Uncut G4 Cube Mod ( ongoing project)

[iCubeFan]

I wouldn't advise it unless you are certain of what will be connected to the Hub. The issue is that the hub has 7 usb ports, so if you plugged in 7 devices that used the full 0.5A, that adds up to 3.5A. Most header plugs are not designed to to provide this much current, and you may end up burning out something on the motherboard.


If you know what will be plugged into the hub, and know (or can measure) how much current will be drawn by all of these device, and can find a pin on the motherboard that is rated for this power then you will be fine. Otherwise I would be careful.

Okay, understood. What's the general use of this 5V plug header?

Will you cut off a part of the original MOBO and reuse its connectors?

I didn't think about this possibility. My idea is to glue the USB, Ethernet and DC female ends to a rectangular piece of pvc/plexi and then screw this piece to the original mobo standoffs ( the ones at the bottom)

For the hub, why not use the power from the pico?

The connection to the mobo seemed the easiest solution to me. My alternative method using the picopsu involves jumping the Pico ( so it will be always on) and using the 5V from the molex connector to power the Hub.

For an example circuit to turn on the PicoPSU see second attachment and then look at this link which shows suitable simple cheap reed relay switch :
http://www.maplin.co.uk/dil-reed-relay-2613#specification

Thanks for sharing this I may give it a try

 

[iCubeFan]

About the heatsink

Another of the goals of this project is to have a complete noiseless Cube.The NUC stock fan is very silent but not enough , besides I wanted to reuse the original Cube Heatsink. So the NUC cooling system ( fan + heatsink) had to go.

For a passive cooling system a heat spreader between the CPU & the Northbridge chip and the heatsink is needed.
I couldn''t reuse the original heat spreader because it wasn't thick enough besides the CPU & Northbridge chip have slightly different heights.

Some kind of custom solution was needed. Google gave me the answers to my prayers; the Impatics case, a fanless aluminum case (with a fantastic copper heat spreader )designed for the Intel NUC.
I contacted Impatics to try to buy only the needed part. No luck so I had to acquire the whole case which by the way arrived today





Side note: when Intel releases the rumored i7 NUC I'll upgrade the Cube with it and move the i3 NUC (with its original fan) to this case.


The Copper heat spreader in place

Motherboard in its future location, I may have to sacrifice the upper USB port to free space for the bottom ports connections

I don't want to drill holes for the standoffs so I'll have to glue some homemade ones ( wish I have MacTester machine & skills )

I found these http://www.mountainmods.com/acrylic-cube-wthreaded-inserts-rightside-p-214.html
but they're too tall (there is only 0.8 cm between the heatsink and the mobo).

If anyone can point me to a similar or alternative solution it will be much appreciated.

Cheers
iCubeFan

 

[iCubeFan]

Update on USB 2.0 port expansion

​I found a much better option for USB port expansion than the D-Link DUB-H7 7-Port USB 2 Hub.

Meet the NZXT internal USB 2.0 hub:

A USB to 10 pin header adaptor will be needed ( there is no usb header in my NUC version)



(already ordered from eBay)

The hub has a Molex connector that I can plug to the picopsu so I don't need to build a custom connector. It's smaller and much thinner than the D-Link and will provide the same number of ports.
It comes with a Velcro so I can stick it wherever I need

With this hub I'll have access to a total of 9 ports which is more than enough for this build

 

[MacTester57]

I don't want to drill holes for the standoffs so I'll have to glue some homemade ones

Good work so far! You could glue (with 2 component glue, "Araldite", "JB Weld") four M3 hexagon socket screws with the head towards the heat sink. The MOBO's height position is easily adjustable with two nuts (one on each side of the PCB) with this solution.

MacTester

 

[kiwisincebirth]

About the heatsink

I contacted Impatics to try to buy only the needed part. No luck so I had to acquire the whole case which by the way arrived today

I don't want to drill holes for the standoffs so I'll have to glue some homemade ones ( wish I have MacTester machine & skills )

If anyone can point me to a similar or alternative solution it will be much appreciated.

Cheers
iCubeFan

Just a question/observation. How are you going to mount the copper heat spreader to the apple heat sink without drilling through the apple heat sink? Just using motherboard mounting screws wont be enough (IMHO), or have I missed something.

EDIT:Looking good by the way.

 

[iCubeFan]

Good work so far! You could glue (with 2 component glue, "Araldite", "JB Weld") four M3 hexagon socket screws with the head towards the heat sink. The MOBO's height position is easily adjustable with two nuts (one on each side of the PCB) with this solution.


MacTester

thanks for the tip I'll do that!

Just a question/observation. How are you going to mount the copper heat spreader to the apple heat sink without drilling through the apple heat sink? Just using motherboard mounting screws wont be enough (IMHO), or have I missed something.

EDIT:Looking good by the way.

Yes. My intention is to use the motherboard mounting screws to secure mobo & heatsink. Are you afraid that the glued standoffs aren't strong enough to hold everything?

There are two extra holes in the mobo so I can use a total of 6 mounting points.

please let me know your thoughts

 

[kiwisincebirth]

Yes. My intention is to use the motherboard mounting screws to secure mobo & heatsink. Are you afraid that the glued standoffs aren't strong enough to hold everything?

There are two extra holes in the mobo so I can use a total of 6 mounting points.

please let me know your thoughts

IMHO the issue is that using motherboard standoffs wont be able to exert enough force to hold the copper heat spreader to the apple heat-sink. The motherboard isn't strong enough so will flex with even mild tension. MacTester may be able to chime in, but my understanding is the two parts need to be held strongly against each otherwise you wont get effective heat transfer.

Have a look at the case you purchased, to see how the cooper heat spreader should be attached to the case. Maybe you can re-use the mounting system, to attach it to the apple heat sink.

 

[iCubeFan]

Have a look at the case you purchased, to see how the cooper heat spreader should be attached to the case. Maybe you can re-use the mounting system, to attach it to the apple heat sink.

The case has just 4 standoffs for the motherboad.

 

[MacTester57]

The case has just 4 standoffs for the motherboad.

If the mounting system is working in this case, then it will work with the Cube's heat sink too. You should pay attention to:
-sand and degrease the glue surfaces for optimal strength
-use good quality thermal grease (Noctua is very good)
-the removed NUC heat sink cooled two additional IC's on the MOBO too. You should mount small heat sinks to them to protect them from overheating

MacTester

 

[iCubeFan]

Motherboard homemade standoffs & port location

Following MacTester's piece of advice I used four M3 hexagon socket screws ( with two nuts each) as motherboard standoffs.

It took me some time to adjust the mobo height, the heat spreader needs to be firmly pushed against the heatsink while adjusting the height or you end up having a gap between both parts.

The motherboad is now slightly bended , but nothing too serious.

I haven't glued the standoffs yet because I need to determine the optimal location of the ports.
It's very likely that the rear NUC ports will be facing the Cube top plate to free space for the port extensions at the bottom.


When trying this option I encountered the following issues:

-The DC plug partially collides with the power switch.
-A regular size HDMI head connector simply doesn't fit.
I tried with an Apple HDMI cable, the head size is perfect but the cable is 1.8 long :



more updates soon