A Serendipitous G4 Cube Build --Everything just worked

[neobayer]

I have wanted to build a G4 cube ever since I finished my G5. I am however an old fart on a very tight budget. It takes me quite a while to build a project because I generally can buy one or two parts every month. As luck would have it I won an auction on eBay for dead G4 Cube for only $5.50 plus shipping.The seller included an Apple wireless keyboard that was not even mentioned in the ad. When I opened the box I was flabbergasted. It was probably one of my best buys on eBay in fifteen years.

Now that I had the Cube I had to start the project. I disassembled it entirely and sold some of the parts on eBay. In essence I got the Cube for free and made a few bucks. I read every post I could find about G4 cube builds. I got a lot of good ideas and inspiration from the builds on this site.

I was perplexed about which motherboard to chose. I knew I wanted a Gigabyte ITX board but that was my one criteria. After studying the layout of many different boards I settled on the Gigabyte GA B85N Phoenix WiFi. I choose it for it's layout and price. I don't think I could have chosen a better board. The built in WiFi and bluetooth don't work. I will need to replace at some point with a broadcom card The only inconvenient connector was for the Sata II plug that was not needed anyway.

I bought a 160 watt Pico PSU again from eBay and started building and thinking. I think in a way it was good that I had to wait for some parts because I spent a lot of time staring at my progress and fitting parts in different place. The 2.5 hard drive fit perfectly into a little niche on the side like it was designed to fit. I chose to mount the motherboard upside-down with the cpu fan pointing inward using four long bolts. I had to bend a slight dog leg into in two of them.

I re-used the touch sensor using directions found here. Basically one wire to pin 9 on the 24 pin and a ground. I clipped out the stock led and slid a blue led in its place and plugged the pigtail to the motherboard pins. I worked perfect the first time I also used a blue led behind the apple on the front. It glows for a hdd activity light

I choose the Intel I3 4360 for it's low power consumption and price. I found the Rosewill Z775 low profile cpu cooler and fan to fit perfectly with a quarter inch to spare. I mounted a 120 mm led fan where the HDD used to reside. It helps keep the inside nice and cool

The only part I am not happy with is the backplate I had to craft from a sheet of aluminum. All I have is Dremel and a few small files. I bought some chrome stickers to snazz it up. but it still bugs be. I will probably make another at some point.

I was able to install Yosemite to the 2.5 hdd and it runs perfect I still want to install an msata and a dvd then it will be done, or maybe it will never be done

The total cost was a little above $300 but I already owned the hard drive and memory. They will be replaced with ssd and two low profile sticks of eight gbs

I really need some advise on how to read the cpu temps. Every solution I have found either does not work or cost money for an app. I don't understand why Yosemite doesn't just display the cpu temp in About This Mac. Am I missing something, my father always said I wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box!

Also what would be a good choice to replace the non-functioning Intel WiFi/Bluetooth. I can live without BT as I bought a neat little BT4 dongle from eBay for 4 bucks

 

[neilhart]

neobayer I enjoyed your G4 Cube conversion photo story. It is a great job. I also noticed your cube setting on you G5 Power Mac.

You said you wanted the CPU temps - you should have them by installing the Hardware Monitor app from MultiBeast (see Drivers > Misc and select FakeSMC ... Plugins and FakeSMC ... HWMonitor Application).

Anyway I am running the same motherboard in my Scratch Build # 5 and have the Hardware Monitor with CPU temps configured to load at boot time and display in the top menu.

Good modding,
neil

 

[neobayer]

Well thank you very much Neil, I took your suggestion and now I have the temps displayed at the top of my screen. What is considered a good temp. I am thinking around 35C

 

[neilhart]

Well thank you very much Neil, I took your suggestion and now I have the temps displayed at the top of my screen. What is considered a good temp. I am thinking around 35C

On my project machines I run the Prime95 Torture Test (google for a free download). Once I think that I am done, I run the test for an hour to verify that I have a system that can survive the test. If the max temps settle down to 70 C or below it is great. Numbers in the high 70's worry me but are probably okay.

Good modding,
neil

 

[neobayer]

I have made a few changes to my G4 Cube. I noticed how the inner box was attached to the top with a few rivets and small welds. My dremel made fast work of those and I ended up with just the top plate. I reassembled the cube without the side panels. I kind of like the look, but I am torn between coolness and the classic look. My wife likes it exposed because the GA B75N-WiFi has orange LED's around the edge and it lights up inside.

I am still not convinced, so a managed to buy a spare inner case on eBay