Mini Cube — H110MSTX-HD3 — i7-7700T — RX 560

[craighazan]

Thanks phunguss. Most boards I have looked at are around 6.7" x 6.7" which I think is a bit big for the case. I can use an adapter in a x16 slot for NVMe hopefully.

 

[Charlee78]

@phunguss

Look at my build. It might give you some ideas, I built one like this2 or 3 years ago.

Make sure you use a m.2 ssd drive or you won't have enough room for the drive.

 

[craighazan]

Narrowing down my motherboard options for the 2009 Mac mini, it appears I have the following options, Gigabytes GA-H110MSTX-HD3 (rev. 1.0) seems to be the best board and recommended by phungess. ASRock has 3 STX boards, H110M-STX, H310M-STX and H310M-STX/COM, links go to product page. I haven't used ASRock boards before, so I'm going to stick to the tried and tested GA-H110STX-HD3, has some nice connections and I like the way the dual M.2 connections are stacked. One slot for NVMe and another for a mini wifi card, not CNVi fortunately!.

 

[Charlee78]

Oops! My last post was for @craighazan

 

[craighazan]

Oops! My last post was for @craighazan

Thanks Charlee78. I read your thread for the Mac mini, very helpful. I purchased the GA-H110MSTX, expecting it the end of the month. And yes it has two M.2 slots.

 

[Charlee78]

The GA-H110MSTX seems to have the same layout as what I remember. What cooler are you planning to use?

I can confirm that the 6500T has plenty of power for a streaming machine. I cannot be happier with this build!

 

[craighazan]

The GA-H110MSTX seems to have the same layout as what I remember. What cooler are you planning to use?

This probably sounds terrible, but I haven't looked past the motherboard yet!. Package Tracking has confirmed that the 2009 Mac mini is out for delivery so when I get hands on it I'll look at it and start thinking about the other parts.

I can confirm that the 6500T has plenty of power for a streaming machine. I cannot be happier with this build!

Good to hear!. I suppose my processor choice will depend on what I'm going to be using it for. The goal is to get Nintendos Breath of the wild working on it, through emulation. And use macOS TV to stream content from my library. Here's the video I referred to earlier.

 

[craighazan]

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It arrived!, it's in immaculate condition too, apart from it looks like someone dropped it on the corner, hardly noticeable!. How do I get into it?. I also purchased a 3D printer so I can print a new rear IO panel, a Monoprice MP Select Mini Pro 3D Printer, Aluminum with Auto Leveling, Heated Removable Bed, Touch Screen, and Wi-Fi.

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@phunguss do you still have the file you used to print your rear IO panel?. If so would you mind sharing it?. And what software did you use?.

 

[craighazan]

This is very interesting!, I can 3D print Apple cheese grater.

 

[craighazan]

The internet is awesome!, started building my 2009 Mac mini rear IO boar, the angled vents were quite technical, but quite easy in the end.