Mac Pro Case

[Aydinz]

dont know if this fits in this area but yeah if it doesnt, please move :)

i was wondering if anyone knew if there was anywhere i could get myself a mac pro case, to put my HackMac hardware in :) if not then at least one that looks fairly similar? :)

any suggestions would be great :D

[Taisto]

I dont think you can buy it in any shop. I thought of it as well - to build a "self-made mac".
Try to look on E-Bay etc. - they sometimes sell those cases, unfortunately often damaged, with scratches etc. but maybe you`ll hunt something for yourself :)

[naquaada]

I checked the australian ebay, there's nothing. I'm using special ATX cases which come very close to Mac Pro towers - take a look here (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/pics/myhome/my_macs.jpg). I like them, they are good portable with the handles, have enough space inside and a great airflow.

[TheHAWKs]

I found one one E-Bay that is in the united states if you want you probably can work something out if the seller would ship to you click here (http://cgi.ebay.com/Mac-Pro-Enclosure-Case-without-Power-Supply-922-7346_W0QQitemZ270379475076QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple _Desktops?hash=item270379475076&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 18|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50)

[Aydinz]

wow thanks HAWKS :D ill be asking this guy a few questions ASAP about whether i would be able to put my hardware in it, etc cause like there might be differences in sizes of hardware and it might not fit but THANKYOU :D

and nquaada i will deffs be looking at your case if this deal on ebay falls through :)

thanks for the quick replies everyone :D

[Aydinz]

oh by the way does anyone know if the parts i have will actually fit in a mac pro case? i would hate to get it and then realise the parts dont fit :S

[naquaada]

The Mac Pro case on ebay looks very bad, there were better ones at the German ebay, but not now actually.

Aydinz: There is HEAVY rework needed to fit an normal mainboard and power supply in a Mac Pro case. And if you take a look at the back slots you only can use a microATX board with 5 slots, otherwise you have to saw parts out of the case. The DVD drives are problematic too, you have to rework the drive jeject trays, and if the positions for the mounting screws are correct then this is another question.

Here's an auction (http://cgi.ebay.de/Midi-ATX-Case-im-MAC-Design-Silber_W0QQitemZ260385217133QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_ Elektronik_Computer_Geh%C3%A4use?hash=item26038521 7133&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318) of the Mac Pro-like ATX case, here you can take a closer look at these things. I know a place where it's a bit cheaper, and I could do some modifications. Isolation, dust prevention, firewire socket - even custom LED colors for drive and power. The only problem is the expensive shipping, but this would be in any case, no matter if it is shipped from Germany or USA. Actually I have one of these cases at home which I don't need.

P.S.: Get the drinks out guys, that was my 1111st Post! :D:p%-)

[Aydinz]

oh really :) you have one you dont need which is modded? is it in good condition? how much would you be willing to sell it for?

congrats on the 1111 post :P now just wait till your leet (1337 posts) :P

[Taisto]

That`s a nice case Naquaada - and cheap as well. Maybe i`ll get one for myself ( planning to build desktop hack to stop killing my laptop :) ) Thanks for the link.

[naquaada]

The case is new and not modified yet. I also have the original box for it. The case weights 4,5 kg, so this wouldn't be a shipping problem. Payment could be done with PayPal, but I don't have a real idea for a price yet, I also have to calculate the shipping costs.

The metal is strong enough, no aluminium foil thing. The only thing what's not so good is the method how the slots are fixed, but you don't need to go there every day. The complete weight of my system is 13 kg, but I have a lot of components in there. It's still easy to carry with the handles.

The modifications I'm adding is an isolation for the mainboard, dust prevention at the front and the side, this also covers the air holes which would appear black. The case comes with an adjustable airduct, so if you're using a flat cpu cooler (f.e. the Scythe Shuriken which is only 64 mm high), this may optimize the cpu's airflow. A little fix on the power button is neccessary, otherwise it can hang sometimes. I'm also adding a front Firewire connector. LED changing is recommended because the LEDs I'm using are clear, with the original ones you always see the green and yellow color. I have white, warm-white, red, green, blue and pink LEDs. Another method is to change the LEDs is to use two 3mm-LEDs which fit exactly in the front holes. This looks really cool. I'm thinking of a little electronics which allows to use a single LED for power and drive. A very crazy modification - I didn't made it yet but it would be possible - is adding an audio VU meter with 5 or 12 LEDs in the front, I know where to get some electronic PCBs for this. You can't see anything of this when the computer is switched off, so this must be a cool view when nobody expects it.

@Taisto: I know where these things are cheaper than on this auction, outside of ebay. And I also could do the modifications.

[Aydinz]

well i dont know much about modding cases :S so if you could do all the mods which you think would be good to make it nice and also make it look as much like a Mac Pro as possible that would be great i will be willing to pay extra for the mods you make as well for your time and effort, and when you have worked out how much it will cost etc pm me and we can talk about it and work out exact costs and things :D

Cheers

[naquaada]

I made some Hi-Res photos of this thing. Here are both (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/01_left.jpg) sides (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/02_right.jpg), front (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/04_front.jpg) and back (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/03_back.jpg). This (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/05_front_open.jpg) is with the front with the covers for cardreader and Front-USB opened. I'm using a SATA drive bay in the 2nd slot, normally there's an DVD drive cover like at the top.

This is the case opened (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/07_case_open.jpg), here's a zoomed (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/08_case_open_zoom.jpg) view. You'll see there's enough space for airflow even with a passive gfx card. In the front there are two 5,25" drive bays which you can't access directly from the front, but you can use them for cables and up to three harddisks (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/09_drivebay.jpg) using U-shaped mounting things. It's very easy to open the front plate (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/06_front_modified.jpg), so you can access these slots. I added a front fan which sucks the heat from the harddisks to the front side. It's easy to mount a 92 mm fan (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/10_drivebay_fan.jpg) on the disk drive and the upper harddisk using some self-adhesive velcro (crazy word ;-) Here's the typical before/after (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/11_side_modification.jpg) picture of the side air holes, the inside contains the optional airduct (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/12_side_airduct.jpg) for the cpu fan. The screws of the airduct are only visible in the flashed photograph, normally you don't see them. The LEDs are normally visible, green for power and yellow for drive. I used blue 3mm LEDs which fit directly in the front holes, take a look here (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/15_leds_both.jpg). I also made a short video (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/16_leds_movie.mp4) (H.264 format) to show the drive access. I think it looks a bit more Mac-like. I want to remove te old led things, fill the holes with some plastic material, repaint it silver and modify it a bit to match the look of the holes on the front. But I wasn't finding the real things for this yet.

Here are all pics in an FTP (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/) directory. The Apple logos I made myself, you can download them as PDF in the link in my signature. Best print them with a high-quality laser printer (f.e. in a Copy-Shop) on self-adhesive matte paper. Laser-printed stuff is more durable than inkjets. If you're using tranparent paper you don't have to cut so exactly as on white paper, and you'll get a slight gradient (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/17_apple_gradient.jpg) to the case's color. This looks better than a plain black or gray logo. Best cut them out with a rounded scissor (f.e. for fingernails) and leave a small tab (http://naquaada.na.funpic.de/naq/osx86/forum/infinitemac/naquaada/pix/mactower/18_apple_logo_tab.jpg) at the bottom. That makes it more easy to seperate the self-adhesive part from the page.

[Aydinz]

looks great :D so now if you could pm me with price and things including all those mods i would love to talk more :D

[Aydinz]

i sent some messages to other people selling Mac Pro cases and i got various responses the most positive was from the guy selling this case: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190302565239&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

he said:
Hello Aydin. Yes, this item will work with other PC model components; in fact, a lot of customers buy it for this very purpose, including other people from Australia. You can see details about other people's Mac Pro case modification projects on this forum: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=161441 The link I have sent you is for the case modification project of one of our customers who bought all of his components from us (that were Mac specific that is). Shipping to Australia is not a problem, we ship something or the other to your country every day. The customer mentioned above was from Taiwan and we shipped it to him via Fedex and he received it in within 3 days. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask using eBay's messaging system or CALL us.

i looked at the topic he told me about and it seems that he got his parts in there fairly easily so now im just wondering if it is maybe worth modding an actual mac pro case as this guy did :)

but i trust you guys more then anyone else in the hackmac scene and i would really love your opinion, im going to check out the dimensions of the mac pro's insides and compare them with the dimensions of my components and see how it compares :)

[Aydinz]

Ive done a fair bit of research and ive come up with the dimensions of all my hardware and my current case if this will help anyone trying to help me work out if it will fit into a Mac Pro case with minimal modification:

Current Computer Case:
Thermaltake Xaser V
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 20.6cm x 57.91cm x 49.02cm

Mac Pro Case Specs:
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 20.6 cm x 47.5cm x 51.1cm

Processor:
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 17.8cm x 10.2cm x 17.8cm

Graphics Card:
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 256MB Heatsink Model
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 11.10cm x 17.52cm x 1.95cm

RAM:
4GB DDR2 RAM

Motherboard:
1 x GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 30.5cm x 24.4cm
Form Factor: ATX

Burner:
1 x LG GSA 4163B Super-Multi - DVD±RW (+R DL) / DVD-RAM drive - IDE
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 14.6 cm x 18.5 cm x 4.1 cm

HDDS:
1 x Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 250-GB Hard Drive SATA
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 10.16cm x 14.69 cm x 2.61cm

1 x Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 3Gb/s 500GB Hard Drive
Dimensions (WxDxH) = 10.16cm x 14.69cm x 1.99cm

I got all my information from here:

Current Case Specs:
Thermaltake Xaser V:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133160

Processor Specs:
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Q6600-Core2-2-4GHz-Processr/dp/B000LRMR26

Graphics Card Specs:
Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB:
http://www.xfxforce.com/en-gb/products/graphiccards/8series/8600gt.aspx#2

Motherboard Specs:
GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2740&ProductName=GA-EP35C-DS3R

HDD Specs:
Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 3Gb/s 500GB Hard Drive:
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=barracuda-7200-12-sata-3-0-gb/s-500gb-hd-st3500418as&vgnextoid=c501895c8ccce110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=7227b5b72fbce110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0a RCRD&reqPage=Model

Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 250-GB Hard Drive:
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=Barracuda_7200.10_SATA_250.3_GB&vgnextoid=873099f4fa74c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&vgnextchannel=a32a2f290c5fb010VgnVCM100000dd04090a RCRD&reqPage=Model

Burner Specs:
LG GSA-4163B Internal DVD burner:
http://www.twenga.co.uk/prices-GSA-4163B-LG-Internal-DVD-burner-5291-0

[naquaada]

Your board is ATX style, so it has 7 slots (3x PCI-E 1x, 1x PCI-E 16x, 3x PCI). The Mac Pro's back side has 5 slots, so you would need an microATX board or you have to saw an additional hole in the back side. But even if this would fit it could be difficult to add an PSU to the case.

[xXrkidXx]

i sent some messages to other people selling Mac Pro cases and i got various responses the most positive was from the guy selling this case: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190302565239&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

he said:
Hello Aydin. Yes, this item will work with other PC model components; in fact, a lot of customers buy it for this very purpose, including other people from Australia. You can see details about other people's Mac Pro case modification projects on this forum: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=161441 The link I have sent you is for the case modification project of one of our customers who bought all of his components from us (that were Mac specific that is). Shipping to Australia is not a problem, we ship something or the other to your country every day. The customer mentioned above was from Taiwan and we shipped it to him via Fedex and he received it in within 3 days. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask using eBay's messaging system or CALL us.

i looked at the topic he told me about and it seems that he got his parts in there fairly easily so now im just wondering if it is maybe worth modding an actual mac pro case as this guy did :)

but i trust you guys more then anyone else in the hackmac scene and i would really love your opinion, im going to check out the dimensions of the mac pro's insides and compare them with the dimensions of my components and see how it compares :)

LMAO! This is the EXACT case i was looking at yesterday lol, but u can have it, im just gonna get a old Power Mac G4, its cheaper :D lol

[zuz242]

Though it is not a real mac-pro case, i´m really satisfied with my coolermaster cosmos case.
I certainly has a style befitting a mac pro, i recon ;)

[naquaada]

Hey guys in Germany or in Europe, check this out: Samsung HD103UJ (http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190302917439QQssPageNameZMERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr2_Pc Y_BIN_IT&refitem=190292605026&itemcount=2&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its%3DS%252BI%26itu%3DUCI%2 52BSI%26otn%3D2) Terabyte harddisk for 68 Euro new!!!