Getting the last mile out of Mini 2006

[cerhd]

Yes I still have a Mac Mini 2006 that's gone through several upgrades. T7400 CPU, internal sata SSD, 4GB of RAM, macmini 2,1 hack to install SL, the Lion.app tweak to install Lion 10.7.5. As this is a headless HTPC it does it's job really well but I'm now looking to get some extra mileage in moving to Yosemite (iTunes+iPhoto library compatibility for iTunes server streaming).

Looking at Unibeast (correct me if I'm wrong) this seems like a no-go as the mini 2006 is 32bit EFI.

So I was thinking of getting a 64bit motherboard that would accept the Intel T7400 and DDR2 RAM. Recover the Superdrive DVD/CS, SSD, RAM and whatever else to make a functional Hackintosh system. Who knows, I might even be surprised with some new bluetooth features!

Any better ideas to get some extra mileage out of an old 2006 mini ?

 

[trs96]

So I was thinking of getting a 64bit motherboard that would accept the Intel T7400 and DDR2 RAM. Recover the Superdrive DVD/CS, SSD, RAM and whatever else to make a functional Hackintosh system. Who knows, I might even be surprised with some new bluetooth features!

Any better ideas to get some extra mileage out of an old 2006 mini ?

What will that new Motherboard cost ? You could save yourself all the work by getting a 2012
Mini (still some unused ones available). I've seen the base $599 model selling for $469 since
the newer 2014 version has come out last month. The Mac mini mobos I've looked at for my
2005 model start at about $350 or more. Also the 2012 model will have much faster DDR3 ram
which helps immensely with igfx performance. About all I still use my old 2005 Mini for is service
as an iTunes jukebox.

 

[cerhd]

Managed to install Yosemite within Virtual Box on the Lion partition. Graphics are really slow but I don't care. I'll test installing iTunes 12.0.1 and iPhoto 9.6. As this is just an iTunes Server hub all it is doing is sending URLs to AppleTV via HomeSharing. If this fails I'll buy a used 2009 mac mini with a 64 bit EFI or build a hackintosh and recycle some parts.