Couple of G5 questions

Hey all, I'm looking for some information on the dual 2.0 G5 (the dual socket model, not the dual core model)

I need the power supply pinout and the location and pinout of the front panel (power button, etc.) connector.

Thanks.

I can't answer your questions, but I am left with the question of why you would want such things? Are you rebuilding or re-casing a G5?

more of the latter; I'm trying to put a G5 in a PC case (as I did with the G4, click the link in my sig if you're curious to see the guts of that thing), and I don't really feel like spending $200+ on a case & power supply on eBay that I have no use for and would never get around to reselling.

Geeky1 said:

more of the latter; I'm trying to put a G5 in a PC case (as I did with the G4, click the link in my sig if you're curious to see the guts of that thing), and I don't really feel like spending $200+ on a case & power supply on eBay that I have no use for and would never get around to reselling.

Click to expand...

WHY? WHY?

Boy oh boy, that sounds bad. Sounds like attempting to put the Mona Lisa in a cheap plastic frame! Like lolingram says, WHY?

Why? Five very simple reasons:
1. I don't have to work within the same constraints that Apple did when they designed and built the machine; I can build something that's better suited to what I expect out of it than a regular G5 would be.
2. The G5 runs hysterically, laughably hot (not due to a flaw in the design; the G5's case and airflow setup probably has the best cooling potential of any consumer computer I've ever seen... the fan speeds just stay far too low, far too long) and the power supplies are apparently a problem. I can fix both of those issues by re-casing it, liquid cooling it and dropping a different form factor PSU in it that doesn't have to contend with dissipating as much as 130w of heat (assuming the dual 2.0s have a 650w psu, which as I recall they do, and assuming that the PSU is 80% efficient which is about midpack for most computer power supplies) in a case (the psu case, not the G5's case) that's very low profile and has two low speed fans that can't possibly be larger than 60mm to cool it.
3. Building it will keep me entertained for a weekend.
4. G5 systems are still far too expensive for me to buy simply to use as a toy (and let's face it, that's all I'm going to use it for; I have a G4, two G3s and 8 PCs in this room alone) It's a lot cheaper to buy the logic board and a couple of processors on eBay and deal with everything else myself.
and lastly,
5. It's a challenge. "What do I have to do to this machine to force it to do what I want it to do?"

Peace Geeky1 - I now understand. I do the same sorts of things with PCs just for the fun and the learning of it. I have built several, modified more and generally just enjoy tinkering with the hardware and the designs. The same imperative is at work - it is fun and I enjoy the challenge ... and like you, the result is pretty much just a toy when done. The journey *is* the destination.

Good luck with this quest. Unfortunately, I cannot help you with your technical queries - I am not a Mac hardware expert.

Geeky1 said:

Why? Five very simple reasons:

5. It's a challenge. "What do I have to do to this machine to force it to do what I want it to do?"

Click to expand...

I understand now... good luck.

Thanks for the support guys. I actually managed to track down someone I know who's got the service manuals and stuff, and the pinouts are in there. Problem is, they don't identify which pin is pin 1 >_<

But it's a start.

And yeah, I did-and still do-PCs. But I got into modifying Macs because It's an awful lot harder than modifying PCs. Apples are not designed in any way, shape or form to be convenient to tweak, from a hardware standpoint. They don't have to be-it's not their target market. Soldering on a processor module and wiring up a DIP switch is a lot more challenging than going into the BIOS and changing a couple settings. But it's a lot more rewarding (at least to me) when it's done and it works, too.