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G4 Cube Inspired Self Build

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Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
759
Motherboard
DQ77KB
CPU
i7-3770S
Graphics
HD4000
Mac
  1. MacBook Air
  2. MacBook Pro
  3. Mac mini
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Background

When I joined the TonyMac community, i Had a iMac 24 inch circa 2008, which was under performing and needed to be replaced so I purchased a non-working Powermac G5. I was so impressed with the quality of the design (had not seen it before) that when I converted it (link in my signature), I did so with the minimal amount of exterior change, and kept the interior as similar as possible.

This turned out really well (I think). It is my main machine, it holds a large Aperture (RAW) photo collection and HD video collection of family which gets edited. The hot swap drive bays turned out to be a great feature, which I find myself using quite a lot as have spare drives floating around.

However I have a need for a second computer, in an alcove near our main living area (wheres the main machine is in study, in quite a separate area), something this kids can use, for general tasks.

While I was converting the PowerMac G5 I looked on with envy at people doing G4 cube builds, and decided this would be my next build. I started looking for machine to convert, but G4 Cubes are hard to find in Australia.

A month or so into the search a Cube came up on eBay but went for a very high price, so I considered the possibility of build my own Cube from scratch, and so set about designing it using Google sketch up.

By the time I actually managed to purchase the Cube (took 6 months) I had a very good design of my own. I had spent quite a lot of time on the design and acquiring some of the parts that I would need. So by the time I got the Cube I had already committed to this build.

The Cube I got was in good working condition so also seemed a shame to gut it.

Goals

The goal is for a minimalist desktop computer inspired mainly by the G4 Cube. The computer should be a small as practical, reasonably fast, and preferably silent.

My other goal is to have a project that will take some time to complete. The PowerMac G5 I built seemed to over before it started, so I want something that will take some time to get right, but actually the design and sourcing of materials has taken quite some time already

Design

This design will borrow the basic elements of the Cube design including the top loading DVD, IO ports at the bottom, and a supporting acrylic case that provides the legs that the main chassis will sit on.

The design will be smaller than the original Cube, not a cube at all, more the dimensions of a Mac Mini. It will look a bit like a Mac Mini sandwiched between two pieces of acrylic. I will use a Mini ITX motherboard, cooling will use the same principle's as the Cube (the chimney effect), but will have a small fan to increase airflow.

The computer itself will use have an Intel DQ77KB motherboard, an Intel i3-3225 processor (lower heat output) and an HDD/SSD combination for performance. It will have WIFI and bluetooth.

Design Pictures

These pictures are taken from a design created in Google-Sketchup. The design has allowed me to work out the basic placement of the major components. It is not complete, there are still lots of little details to work out.


  • In the first picture shows the assembled computer, with acrylic and DVD drive on the top. The top (and bottom) of the computer will be mostly a large grille, with holes very similar to a PowerMac G5
  • The second picture shows the insides with the acrylic panels, top, and sides removed. You can see the HDD which will be screwed to the plate (which is internal) you can see. The three pillars shown are actually what hold the case together. The acrylic panels screen into these from both sides.
  • The third picture shows the complete motherboard, and heatsink, and DVD drive underneath the motherboard. What isn't shown is a horizontal fan which will be mounted below the heat sink, and force up through the heatsink.
  • The final picture is with the motherboard removed, and just shows the complete DVD drive, and motherboard standoffs. I intend to glue the motherboard standoffs to the case, and glue rails which will hold the DVD drive in position

G4CubeDesignPic1.pngG4CubeDesignPic2.pngG4CubeDesignPic3.pngG4CubeDesignPic4.png

So this is what I intend to build, I have started on some of the basics, which I will post about. But as I said some of the finer details are still to come, and may change as I go.
 
The Final Result

The Final Result
DSC00435.jpg

See This Link for the full pictures of the case - Completed Mods
http://www.tonymacx86.com/completed-mods/105167-g4-cube-inspired-self-build-completed.html

And this Link for the full writeup and software installation - User Builds
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...f-build-core-i3-3225-intel-dq77kb-hd4000.html

The Parts List

Here are the primary parts used to build the computer

  • Intel DQ77KB Motherboard
  • Intel® Core™ i3-3225 Processor (3M Cache, 3.30 GHz)
  • 2 x 4GB Kingston DDR3-1333 204pin SODIMM
  • Super Multi DVD re-writerdrive GS22N, purchased off eBay
  • OCZ Nocti mSATA SSD 60GB
  • WD Scorpio Blue 750GB 2.5" Hard Drive
  • IO Gear Bluetooth 4.0 adapter, from recommended build
  • WIFI Broadcom BCM94322HM8L Mini PCI-e card
  • Dynatron K129 Passive 1U Rackmount Copper CPU Cooler
  • Right Hand side Fan From MacBook Pro Unibody 17"

And the ancillary parts used in the computer

  • 2 x Akasa PROSLIM Super Slim SATA 3.0 Data Cable

And the parts I used to build the case

  • 2 x Acrylic Case Sides, custom made
  • 2 x Aluminium Sheet 200 x 200 x 1.5mm - the outer main panels
  • 2U rach unit blank panel, with hole pattern used for top and bottom of case.
  • Aluminium Angle 12mm x 12mm x 1.6mm at 1m long
  • Aluminium Machine Rod 8mm at 1m long
  • Aluminium Flat Bar 10mm x 3mm at 1mm
 
Cooling

Cooling is an important part of the build of any computer, especially a small form factor computer. The standard configuration is to mount a fan on top forcing the air down onto the cooler and letting it escape to the sides.
cpu-air-flow-with-fan-small.png
The issue with this approach , for the build that I intend is the height. I need a fan atop a heat-sink, plus the space above the fan to draw in the air. I want something thinner.

The design I choose is to mount a fan to one side of the heat-sink. The fan will blow air across the heat-sink, from one side to the other. No space is required above the heat-sink in this design, so the height will be minimal. As the motherboard will be mounted vertically the air will enter at the bottom and forced up through the heat-sink, and exit at the top
cpu-air-flow-design.png
This is similar to how laptops are designed, in fact the fan I will used is straight of a Macbook Pro.

Heat-sink

Dynatron K129 Passive 1U Rackmount Copper CPU Cooler
IMG_1239.jpg
This measures 90x90x26mm so basically basically it is the same size as a 90mm fan, so very thin. Weight is half a KG, so quite heavy, with a lot of fins, so able to absorb and dissipate quite a bit of heat.

Mounting this was a bit of an issue, as it had screw mounts with metal brackets that were meant to attach under the motherboard. Problem was these brackets would have interfered with surface mount components on the underside of the motherboard. So I had to trim down the mounts to just the bare minimum.
IMG_1240.jpgIMG_1242.jpg
Then align them so as to not interfere with the components on the underside of the motherboard. Below you can see just how small a gap there is in some places.
IMG_1370.jpgIMG_1372.jpg
I actually tried to cut these down further but because the metal was quite hard, cutting generated a lot of heat so holding these components was quite difficult, also the glue in the double sided tape was being affected. I felt that once they fitted it was best to leave well enough alone.
 
Very nice, definately gonna watch this one.
I didn't quite understand what you are going to do with the cube?
Put it in parts and then use a few of them?
 
This is going to be awesome to watch. I will follow your build very closely since I intend to do something like it and I like your cooling solution. However, I need more boom then the 3225 can deliver.

Do you think it is possible to cool a 3770T (45W TDP version of the 3770) with your solution?

Cheers!
 
Cooling Fan

I will use the fan from a MacBook Pro 15" Unibody, the Right Hand Side Fan. I purchased this off eBay for about $20. Actually could have used one from 17" MBP, (but at time couldn't find one), the 17" one would probably provide more airflow.

EDIT March 31st - I actually chnaged the design latter to use the 17" fan - See Post #26

I choose the Right hand side fan, The Left hand side fan had a mount bracket sticking out where the air comes out, so would have had to cut it off, overall it didn't look like it would fit perfectly.
IMG_1330.jpg
This is a horizontal fan, air is drawn in from top and bottom, and forced out the side (bottom in picture) of the fan. This makes it ideal for my build. It is a PWM fan so speed is controlled by the motherboard. The only downside of the fan is LOUD when it speeds up, but on minimum RPM's it is silent. If you have used a Macbook Pro you will know what I mean. A MacBook Pro 15" has two fans I will use one.

The main issue is connecting this, primarily since this fan is driven from 5V not the normal 12V. However this didn't really pose a problem in the end. Sorry I didn't write down the exact circuit, but will describe the steps to wire it up.

Through simple process of elimination I discovered to outer two pins provide power to the fan. They can only be wired one way, if you get them round the wrong way the fan wont spin. The 5V line will be wired to a single pin. The GND connector will be wired to pin 1 of a standard 4 pin fan header socket. The picture below show the two wires connected to power (for testing)
IMG_1331.jpg
To connect the other two wires I simply tried each of them in turn on the "Sense" Pin 3 on the Fan header, until the RPM's registered in the BIOS screen. The remaining wire is then connected to PIN 4, the "PWM" fan speed pin. And it worked.

So to confirm the only difference for wiring this fan is that 5V must come from somewhere else on the MB, I will connect it to a spare USB header on the motherboard. But the other three pins can be connected normally to the CPU fan header. In the picture below I have separated the wire that goes to a 5V
IMG_1334.jpg
Will post more details of fan mounting, and temperatures in a letter post

Spiegelei: The i7 processor you intend is a lower TDP wattage the the i3 I am using so it should be good. The only thing is your i7 is not on the Tony Mac buyers guide, not sure why.
 
Very nice, definately gonna watch this one.
I didn't quite understand what you are going to do with the cube?
Put it in parts and then use a few of them?
Hi glad you like it, your build looks great too. I am not sure I understand your questions ?
 
Hi glad you like it, your build looks great too. I am not sure I understand your questions ?

Thanks! And nevermind, I just got confused yesterday but it's all find now ;)
I just had to read the introduction carefully ;)
 
Great going Kiwi, you've got the grey matter ticking over, it's a hell of a brain teaser doing a scratch build, I don't think you will have any cooling issues with the 3225, they seem to run pretty cool with a tdp of 55 watt, and with that mass of copper your putting on it the fan probably won't have to work too hard. Mine is running very well and when the core is running at any measured temperature, the heatsink is around 5 deg cooler, indicated by the monitoring tool, so it will be interesting to see how cool yours will be running at.
 
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