G4 MDD Frost Mod!

[SuB8HaVeN]

Hey guys, here is my latest creation. The G4 DA is on eBay now and will end in a couple days. It's already got a couple of bids on it so it'll be a done deal. This is my latest project, my G4 MDD (dual 867MHz G4/1.5GB/160GB/Radeon 9800Pro) which has been nothing but trouble to me lately. I did get the clear mod done while I was waiting for parts, so here are some pictures of the project so far...

/\/\Here are both of my PowerMac G4s side by side. Sexy, sexy.

And there is the latest one in all her glory. The clear mod really worked out for this one. Also notice the front panel and top plastic piece is clear as well (originally silver). This gives it a really cool frosty appearance that really pleases the eye.

I'm a car guy, so when I see chrome it has to be polished. Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish went a long way on this one. Believe me when I say it looks way better in person. When Apple says mirror drive doors, they mean it because polished it would really fool me for a mirror rather than a chrome bezel.

Just a cool shot with both of the PowerMacs.

Here is a shot of the side and frosty top.

And another one.

Here are the innards. Excuse the mess, this is a work in progress. Notice the 9800Pro isn't there yet because the first one I got was fried (fan hadn't been working). The drive cages and PSU are brand new thanks to the gutted system I bought.

Yes, that sticker meaning hot means hot. This thing runs hot! Even the RAM was getting toasty, so some memory heatsinks did the job.

I will update once I get the other 9800Pro I ordered and after I flash it and get it working. I'll try and post a how-to on how to flash the PC 9800Pro into Mac because this is a popular card that can be had for $50 on eBay and can easily and successfully be flashed to PC and be able to use all ports (VGA, DVI, S-video). More to come...

 

[Bizquik]

nice! When i saw the sticker for hot I thought it meant coffee is hot!

 

[cakey]

Nice and clean. Seems to me the heatsinked ram should go nearest the processor heatsink though.

 

[SuB8HaVeN]

Well, I received the first Radeon 9800Pro a few days ago and FedEx beat the shimmies out of the package, not to mention the packaging was terrible. Needless to say it wasn't working when I received it; even a few capacitors were missing. While waiting for the FedEx claim, I ordered another one I received yesterday. Put it in and the thing won't boot; duh, I forgot to tape pins 3 and 11. That done, I went through the flashing process and everything was working fine. I open the case to take out the PCI Mac card I had installed and plug the monitor into my AGP 9800Pro, start it up, and the display is black; duh, forgot to plug in the molex power cable. That done, I hear a loud grinding noise. Expecting it was the GPU heatsink, I open her up and the fan literally falls off the heatsink. Before I could pull the power cord, the heatsink on the video card was hot as all get-up and this caused the display to hang at a light blue screen. I don't think it damaged anything, but I still need a new cooler now. Another chunk of money down the drain, another week to wait for parts.

I can do a how-to on flashing a PC card into Mac if anyone is interested. They have the details on strangedogs.com and cubeowners.com, but they are a little dated and hard to follow. If this is your type of thing, it's a great deal because I got my 9800Pro for $50 on eBay, whereas a Mac Edition of the 9800Pro will cost $150-200 if you can find one. They are both nearly identical and the flashed PC 9800Pro has full 100% functionality.