Mac Mini 2011 build!

[oznem]

I use some regular HP laptop power adapters that work great. But the power adapters only supports 45W-65W as I remember. I have a i3 8100t that has TDP 35W and the 45W-65W power adapters are good for me. Yes, the H310T/CSM mother boars itself has a 12V/19V power connector but I never use it to power up my board. If you need a 90W adapter, I got one from Amazon and now I use it for my Lenovo T450s and HP EliteBook 740 G2. By the way, I only paid $10 to get the HP 65W Power adapter from eBay.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0132ST35Y/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

sorry @tyeh I forgot to tell you that I bought an Asus H110T/CSM mobo, just like the one that you had. It's arriving soon.

Oz

 

[tyeh]

Oh, I do have an Asus H110t/CSM running Windows 10 now (but move to Asus H310T/CSM for 2280 M.2 SSD support). It seems the 2-pin power input does support DC 12V (Please check the h110T/CSM manual) but I don't know where you can get the adapter to cover the 4-pin ATX CPU from PSU to the two-pin DC Power input on H110T/CSM. At the same time, I also don't know the current supported from the 4-pin ATX CPU power by your PSU. The whole motherboard needs at least 20W plus 65W and that means the 4-pin ATX CPU power have to provide at least 7A.

I just saw this and not sure they will work for you. But it seems they can be connected to 4-pin ATX CPU power from PSU and provide 2-pin DC power to the H110T/CSM motherboard. You should check the output voltage and their positive/negitave ends using a meter before plugging in.

2Pin - 4Pin Mini Molex Cable

with

P4-12V to P4-12V Cable for M2-ATX

P4-12V to P4-12V cable, works with M2-ATX. Provides 12V for P4 systems, cable length = 220mm (9in) end to end

www.mini-box.com

Good luck and be careful ... don't burn the motherboard with its components.

 

[oznem]

Well @tyeh sorry for the late answer, I was on holiday for a few days and reaching the web wasn't always easy... Thanks again a lot for you useful help! I will definitely use a meter in order not to fry the new motherboard.
Il come back to you as soon as the board arrives.

see you

Oz

 

[ravic]

Tyeh,

I have the same exact motherboard and an i5-8400t.
What fan are you using? How is the noise?
Are you still using the dynatron heatsink?

Can you please share the I/O plate design? I would love to get it printed somewhere.

Thanks

Yes, I agree with you. The internal SSD soldered inside the 2018 Mac Mini kills my desire to buy it. I knew you can use TB3 external SSD to run OSX. But a dead SSD might stop the system from boot (Happed on my Asus H170i-Pro/CSM with a dead SATA M.2 SSD) then you have to ask Apple to fix it.

Two issues with SFX motherboard. The first, their backplate I/O ports are too high to fit into Mac mini. The second, they use H110 or H310 chipset that only support PCIe x2. I replaced my H110T/CSM with H310T/CSM and put a i3 8100T that has a HD 630 like the 2018 Mac mini. With H310T/CSM, I can install a NVME M.2 2280 SSD but the max read/write speeds are around 1500MB/sec at most.

Here are the pictures of my latest mod. Got a metal frame and plastic back plate with opening. I used CR-10 to print a I/O backplate. At the same time, I got a mesh bottom cover from the same vendor in China.

 

[ravic]

I got a macbook pro 13" fan to add to the dynatron heatsink mentioned above to perfectly fit a H310T and i5-8400T into a mac mini case. With the original bottom cover

I used home depot aluminum duct work tape to attach the fan to the heatsink. It works really well and the glue designed for hot environments.

Attaching the picture

 

[craighazan]

Just did a simple design with Thinkercad for the bottom cover. My son used Soildwork to design the backplate of motherboard and I printed them with CR-10 printer. Might change to internal bower fans and redesign the bottom cover.

View attachment 331374 View attachment 331375

This is a good looking build, I think standing the mini up is a great idea and probably better for cooling too.

 

[electroniceric]

Yes, I agree with you. The internal SSD soldered inside the 2018 Mac Mini kills my desire to buy it. I knew you can use TB3 external SSD to run OSX. But a dead SSD might stop the system from boot (Happed on my Asus H170i-Pro/CSM with a dead SATA M.2 SSD) then you have to ask Apple to fix it.

Two issues with SFX motherboard. The first, their backplate I/O ports are too high to fit into Mac mini. The second, they use H110 or H310 chipset that only support PCIe x2. I replaced my H110T/CSM with H310T/CSM and put a i3 8100T that has a HD 630 like the 2018 Mac mini. With H310T/CSM, I can install a NVME M.2 2280 SSD but the max read/write speeds are around 1500MB/sec at most.

Here are the pictures of my latest mod. Got a metal frame and plastic back plate with opening. I used CR-10 to print a I/O backplate. At the same time, I got a mesh bottom cover from the same vendor in China.

@tyeh,

I am most impressed with your build. I am trying to build a similar Hack Mini:

-H310T/CSM (bios version 1606)
-i7 9700 CPU (HD 630)
-SiliconPower 1TB NVMe SSD
-BCM94360NG M.2 WiFi (natively supported in MacOS)

I've been at it for weeks, and can't get MacOS Catalina installation to launch. Clover fails at the attached screen, system shuts down instantly. Some of the things I've tried:

-Using known working config.pl from ravic's post (generated my own serial, etc)
-Following BIOS config and instructions from this YouTube video
-iMac 19,1 iMac 19,2 MacMini 8,1 SMBIOS system builds
-UniBeast 3 with Mojave, and UniBeast 4 with Catalina
-Even tried OpenCore with Catalina and Big Sur at one point

Pleas halp :/