Mac Mini Pro

[hackmax]

Wow. it's cute
nice build

 

[spence4]

I am away from this site for a day and all of a sudden I've got all kinds of compliments, inquiries, and a few scoldings.

First, thanks for the kind words. But as minihack said, it was a very quick mod so I bet in however long it takes amazon to ship these things +1 day we will see this site flooded with Mac Mini Pros!

The case I have is a macally G-S350SUA. I live in Hong Kong and got it at one of the computer markets here. The place I went has a mix of old and new so I think this model might be a few years old. I don't think it really matters because all I wanted was the case. I hope that Irrational John is now no longer "truly confused" and I would like to assure everyone that I was not making an assumption that everyone should know what case I was using, or that those who didn't were foolish; it was just an oversight and I apologize if I hurt any rational member's feelings.

I used a NUC DC3217IYE - the first gen NUC with an Ivy Bridge i3 processor, ethernet and two HDMI ports (non-Thunderbolt model). Of course any NUC will work from a form factor perspective - not sure how well the Haswell NUCs are working with OSX though. For Gigabyte lovers, the BRIX should fit too as it is the same form factor as the NUC, but again I am not sure about how well OSX runs on the BRIX.

This model and the DC3217BY are incredibly easy to get OSX up and running on. There are several success threads on this sight and toleda has made HDMI audio a piece of cake. The cards you see in the picture are just the mSATA which you need because the first gen NUCs have no SATA ports. Underneath that is a wifi card which is of course optional.

For the physical mod, all one needs to do is remove the PCB that comes with the case and then dab a little JB weld on the steel frame, put in your standoffs and then attach the NUC motherboard. If you want to make an end cap to clean up the back I/O then you will need to dremel to slits in the back of the case to let the NUC PCB extend past the "edge of the inner case" However, you don't need to do this if you just want to leave the back open. Mine is currently open which probably improves the temps a little but I am going to gin up a back cover so I did the dremeling.

I will put up a few more pictures showing the back dremel cuts along with some of the inside once I get the HDD in there with the proper USB cable. Minihack's suggestion of the USB BT dongle works perfectly so I may forgo the internal Apple BT solder job. I figure with the HDD in there, another little board, plus diodes to drop the 5v to 3.5v will hinder airflow and put off more heat in already toasty little box. I am thinking about getting a 35x35x10 5v fan to run off the USB header but can only find an evercool fan that doesn't seem to be anything special. The 40mm Noctua is just a little too big. Plus it is 12v and needs push from a finger to start up when attached to a USB header.

If I have failed to answer anyone's question, please don't hesitate to re-ask.

 

[coop75]

Interesting Links

Mac Pro Mini Concept image by Erwan Hesry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erwanhesry/2817489746/sizes/o/

Mac Pro Ultra Mini by mosburn
http://wolphbite.com/?p=62

Mac Mini Pro by Hanabusa (in Japanese)
http://hanabusa1.blog29.fc2.com/blog-entry-93.html

Functional Mac Pro Mini Tower: 3-D Print by Adobi
http://www.instructables.com/id/Functional-Mac-Pro-Mini-Tower-3-D-Print/

 

[Solidww]

That is gorgeous.

 

[kiwisincebirth]

... AND are there any sata ports on the newer nuc's for any other internal drives etc ...

The Haswell NUC has a standard SATA port for HDD as well as mSATA for onboard SSD. Have a read of this thread if you are interested.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/hardware-parts/110898-haswell-nuc-technical-specs.html

 

[minihack]

Kudos to you Spence - this thread seems to be spiralling……



As you say I think there will be a few people stuffing NUCs into old MacAlly cases now.

 

[rkwallace]

Spence

I like the concept and will be building mine soon. I purchased a case off Ebay for $25.00 and plan on putting in another 2.5 hard drive for timeline. I'm going to use the front USB and this cable:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-2-0-to-...or-2-5-inch-HDD-Hard-Disk-Drive-/120964379378

However, can you send me some instructions or schematics for wiring the power switch / hard drive led. Other than that the remainder seem pretty simple.

Thanks for the idea. Seems like this is a winner throughout this site.

Robin

P.S. This compliments my G5 Hackintosh I just completed. I think I will give this Mac Mini Pro to the wife. This is all she needs, all she do is surf the net and email anyway.

 

[rkwallace]

Disregard, I found a wiring diagram for this board.

 

[rkwallace]

are you able to link us in someway to it you think pal?

Here you go (in order to wire power switch & hard drive led):

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/dcp847ske/sb/CS-033956.htm

This Technical Document includes the Intel NUC DCCP847DYE (same motherboard). See page 44.