Mini-ITX Hackintosh mini

[MrTwinks]

Hi there!! I have in mind to build a reproduction of the Mac mini. What do you think about this configuration?

CPU: Intel Core i5 6400
MB: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING (I chose this one because I need a displayport and a m.2 slot)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS2X
RAM: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250gb m.2
CASE: Streacom F1C Evo Chassis
Optical Drive: Any 5.25" Slim Slot Load
WiFi card: Broadcom BCM94352Z

This configuration is not intended for gaming but for home/business usage and 2D image editing.

 

[nobodynose]

Hi there!! I have in mind to build a reproduction of the Mac mini. What do you think about this configuration?

CPU: Intel Core i5 6400
MB: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING (I chose this one because I need a displayport and a m.2 slot)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS2X
RAM: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250gb m.2
CASE: Streacom F1C Evo Chassis
Optical Drive: Any 5.25" Slim Slot Load
WiFi card: Broadcom BCM94352Z

This configuration is not intended for gaming but for home/business usage and 2D image editing.

If I'm reading your list correctly, you're double-booking that single M.2 slot - you have listed an M.2 SSD and an M.2 Wifi card, if I'm not mistaken. You'll have to choose one or the other. Unfortunately, the built-in Wifi on this motherboard is an unsupported Atheros chip, so you do need the Broadcom card for Wifi.

What you could do is change out the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 SSD for an SM951, add a PCIe M.2 adapter card and plug it into the PCIe slot - you'd get better performance from the SSD and free up the M.2 slot for the Broadcom Wifi card. Just a suggestion.

 

[MrTwinks]

Thanks nobodynose! Couldn't I just replace the Athos card with the Broadcom one? About the ssd I actually pick that one because it's cheaper! Do you recommend the SM951?

 

[nobodynose]

Thanks nobodynose! Couldn't I just replace the Athos card with the Broadcom one? About the ssd I actually pick that one because it's cheaper! Do you recommend the SM951?

It's kind of difficult to tell if that Wifi module is removable, though I took a look at the motherboard manual and it seems to say on p. 1-2 that the Wifi module is M.2 (though it doesn't look like it with the shielding around it). So you *probably* can replace the Atheros module with the Broadcom module.

Yes, the EVO 850 M.2 SSD is cheaper than the SM951, but it only supports SATA mode (so it will be no faster than a regular SATA SSD), while the SM951 supports PCIe x4 mode, which will give you *MUCH* greater performance - it's well worth the price difference! The only drawback is that the SM951 is an OEM device, and as such carries not much of a warranty. The motherboard you've picked supports both SATA mode and PCIe x4 mode on the M.2 slot on the underside.

 

[MrTwinks]

I've just found this post that seems to be right for me!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/bcm94352z-installed-on-asus-z170i-pro-gaming-wifi-and-bt.191274/
I could take a stab at this method. If it doesn't work I'll go for the way you suggested me.

Yeah you're right, I didn't even consider that because I was looking for other features. And for the warranty I'll deal with it! The main thing now is that everything is compatible with osx!

ps: I'd like to replace the wifi module because a PCIe adapter wouldn't probably fit in that case!

 

[nobodynose]

I've just found this post that seems to be right for me!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/bcm94352z-installed-on-asus-z170i-pro-gaming-wifi-and-bt.191274/
I could take a stab at this method. If it doesn't work I'll go for the way you suggested me.

Yeah you're right, I didn't even consider that because I was looking for other features. And for the warranty I'll deal with it! The main thing now is that everything is compatible with osx!

ps: I'd like to replace the wifi module because a PCIe adapter wouldn't probably fit in that case!

That's fantastic that you found a guide so tailor-made for your system! And you won't be disappointed with the Samsung SM951 - I just got mine, was expecting a performance upgrade but what I got was astounding - on the PCIe (x4) bus, it's almost 4 times faster than my "old" SATA SSD in my quick tests! (see attached)

 

[MrTwinks]

OMG!! Yeah and it is 6 times faster than my old hdd! I hope I'll assemble my pc soon!!

 

[khriswithak]

That's fantastic that you found a guide so tailor-made for your system! And you won't be disappointed with the Samsung SM951 - I just got mine, was expecting a performance upgrade but what I got was astounding - on the PCIe (x4) bus, it's almost 4 times faster than my "old" SATA SSD in my quick tests! (see attached)

View attachment 200257 View attachment 200258

@nobodynose Is there a guide that describes what you suggested (SM951 M.2 to PCIe)??? Are there any downsides/drawbacks to a setup like this??? Does it make the installation process harder? Any extra steps? 97 vs 170 motherboards?

 

[nobodynose]

@nobodynose Is there a guide that describes what you suggested (SM951 M.2 to PCIe)??? Are there any downsides/drawbacks to a setup like this??? Does it make the installation process harder? Any extra steps? 97 vs 170 motherboards?

I don't know of any guide - just be sure you get the right version of the SM951 -- there are two: NVMe and AHCI. You want the AHCI flavor, because the NVMe driver is buggy. The AHCI models have a model number like "MZHPVnnnHDGL-00000", where nnn is either "256" or "512" (for 256GB and 512GB respectively). I think there's a 128GB size as well.

For the PCIe adapter, I suggest getting the Lycom DT-120 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYCQP38/?tag=tonymacx86com-20) - it was recommended to me and it's well-made and just works. It costs about $22.

I didn't do a new installation of OS X to mine, I just formatted it with Disk Utility, cloned (using CCC) my old SSD to it, then installed Clover and copied over the EFI partition (which CCC won't clone). I had to fiddle a little bit with the UEFI settings in the BIOS, but I got it working pretty easily. The only drawback I can think of is that the drive access LED on the outside of my case doesn't light up, but I can live with that (besides, I could fix it if I wanted to, the Lycom card has an access LED connector).

My motherboard is a 9-series; I would expect the 100-series to work just as well.

 

[avis144]

Hi there!! I have in mind to build a reproduction of the Mac mini. What do you think about this configuration?

CPU: Intel Core i5 6400
MB: Asus Z170I PRO GAMING (I chose this one because I need a displayport and a m.2 slot)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS2X
RAM: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 250gb m.2
CASE: Streacom F1C Evo Chassis
Optical Drive: Any 5.25" Slim Slot Load
WiFi card: Broadcom BCM94352Z

This configuration is not intended for gaming but for home/business usage and 2D image editing.

Hey All.
I would like to build the same mac but stronger as I want it for video editing.
SO of course i could upgrade the processor as well as adding another 16 GB of ram (total of 32GB)
put an SSD-1000GB for video material. and use external drive for storage.
I am still looking for a solution for GPU, thought a bout the GTX-970 outside the case.
can anyone help me out with it..
it's my third hack and this time i want a computer which would be small so i could put it on my desk.
has any one build such beast?