Mac Pro replica (late 2013) - low power design

[klausi13]

Over the last days i worked on my Mac Pro Mod and i went the same way like Mr.Target and sascha288 to build the base section.

I couldn't get balsa wood so i stick with normal 3mm wood and used a hand saw to cut out the pieces. It was lots a work to saw so much pieces but now the base is finally finished, very stable and cheap (2.50€ for the wood ). Next step is to make a round base plate out of wood to make the wood pieces even more stable and after that i will paint the wood in a matching color to the bin white.

For the pc parts i will go for

• Zotac h87itx-a-e, because i need a display port for my Cinema Display
• Intel i7-4770t (fast and low 45W TDP)
• 16 GB RAM
• msata SSD on the mainboard
• 2,5" SSD
• working wlan/bt mpcie modul
• picopsu, thinking about the pico-psu-120WI-25V and a matching 19V laptop power brick

 

[rick26]

Nice job man!

What a job filing all those little pieces of wood

Rick,

 

[klausi13]

Nice job man!

What a job filing all those little pieces of wood

Rick,

Around 5-6 hours to saw and filing the pieces

 

[rick26]

Around 5-6 hours to saw and filing the pieces

My god what a lot of work! but the end result will be awesome!

Rick,

 

[klausi13]

@Mr.Target

I have one question about the PicoPSU you've ordered. Most mainboards have a 24-pin ATX connector and an extra 4-pin connector for the psu, but the PicoPSU has only a 20-pin ATX connector and no 4-pin connector.

As far what i read it should be enough to simply use a Molex to P4 adapter and only use 20-pins of the ATX connector to power up the system, right ?

 

[JuanLobo]

Keep going Klausi! I want to see how other people jam everything into the bin!

 

[Mr.Target]

Hi guys!

I´ve added some new pics and info to the very first post of this thread, I want to keep it together.
Hope you like it!

Mr. Target to be honest, after seeing those first pictures i was like " OMG you are ruining the bin, no, don't do that !" but i must admit the final result is awesome especially the bottom intake, great job!

Regarding your concern with passive cooling, i think you shouldn't be worried. I am currently waiting for my bin, extenders and some other parts from ebay, but i have build the main chassis and i am cooling my cpu passively ( i3-2120 - 65W), i use a copper sk 771 server heatsink adapted for sk 1155 ( you have a drilling machine and good drilling skills, i think you could do it) and whilst light playing i get around 44-45C without Arctic Silver grease, in fact without much thermal grease at all because i kept adjusting the heatsink so i lost most of it. I will send you a pic when i get home, maybe it will give you a better idea. Cheers!

Thanks for being honest, I´ve had kind of same feelings about it I am glad to hear that this passive cooling is working for you, this might be the way I will choose.

@Mr.Target

I have one question about the PicoPSU you've ordered. Most mainboards have a 24-pin ATX connector and an extra 4-pin connector for the psu, but the PicoPSU has only a 20-pin ATX connector and no 4-pin connector.

As far what i read it should be enough to simply use a Molex to P4 adapter and only use 20-pins of the ATX connector to power up the system, right ?

Well, it is different in my case, I was lucky I´ve bought this one: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Z2-A...ni-ITX-DC-ATX-PICO-BOX-DC-ATX/1227798339.html
Note this is 12V version.
And as you can see, 4-pin connector is one of the power cables. Maybe you can even get just this exact cable for your PicoPSU, the cable is detachable from the PSU (or maybe it is different on the 25v version?) But I am pretty sure that Molex to P4 adapter will do the same job.
And of course, connecting a 20 pin to 24 pin motherboard is not problem at all, you will just leave 4 pins empty...
GL!

 

[JuanLobo]

Mr. Target, Just saw the updated photos of your build. Nice! With the fan at the bottom, there really are no worries about airflow getting around the panel at the top.

 

[PencilNotPen]

What process did you follow for painting you build Mr. Target? What kind of paint did you use, and how many coats? Did you sand/prime it? I really like the top part you have made, looks very similar to the real Mac Pro. Does it not cause the case to heat up? What sort of temperatures does it run at?
Congratulations on a nice build, I hope mine turns out as good!

 

[Dschijn]

I love the top part! How much space is there left between the MB and the top plate?