012)

Damn thats a great looking case but I must point out, isn't that GFX card sagging too much?


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## Irony (Mar 12, 2012)

Very nice. I like the carbon fiber look.


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 12, 2012)

brandonwh64 said:


> Damn thats a great looking case but I must point out, isn't that GFX card sagging too much?



working on that


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## erocker (Mar 12, 2012)

That looks damn nice!


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## Fitseries3 (Mar 21, 2012)

got a magicool 280mm rad for this thing. going to use it with a H60's pump until the swiftec appogee drive II comes out.


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