Mac mini / Cube tribute

[Charlee78]

Hi everyone!

I've been following @craighazan thread about his 2009 Mac mini since he started it and we've been discussing many different ways to stack more than one mini on top of each other to be able to incorporate a graphics card inside. After a while, he came with a brilliant solution that you could look at here: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/2009-macmini-rx560-egpu-case-mod.294936/

At one point @trs96 mentioned similitudes with an old G4 cube. Craighazan was king enough to share his files here so I did some work and thi is where I am right now:

I figured it would be better to install the motherboard vertically to leave more room for the other parts. I also added mounting points for 1 SSD behind the motherboard tray. The rear I\O shield is not positioned correctly het has I don't have one on hand to measure exact size and position.

As for the bottom of the case,it will be attached by 4 screws below the PC and will have a 120mm fan to pull fresh air from the bottom. I will probably use a noctua fan with noise reducer. For the top part, it will be glued and I will probably incorporate a vent that will match the ones on the old G4 cubes to create a tunnel for hot air to escape.

What I need to figure out yet:
-Exact I\O location and size
-Graphics card mounting system
-Power switch location
-Front or top USB ports
-Power led and/or activity

At this point I am pretty happy with the design and would like to thank Craighazan for sharing his files. Even if there is not much of it left untouched, it would have been impossible for me to get there. Figuring out the graphics card mounting system and PCI opening will be my biggest challenge. If ever somebody has ideas or suggestions, I'm all ears

 

[craighazan]

For me figuring out the IO and motherboard position was the first on my list. I like the fact that your planning to mount vertically, I considered this with my cube as the motherboard standoffs are quite good at holding it. And definitely Power switch and USB on top, that would look cool.
Also look at phunguss 54% G4 iMac, (The Lamp) thread. I had a good read through that and it helped me prepare for the printing because I guarantee you something will pop up that you hadn't considered. Prototyping 3D prints in little parts to get dimensions, e.g, the piece that the graphics card slots into is separate from the rest of the build, it will print in 40 minutes, where as the base to my mini took 12 hours.

 

[Charlee78]

@craighazan Would you have pictures of the rear I\O with dimensions and alignment with the motherboard? I cannot find it online...

 

[craighazan]

@craighazan Would you have pictures of the rear I\O with dimensions and alignment with the motherboard? I cannot find it online...

I have this. @phunguss shared his Mac mini rear IO stl file which aligns to a gigabyte H110MSTX motherboard.

 

[Charlee78]

Cool! I don't have much time right now but I placed it in my design very fast. Should be at the right spot. i measured pictures found online and did proper adjustments. I will clean the design when I get more time. Thanks guys!!

 

[Charlee78]

I might even keep that I\O! I really like it on the design.

 

[Charlee78]

Final adjustment before first print done. I don't think I will touch this part again, except if it doesn't fit well when printed.

 

[phunguss]

There are two additional ROUND holes in the I/O panel that you may not need. I added them for wifi antennas. You may want to close them unless you need them for ventilation. The top hole is power, so the 2nd one down is antenna, and the one next to the lock slot is antenna. You can probably remove the lock slot as well. Good luck!

 

[Charlee78]

Thank you @phunguss for theses precisions, I will make some adjustments.

I had a couple of minutes tonight so I went ahead and did some work on the top part. Also changed colors in the drawing to illustrate what I have in mind for paint.

 

[Charlee78]

This morning I had some more time

The part in red will slide in from the back and will be held in place by 2 screws, I designed it to hold down the GPU. The part in green will hold the PCI-E adapter but I will need to have one in hand to complete this part. The last picture shows the top cover installed, I added a hole and will use a power button from and old macbook pro. The 2 small holes beside the power button will be for power and activity led's (in white). I also added 2 USB ports at the front but will need to have the part to figure how to mount it in the case.

For now, I think that's pretty much it, will need to find and order the parts but as this is just for fun, it might take a while because I don't want to spend alot on money one shot on this. Any input and/or toughts?