Mac in ATX Case - Mac-Forums.com

05-09-2006, 08:47 AM

Hello,

This may seem stupid to ask but i am debating on switching to a MAC however the only drawback would be the lack of space for more components/hard drives etc.

I am looking at getting the Quad G5, can anyone here tell me if i can mount the motherboard and components in an ATX case? The reason i ask is because i have about 4 SATA hard drives here that i would want to put in the machine, also a secondary DVD-RW drive.

Thanks,
Joseph Crawford

MAC-simus · 05-09-2006, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codebowl

Hello,

This may seem stupid to ask but i am debating on switching to a MAC however the only drawback would be the lack of space for more components/hard drives etc.

I am looking at getting the Quad G5, can anyone here tell me if i can mount the motherboard and components in an ATX case? The reason i ask is because i have about 4 SATA hard drives here that i would want to put in the machine, also a secondary DVD-RW drive.

Thanks,
Joseph Crawford

G5 has a specific thermal management and the case is a crucial part of it. in theory you can put mac internals in different case, but if you do so, most likely you will either fry it (G5 CPU gets really hot) or end up with it sounding like a vacuum cleaner.

no need to worry about expansion. several companies (you can search on google) offer HDD mounting kits, that will increase number of internal drives up to 5, if i remember correctly. there are also external SATA port multipliers available.

05-09-2006, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAC-simus

G5 has a specific thermal management and the case is a crucial part of it. in theory you can put mac internals in different case, but if you do so, most likely you will either fry it (G5 CPU gets really hot) or end up with it sounding like a vacuum cleaner.

no need to worry about expansion. several companies (you can search on google) offer HDD mounting kits, that will increase number of internal drives up to 5, if i remember correctly. there are also external SATA port multipliers available.

Is there a way to mount a second cdrom drive into the case? I noticed it has room for 2 hard drives which essentially would be enough for me to begin with, but i love the ability to have 2 cdrom drives.

MAC-simus · 05-09-2006, 01:08 PM

I'm afraid not, only possible expansion to that is an external firewire optical drive.

If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important to have second optical drive?

05-09-2006, 03:33 PM

i like the ability to copy from disk to disk rather than having to copy the disk to the computer then to a disk

MAC-simus · 05-09-2006, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codebowl

i like the ability to copy from disk to disk rather than having to copy the disk to the computer then to a disk

with 16X superdrive you'll barely notice the difference

Avalon · 05-09-2006, 04:49 PM

You can still add an external optical drive, connected through Firewire. Even Firewire 400 is still faster than the ATA bus used internally, so you won't have any speed loss.

But as MAC-simus said, with the actual drives, it really isn't much issue to have only one optical drive.
I had a PowerMac G4 MDD before (the only ever PowerMac able to take two optical drives). After adding a DVD-burner (it originally came with a Combo drive), I never really used the Combo anymore. I have to admit though that I rarely had to make CD-to-CD copies... :cool:

baggss · 05-09-2006, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avalon

But as MAC-simus said, with the actual drives, it really isn't much issue to have only one optical drive.
I had a PowerMac G4 MDD before (the only ever PowerMac able to take two optical drives).

Is that true? My old Sawtooth had the Zip drive bay beneath it but the drive bay was removable and it certainly looked like a CD drive would have fit just fine. It was a standard IDE interface and I had a HDD in that slot for years.

05-09-2006, 05:35 PM

No, the caddy the zip drive comes in is a 3.5" bay, you'd need some custom bracket to fit one in properly, and then a decent facia if you wish to keep the aesthetic. Externally however it is a 5.25" bay.

Vicky

baggss · 05-09-2006, 06:04 PM

Ok, so one would have fit, I never tried, but it was obviouse that the ZIP bay was removable.

Avalon · 05-10-2006, 05:57 AM

Vicky's right. Even the Quicksilver, which really looks as if it had 2 optical drive bays, only has a 3.5" drive bay below the optical. I've read about some people modifying it so that they could use a second optical drive.

But from stock, the only PowerMac able to take 2 optical drives (plus 4 harddisks without adding a controller card) is the MDD.

to_tough_to_die · 05-10-2006, 10:08 AM

Apple motherboards don't fit in a standard ATX case. Kevin Rose BUILT a Mac from scratch on the Screensavers a while back, and the mkotherboard wouldn't fit (had to drill his own holes).

The G5 also uses a non-standard motherboard.

coach_z · 05-10-2006, 10:57 AM

anything is possible with enough time resources and money. so folllowing this theory yes you can put it in an atx case.

you can also put more and more drives in the powermac and somehow get another optical drive in there

i havent even thought about using two optical drives since i got my powermac, one has just always been enough

Kar98 · 05-10-2006, 12:26 PM

Since even on my Pentium IV 2.8Ghz 1GB RAM with two DVD drives (one DVD/CD-RW, the other DVD+-RW DL) copying on the fly first wrote a temp image to the harddrive anyway, having just one SuperDrive in a Quad G5 is most likely not going be slower.

But ****ed if I was going to stuff a Quad G5 into a regular PC case. I think you might be pulling our tail.