[WIP] 2013 Mac Pro Mini

[phunguss]

Having never owned nor seen a real 2013 Mac Pro in real life, this is my journey to create a Hackintosh clone in a smaller form factor. This may take some time... Following the footsteps of my Mac Pro Mini Tower and my iMac Flat Panel Mini, I want to do it to a 2013 Trashcan Mac Pro.

I think my images were hosted elsewhere for my Mac Pro Mini Tower linked on this site.

Lets get small.

Mini-ITX size is defined as 6.7" x 6.7", where the 2013 Mac Pro is listed as 6.6", so the clone cases that are out there for Mini-ITX are actually larger than the original. I could try a Mini-STX at 5.8" x 5.5", but that is not a lot of reduction. So, I am going with NUC at 4.01" x 4.01", my case will be 4.4" in diameter, or 66% of the original size. The original height is listed as 9.9" and mine should be around 6.6". No idea on weight yet, but I am guessing less than two pounds.

So began my search for 3D models not really finding anything that I thought could work. I finally found a 3D printable case designed for a Raspberry Pi. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2720091/files This design looks great, but definitely a waste of space on the inside considering how small a Pi is inside it. If I shrink it 89%, I will get my desired size. Of course some parts need to be replaced as we are not using a Pi.

Another model I found was a replica of the internal top fan blade. https://grabcad.com/library/fun-for-mac-pro-2013-1 While it looks great, it was not acceptable to 3D printing by shrinking it, as the blades got too thin to print correctly. I had to muddle around with the 3D model and thicken the blades. I also had print failures due to UPS power failure and too much auto-generated supports. I ended up creating the supports manually in only the areas I desired and then it came out somewhat acceptable, with lots of vibration. This was cured with some counterweights to balance it out. I am using a 5V PWM fan from an old laptop cooler.

The power brick will be external. So the NUC will be on edge with the default exhaust out the rear. Ethernet, dual USB-3, USB-C, power, and HDMI will be on the rear panel. Since I am adding the top exhaust fan, the stock cooler can be replaced with a larger passive heatsink. I will also have room for a 2.5 drive (SSD or standard spinner). Other internal storage will be an M.2 512Gb standard SSD, and the Micro-SD slot will not be accessible from the outside, so that could have a permanently placed chip of any size.

I am currently debating whether to have the front of this build utilize the ports on the opposite end of the NUC by exposing them, or to look like the original 2013 Mac Pro and have it blank. Having it blank will mean I have to build a power switch for the back panel, and routing the audio port will have to be done from the motherboard jumpers. Having it exposed will give me two additional USB ports, the headphone audio, the power button, and possibly the built-in IR sensor.

More to come as time goes by...

 

[phunguss]

Test printed the outer case to check dimensions and the front port option... kinda messy quick 3D print with test PLA, so needs lots of cleanup, but proves it will work. Fan is lower than it should be, as the inner supports are not in place yet. Final will be printed in black and then gloss paint applied to the exterior.

 

[phunguss]

The fancy apple lock on the top/back cover of the 2013 Mac Pro will be too difficult to replicate based on how thin the outer case is actually printed. While trying to figure out how else to lock it on, I remembered printing a camera lens cover a couple months ago... so I modified the base to work like a lens cap. I added a couple ridges on the cover base to lock into the new clamp design.

The 3 rings below starting on the left is the base, the pinch gripper, and a slice of the cover (to save print time and materials, I printed at 75% size and just used a small slice of the cover to test the locking feature. It works pretty well at this scale. So to remove the top cover, just pinch the sides of the base and it should come right off.

BTW, the completed test base did not work as a lens cover on my lens (size was off).

 

[phunguss]

Rev, rev, rev... I keep hearing the words "One more thing..."

Just when I think I have each item solved, another item pops up and I have to make another revision. The big box of prototype parts is filing up!

The fan wire gets in the way inside the top grill mount, so I put a notch in the outside of the frame to run the wire. Closeup on a sample piece. The wire runs near the front of the computer, so if I don't get the heat shrink to slide up and cover the wires, you won't likely see it anyway. I ran out of black wasting it on prototypes, so the fan is in "natural" color and some other supports are in yellow, just stuff I had available. You won't see either with it all closed up.

Final cover revision print took over 16 hours. I also created a notch in the fan holding rim to allow the cover to sit on top with a 15 degree twist... "look under the hood" mode.

About 6.75", pretty close to the plan. Top needs to be sanded and eventually painted.

I ran some benchmarks when the motherboard was in its original NUC case with the standard heat sink, and ran them again after final assembly in the new case. Nothing expected in the way of performance gains, just gains in cooling or idle recovery time. The new heat sink and fan do a great job!

Cinebench R15, slight gains.

Unigine Superposition, no gain but a lot cooler temps

 

[craighazan]

@phunguss how do you get hold of R15?. Awesome project btw, I just fixed my 3D printer and I’m eager to finish my AM4G5 bottom shelf. The passive CPU cooler on the NUC is amazing.

 

[phunguss]

@phunguss how do you get hold of R15?. Awesome project btw, I just fixed my 3D printer and I’m eager to finish my AM4G5 bottom shelf. The passive CPU cooler on the NUC is amazing.

R15 is an old one... the posted benchmarks are on windows to make sure the environment was the same before/after the case mod.

 

[phunguss]

This completes the physical build...

Antennas for Wifi and Bluetooth installed in the vertical supports:

The fan is a complete replacement. I printed several other versions, but everything had vibration or wobble, so I conceded failure to purchasing an actual Noctua fan, 5V PWM. I cut it from its assembly, drilled out the 4 injection mold sites and 3D printed a new support ring with twist-lock and a top fan piece with 4 holes to mount the fan.

Turned upside down, you can see its a brown fan, but when installed with the cover, you will never be able to tell that it's not black.

 

[phunguss]

Here are the 3D STL files if you want to print your own!

 

[phunguss]

OMG, just bought an Aukey Powerhub XL, they could be twinsies!