Skylake G4 cube build

[AlphaFox]

Hi All! You have inspired me to do a cube hackintosh build, specifically Ray'd build (http://tonymacx86.com/threads/rayds-g4-cube-hackintosh-i7-4790s-gtx-750-ti-dvd-rw-1tb-ssd.162210/)

Edit: redid entire post as it made little sense with the changes I have done

This has been a very challenging build, the space / thermal / power / case mod all take a very long time to sort out. the touch switch is an entire project on its own, I am still trying to get things locked down.

Parts list:
Video:
GTX 950 - Gigabyte GeForce GTX Graphics Card (GV-N950D5-2GD)

Motherboard:
Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel H170 Mini-ITX DDR4 Motherboard GA-H170N-WIFI

CPU:
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700 FC-LGA14C 3.40 GHz 8 M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700 (non K version, uses 65W vs 91W)
CPU Cooler:
Noctua Low-Profile Quiet CPU Cooler for Intel 115x Based Retail Cooling NH-L9I

RAM:
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) DIMM 288-Pin BLS2K16G4D240FSC (White)

PSU:
Yosoo DC 12V 200W Pico ATX switch PSU Car Auto 24pin MINI ITX ATX High Power Supply
Power DC adapter:
Modded 203W XBox 360 adapter

WiFi:
BCM94352Z NGFF M.2 WiFi WLAN Bluetooth 4.0 802.11ac up to 867 Mbps card 22*30mm (one the motherboard comes with doesnt work with OSX)

Riser:
EZDIY PCI Express 16x Flexible Cable Card Extension Port Adapter High Speed Riser Card-25cm
HD:
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM)
Second HD: SanDisk 250GB SATA SSD

DVD:
Ebay order for SuperDrive salvaged from a 2011 iMac, wanted to keep the drive working and its sata. the bracket the drive comes in fits in the slot where the original drive was with a few tweaks. You will need this adapter cable to make it work with a regular SATA connector: StarTech.com 20-Inch Slimline SATA to SATA with LP4 Power Cable Adapter (SLSATAF20)

 

[AlphaFox]

I just realized that the 6700K is 91W TDP!! I canceled the CPU and got the regular 6700 which is 65W. I was looking at the 6700T but its quite a bit more and wasnt prime. its 35W but $50 more

 

[AlphaFox]

Guess not too many people read this forum

 

[neilhart]

AlphaFox welcome to the forum and welcome to the Workshop.

I have completed two G4 Cube hacks, the first one I decommissioned as I was never happy with the thermals. The second one is documented here at: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/new-player-low-profile-intel-dh61ag-mini-itx-g4-cube.36616/ and just last week I updated it to El Capitan 10.11.5 and am pleased with it driving dual displays.

It is my experience that it is a major re-engineering accomplishment to build a cube that runs well under a sustained full work load.

I recommend the “T” version CPUs. I have used the i7-4770T and the i7-6700T and would recommend either. However if you read the build logs you will find that some have used standard high performance desktop CPUs and report success.

It is not clear to me what motherboard you are planning to use. I only have one Skylake Mini-ITX system based upon the ASUS Z170I Pro Gaming which you can see here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/g...ing-w-i7-6700t-35w-gtx-760-sm951-ahci.184165/.

The selection of a Pico type PSU is one to be thought through as you could easily exceed the capacity of some devices. The original Pico PSU from MINIBox went to 165Watts and is a good device. There are however many clones of that original design and some are junk and could do harm to your motherboard… The point here is avoid devices from no name manufactures. I would advise that you purchase a PSU Tester if you have any question at all about your PSU.

The GTX 750 TI has reasonable power requirements and now a good rep.

The original DVD drive in the cube is a single layer device. I did include one with an IDE to SATA converter and it did work. However I then learned about dual layer DVDs… The Apple Snow Leopard DVDs are dual layer…

There are a few good slot loading DVD drives on the market but there is not much reason to install one these days. The last one that I used was a Silverstone model SST-SODO2 8X slot loading R/RW DVD on my White Prodigy project.

Touch Switch - Use the search function as MiniHack has writeup on using the original Apple device. I have used other touch devices. Again use the search function and you will find a selection.

Cube hacks are special and you may enjoy the experience.

Good modding,

neil

 

[AlphaFox]

Hi Neil, thanks for the reply!
Power supply:
144W Mini ITX Power Supply Kit PcioPSU 150-XT + 144W AC to DC Switching Power Supply 110-240vAC to 12vDC
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081S4UY0/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
I know its only 144W but it comes with the brick and everything so I dont have to match them up. I figure it should be ok.

CPU:
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700 FC-LGA14C 3.40 GHz 8 M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700
This CPU is 65W so it should be ok, the new 14nm skylake stuff sips power.
the i7-4770T is from 2013 and uses 45W so its really not much more.

Motherboard:
ASRock Mini ITX DDR4 Motherboards Z170M-ITX/AC
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013WPZ7HK/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
Uses the Z170 skylake chipset, should use 6W

GPU:
EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti SC 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card 02G-P4-3753-KR
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IDG3IDO/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
Uses 60W max

Using 2x 250GB SSD drives, shouldnt use much power

65W CPU
6W Motherboard
60W GPU
~ 130W on FULL load which will rarely happen, the 144W PSU should work but not have much wiggle room! If its not big enough I will have to get another one, ill do some load testing.
Edit: the PicoPSU is actually 150W so might have a little more wiggle room.
According to Ray'd his system was only pulling 120W max and this config should be even more power conservative due to skylake.

 

[AppleMann]

Hey,
I started a thread that didn't last too long a couple months ago about my G4 Cube plans
I was just able to order a i7-6700T for $275 (lucky deal) but I considered the 6700 for a long time.
The 65w TDP should be fine pared with the 60w GTX 750ti thermally... Power supply wise it's good as long as you don't plan on upgrading the GPU.

My build gives me more GPU horsepower:

2.8GHz i7-6700t
(still looking for a cheap itx board with onboard wifi)
2x HDDs
16gb Ram
GTX 950 (75w version)
Pico with 150w Xbox PSU

Overall 135w load (calculated using http://powersupplycalculator.net)

 

[AlphaFox]

Hey AppleMann,
I didnt think there would be enough room for a video card any longer than the PCIe 16x slot, which card did you choose specifically? I have a DP Cinema display I am running so if I can get a more powerful GPU then I would like to.

 

[AlphaFox]

that power supply calculator website doesnt have any skylake CPUs or DDR4 so it doesnt work for me.

 

[AppleMann]

Psu-cal isn't updated but you can use the 4790s (a 65w cpu) for your config. I'm using the 4765T (a 35w cpu) to replicate my 6700T

The GTX 950 should fit fine, here's someone who fit a 960 in their cube: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/my-cubee3-1231v3-b85n-gtx960-mini-8gb-ram-125g-ssd.166183/

I'm deciding between these models:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125856&cm_re=gtx_950-_-14-125-856-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814126100&cm_re=gtx_950-_-14-126-100-_-Product
Both are the newest 75w card, the Asus one is the same used in the other cube linked above.

Hope this helps!

 

[AlphaFox]

Wow! Didn't think it would all fit. It's just a power issue then, that 300w thing he used was crazy. Think I'll stick with what I have for now, I would go for that asus one as it doesn't need a power connector.