PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet in a 9600 Case

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PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet in a 9600 Case
Or Beige Is Beautiful!
By Robert C. Word
Published 9/22/2002

Disclaimer/Warning: This page is for entertainment only and is not guaranteed 100% accurate. Performing modifications or other work inside your Mac will void your Apple warranty, may cause damage to your computer or result in personal injury. The author and site publishers do not recommend attempting any of the mods listed here. You assume all risk from the use of any of the information in this article.

Installing the Logic Board

With the plastic bits removed, I drilled holes for the bolts I used for mother-board stand-offs. As is customary, I installed PCI cards on the logic board and used them to line up the logic board with the PCI slots. Then I marked the location of the holes and tapped them for easy drilling.

I used red circles to note the location of the stand-offs in the figure below. The blue box notes the location of the mounting bracket for the power switch. Note that the holes for the back-plate hadn't been drilled yet.

There was a metal post located where the yellow circle is. I busted this off with a pair of plyers.

MB standoffs

Below is the logic board installed with its CPU daughter card.

The power connectors on the far right of the picture are ready for any ATA hard drives I might wish to install on the base of the case. Notice that the location of the ATA connector is perfectly suited for this.

The power connector at the top of the picture is for the fan.

logic board

In case anyone is interested, here is the repair that was done to this board. There is what looks like a diode soldered across these pins in the red circle below.

repair

In the picture below I have connected the speaker and installed the CPU heat sink. The original speaker connector fits on the G4 board without need for modification.

The ATA cable for the CDROM is visible on the right. This is connected to ATA33 interface below the heat sink.

Logic Bd pix2

Now everything is installed. In this view you can see that the drive and PS section clears the CPU heat sink without difficulty. At the bottom you can see the hard drive mounting plate for ATA drives I don't yet own. The blue cable is the U160 SCSI cable.

inside G4

By the way, the copper heat sink on the Radeon is a Zalman heat sink that I installed about six months ago when the Radeon's original fan started driving me crazy. Here is a better shot. The modification blocks a PCI slot next to the video card (except in a Beige G3 where the Radeon can easily fit in the outer edge PCI slot).

Radeon card

G4 Gigabit in 9600 Case Article Contents:

Page 1: Introduction

Page 2: Parts and Budget

Page 3: Custom Parts

Page 4: Installing the Power Supply

Page 5: Installing the Logic Board

Page 6: The Final Product

Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM

Copyright © 2002.

The opinions in this reader submitted article may not reflect those of the site publishers.
No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission.
All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies.
Legal: Users of the web site must read and are bound by the terms and conditions of use.

The Source for Mac Performance News and Reviews
PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet in a 9600 Case Or Beige Is Beautiful! By Robert C. Word Published 9/22/2002
Disclaimer/Warning: This page is for entertainment only and is not guaranteed 100% accurate. Performing modifications or other work inside your Mac will void your Apple warranty, may cause damage to your computer or result in personal injury. The author and site publishers do not recommend attempting any of the mods listed here. You assume all risk from the use of any of the information in this article.
Installing the Logic Board With the plastic bits removed, I drilled holes for the bolts I used for mother-board stand-offs. As is customary, I installed PCI cards on the logic board and used them to line up the logic board with the PCI slots. Then I marked the location of the holes and tapped them for easy drilling. I used red circles to note the location of the stand-offs in the figure below. The blue box notes the location of the mounting bracket for the power switch. Note that the holes for the back-plate hadn't been drilled yet. There was a metal post located where the yellow circle is. I busted this off with a pair of plyers. Below is the logic board installed with its CPU daughter card. The power connectors on the far right of the picture are ready for any ATA hard drives I might wish to install on the base of the case. Notice that the location of the ATA connector is perfectly suited for this. The power connector at the top of the picture is for the fan. In case anyone is interested, here is the repair that was done to this board. There is what looks like a diode soldered across these pins in the red circle below. In the picture below I have connected the speaker and installed the CPU heat sink. The original speaker connector fits on the G4 board without need for modification. The ATA cable for the CDROM is visible on the right. This is connected to ATA33 interface below the heat sink. Now everything is installed. In this view you can see that the drive and PS section clears the CPU heat sink without difficulty. At the bottom you can see the hard drive mounting plate for ATA drives I don't yet own. The blue cable is the U160 SCSI cable. By the way, the copper heat sink on the Radeon is a Zalman heat sink that I installed about six months ago when the Radeon's original fan started driving me crazy. Here is a better shot. The modification blocks a PCI slot next to the video card (except in a Beige G3 where the Radeon can easily fit in the outer edge PCI slot). G4 Gigabit in 9600 Case Article Contents: Page 1: Introduction Page 2: Parts and Budget Page 3: Custom Parts Page 4: Installing the Power Supply Page 5: Installing the Logic Board Page 6: The Final Product
Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM
Copyright © 2002. The opinions in this reader submitted article may not reflect those of the site publishers. No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies. Legal: Users of the web site must read and are bound by the terms and conditions of use.