Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

[cardin]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

Yes, many have used it in the past year - its been a popular board.


Adrian B

I was looking at the mac mini/deluxe builds,,

what is the difference with [h=1]H77N and Z77N?[/h]
The H77n is newer, so I would like to get that most likely,

Should I go with the H77N? I am using the deluxe build but saw that the mobo was outdated, and H77n is the new version.

 

[paulinater]

So there are no mini - ITX motherboards that can connect to wifi without a PCIe card?

 

[jecowa]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

So there are no mini - ITX motherboards that can connect to wifi without a PCIe card?

You can replace the built-in half-width mini PCI Wifi card with another Wifi card that is supported, but then you will need another Bluetooth adapter. I think this card should work fine. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00881PHO2

Edit: Nevermind, That Apple-branded one looks like it's full-length, but the GA-Z77N-WIFI needs a half-width card. This is the one you need: AR9380 http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-AR5BHB92-Dual-band-802-11b-Toshiba/dp/B009HN63QQ

 

[MechSoup]

I'm sure that you are already aware that the UP4 TH and UP7 have the VL800 chip which is (was?) not supported . . . .at least I believe? Is there some work around now that makes the VL800 chip natively supported? I have always been interested in the UP7 but didn't want most of my USB3 ports not working.

 

[dada2]

I have a question, in the Mini-ITX build, can I safely just skip the PCI Wifi card if I only need Ethernet?

 

[Adrian B]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

I have a question, in the Mini-ITX build, can I safely just skip the PCI Wifi card if I only need Ethernet?

If you are going to use the onboard ethernet on any of the builds then treat the Wifi cards as optional.


Adrian B

 

[MechSoup]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

I was looking at the mac mini/deluxe builds,,

what is the difference with H77N and Z77N?


The H77n is newer, so I would like to get that most likely,

Should I go with the H77N? I am using the deluxe build but saw that the mobo was outdated, and H77n is the new version.

The Z77 Chipset allows overclocking, while the H77 Chipset does NOT allow overclocking. On a mini platform, the overclocking potential is minimal, but still present.

 

[JRHolmes]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

I have a question, in the Mini-ITX build, can I safely just skip the PCI Wifi card if I only need Ethernet?

Yes, that is perfectly OK. Plus you get the advantage of having a native working Bluetooth connection.

 

[vikac]

Hi.

I can't find SanDisk SSD in my region, so is it "KINGSTON HyperX 3K Solid State Drive 2.5" SATA III-600 480 GB MLC, Retail" good alternative?

ty

 

[jecowa]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide August 2013

Hi.

I can't find SanDisk SSD in my region, so is it "KINGSTON HyperX 3K Solid State Drive 2.5" SATA III-600 480 GB MLC, Retail" good alternative?

ty

You can use any SSD. The advantage of using the SanDisk model recomended by TonyMac is that you don't have to enable Trim on it. For other SSDs, you should enable Trim using either TonyMac's multiBeast or groth's Trim Enabler software.