- Joined
- Dec 3, 2010
- Messages
- 460
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2V
- CPU
- Intel i3-530
- Graphics
- HIS HD 6570
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
SJ_UnderWater's Thin Mini ITX Build: i3-3225 - Intel DQ77KB - HD4000
 |  |  |
Components
Intel DQ77KB Thin mITX Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121622
Intel Core i3-3225 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i33225 (also at Microcenter)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-3225-Dual-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B0093H8H8I/
Team 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313237
Mushkin 30GB Atlas mSATA SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226368
In-Win BQ656T-ADP80 mITX Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108412
Toshiba TS-T633A Slot-Load Slim DVD-RAM Drive
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=TS-T633-DO&cat=DVD
AW-NB037H WiFi + Bluetooth Combo Card (ebay)
20cm WiFi Pigtail (ebay)
HP 180W 19V AC Adapter PA-1181-02 (ebay)
Already Owned
3' DisplayPort Cable
23" 1080p DP IPS Monitor
4" WiFi Pigtail
Comments
I made this build primarily as an example of a very small but still-good, extensible build, using off-the-shelf parts, available cheaply, in a tight package. The Intel DQ77KB motherboard was the obvious choice, since it was the cheapest mITX board that had both mPCIe and mSATA slots, SATA3, gigabit Ethernet, a LGA1155 socket, DP and HDMI ports, and compatible chipsets (Intel LAN, ALC892, Intel USB3.0).
Most of the parts above were the cheapest that worked in this configuration though some additional economies are possible, including a rotational 2.5" HD, no WiFi, no optical, less RAM, etc. The case itself wasn't ideal, but fit my requirements for an HTPC: no visible ports on the front, self-contained, no flashing lights, all black, front slim optical bay. Since it will almost always be on, the power switch, accessible from the hole left by the PSU, is not critical.
I hope others will take my positive experience with this board (all subsystems working!) and make their own builds, desktop or AIO (see below). Samisnake has suggested the Wesena ITX2-B / Streacom F1C, on Amazon and Perfect Home Theater as an attractive case, though it may require a low-profile cooler.
A Few Notes On Parts
- This board requires a special 19V (±10%) DC power supply, 12A max (~228W max). The connector may or may not have a center pin, the outer ring must be 7.4mm and GND, the inner ring must be 5.1mm and 19V.
- Intel specifies a maximum CPU TDP of 65W for this board, also make sure your choice has HD 4000 graphics.
- The mSATA slot's multiplexer is connected to SATA2 (3Gb/s), like all desktop mSATA slots.
- The ideal configuration keeps all components on the board itself, except a possible slim SATA optical drive
- Both the case and motherboard include slim SATA power cables, but only the board's is useful, you will not have access to another PSU (the case's PSU will not power on unless you trip the circuit).
- The case has rear cutouts for eSATA, 2x USB (2.0), and "Universal Antenna Module". The front has a cutout for a 3-in-1 card reader which may no longer be sold.
- Only the CPU cooler is strictly necessary, and the machine will be nearly silent with normal use.
- Combo WiFi + Bluetooth cards which work in OSX are hard to find, but make sure you purchase or repurpose pigtails which reach the two RP-SMA cutouts on the mITX IO shield (the thin mITX shield only has one cutout).
- The larger shield also has cutouts for an Expresscard slot, and an F-cable suitable for TV tuners.
- Remove all mounts (one desktop, two interlocking, two case-access tabs) for less clutter.
- Remove the PSU (two screws) for more room, possibly also to place the coiled remote as I have.
- Attach any SATA drives first, the optical drive requires removing the front cutout, and two screws on each side of the sled, one on the rear.
- The optical sled will attach upside-down and right-side-up
- Make sure you pull the SATA and SATA power cables through the slots to the right of the slim-optical sled before you place the motherboard. There will not be enough room for the Intel-provided right-angle SATA power connector when the motherboard is attached.
- Assemble the motherboard in its entirety before placing, including the remote's header cables which must be separated to reach the various headers.
- It is possible to use the stock cooler with this case, but requires snipping off the fan's arm closest to the front of the case. Snip halfway to the center of the fan, then snip the rising part at the level of the fan blades. This will not affect operation, and the blades will not touch any part of the case.
- The top RAM slot is #1, if only using one stick, make sure you place it there.
- SATA0 is actually the blue port in the middle, not the furthest as described in the literature.
- The mSATA risers will not separate from the screws until you tighten the risers to the board, then carefully loosen the screws.
- The HDD LED header is not labeled, the yellow cable is negative (yellow and orange cables).
- Temporarily detach the motherboard battery from the microphone jack (it uses rubber cement), and align the IO shield before placing both in the case.
- Don't bother doing anything until you modify and update the BIOS. Download the newest "recovery" ROM from Intel (version 0048, ~14MB at time of writing), patch it with DPCIManager (or a separate copy of PMPatch), then place it on a FAT32 MBR USB drive and use the board's F7 BIOS update option. Only version #38 (the shipping version) allows flashing a patched BIOS, downgrade first if necessary. The flashing process may take a while.
- Using version 0048, it's only necessary to set the minimum VRAM to 64MB, but make sure you enter "Graphics Mode"="1920x1080x32" (or your monitor's resolution if different) at the Chimera boot screen until you run Multibeast. You may also turn off the second ethernet chipset (the first is the red Intel AMT), turn off other boot options, set the order, etc
- If only using ALC892 audio, choose "Without DSDT" in Multibeast
- Simple DSDT edits (use MaciASL, and the Replace Names, Insert DTGP, and HD4k HDMI patches from the SourceForge repository) and "With DSDT" will enable audio over DP, but binary kext edits are necessary for audio over the HDMI port.
- Choose DSDT-Free, Intel ethernet, ALC892, 1080p Display, and FakeSMC plugins from Multibeast, also consider the iMac12,2 or other system definition for AirPlay Mirroring.
- Install the TRIM enabler for all SSDs except OCZ
- Use AzureWaveNB037H.kext for WiFi and bluetooth
- Consider using the modified 3rdPartySATA kext.
- Disable hibernation using `sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0` from Terminal.
- Generate an SSDT using the Basic Ivy generator in MaciASL, with 55W TDP, and 3400 (3300 + 100) max turbo. Reached 12,16,21,27,33
- Using a macmini6,2 sysdef (the SMC version should be 2.8f0) may initially cause a couple of problems. My first boot was without QE/CI, and the menu bar extras "flickered" with systemuiserver crashes until I unchecked the AirPlay menu option.
- Intel and its partners made a few do-it-yourself All-In-One chassis for this board, which typically include speakers, screen (some with multitouch), and power supply. The result is very much like an iMac.
- If you edit the BIOS ROM with Intel's Integrator Toolkit to change the splash image (shrink the image to 70% horizontally if using a widescreen monitor), remove the boot display options, and set Quiet Boot for Chimera (make sure you keep an installer USB around), you won't see any non-Apple imagery during boot. A few unpatched examples.
- The BIOS also includes an option called "Startup Sound" which plays the Intel sound on the on-board audio (rear green). It might be possible to edit the ROM and replace the sound file with another, including Apple's startup chime.
--edit
Added #38 BIOS info
Binary Patch link now has prepared solution
Preliminary USB2/USB3 multiplexing patch
