G4 Quicksilver Case Hack

Case Modifications

You can never put standard PC board on Mac case without modifications. So the following images are very important and must be done.

 
This the Powermac G4 Quicksilver case. For me, this is the most good-looking computer case.

Remove the outer acrylic covers and all internal components including the cables. ( I forgot to take photo of my case but luckily, I found this photo on the net.)

Cut out the IO panel. Use any metal cutting tools. I used a rusty metal saw. The PC motherboard’s ports won’t fit into the original holes.

Remove the original metal posts that hold the Mac motherboard. You can use pliers or hammer. Anything to remove, its up to you. ( In this photo, I have already removed the original metal posts and have installed new copper posts and the acrylic plate locking mechanism. The holes you see used to be the where the original metal posts stand)

After removing the metal posts, orient the motherboard together with the graphics card and another PCI card. Using any thin pen or marker enough to penetrate the motherboard’s screw holes, make a mark on the metal board below the motherboard. Drill holes on these marks for the new motherboard metal posts. (In the photo, I have already drilled the holes and installed the new metal posts. The motherboard was there to check for proper alignment. The procedure is the same.)

Exhaust Fan

This is optional but I encourage you to do so to make the inside of your computer cooler.

These are two holes made using a metal hole cutter attached to a bench drill.

Two Enermax 80mm fan used as exhaust.

CD Drive Cage Mods

As I’ve mentioned in the BUILD-UP page, one major obstacle encountered when placing a PC board is the RAM module. The Gigabyte board I used was almost perfect except for one capacitor. That tiny capacitor comes in contact with the DVD drive so I have no choice but to hack the optical drive and its cage. Another thing was the memory heat sink. It has wings so the wings also touch the drive cage. The following photos will tell how I fixed the problem.

I marked down the area to be removed.

I removed the DVD drive housing to expose the inner plastic compartment.

I did not use any rotary instrument to slice-off the unwanted parts. That would create vibrations and may affect the movable mechanisms inside. I instead used , guess what, a soldering iron to melt down the plastic. Well, it worked!

I also sliced-off some portion of the drive cage to give way to the memory heatsink’s extended wings.

Power Supply Mods

Standard PC power supply unit has lots of wires and connectors. I don’t like it there hanging like vines in the jungle so I cut-off some from the inside of the main box.

Front Panel Switch

You can use the original Apple power board. 

Just solder the wires as seen in the photograph. The one beside the lamp is for the power while the other one is for restart.

I prefer the wires to be neatly shielded so I took out my old PC case and cut-off the front USB connector wires.

Then I wired it and taped.

See, it looks better and doesn’t clutter around.

Close-up view of the pins.

The power board in place. The wires behind are for the power-on lamp.

Rear AC Socket Hole

You need to make holes for the AC socket on the Mac case’s outer acrylic cover.

See, no holes there.

I made a template from paper and placed some magic tape.

I then pressed the acrylic cover to mark the area for making the hole. You can see the holes in the photo gallery.

Other Stuffs

I used the original Apple IDE cable for the optical drive but it was short so I extended it towards the motherboard using an IDE cable extender. But the extender is too long so I detached the wires one by one using a cutter so I can easily bundle it and twist.

Separate the all the wires by cutter.

See, its much better and efficient for cable routing.

Well, I guess these are some of the steps needed. More photos of the finished project on the Gallery Section. Hope you find this interesting. Thank you.