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Recommendations for Building a Mac Mini Alternative (2014)

Haravikk

By Haravikk,
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Haravikk
Haravikk
Posted
Posted

Okay, so I've signed up here after hearing the latest Broadwell news, which is starting to make me think we may not see a new Mac Mini this year either, as the Broadwell chips Apple are probably waiting for aren't available till next July. However, I really want to replace my current Mac, and while the current Mac Mini is almost good enough, I really need the extra graphics clout of Haswell for it to be a proper upgrade.

 

So I'm looking at a hackintosh, but I'm hoping there are some users who have already made their own Mac Mini alternatives and can give me some recommendations on where to start. Here's a quick rundown of what I'm thinking:

 

  • I'd like something reasonably compact, not necessarily NUC sized, anything reasonably flat and square like the Mac Mini is ideal, even if it's a bit bigger. So far I've seen the Zotac ZBOX which seems like a possibility, anyone using one of those as a hackintosh? Is it any good?
  • I really need a quad-core i7 with Iris Pro graphics, so that will presumably limit my options (i.e - can that be passively cooled?)
  • eSATA, or even Thunderbolt, would be a huge bonus, but not important I suppose as any SATA port will do with the right cable.

 

Any recommendations on where to begin? Any barebones systems with good compatibility that would make an ideal starting point? My main concern with premade/barebones systems is the cooling, I know the Mac Mini only uses a tiny little blower fan, but it's actually really quiet, which I'd like to emulate if I can; I actually have a spare 140mm x 15m fan, so if I can find a good sized case that still allows for a big side/top vent then I could probably use that to keep cool with minimal noise.

 

I'm a software developer, so hopefully the actual OS X installation is nothing I can't handle, I'm just hoping there are some good jumping off points for the hardware side, as it's easy to get bogged down trawling around for every component choice (it's what I've been doing for the last four hours ;))

 

Any input is welcome!

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Allan
Allan
Posted
Posted

Or this, see the config:

Hardware:
Intel DH61AG motherboard
Intel i7 3770S processor
8GB RAM (1333MHZ)
256GB Samsung SSD MiniPCIe
Atheros Wifi+Bluetooth MiniPCIe
Seagate 500GB 7200RPM SATA disk (this item is the loudest)
Gainward Geforce GT 630 GPU

and pictures:

75067d1385456636-mac-mini-duo-img_0298.j

 

75069d1385456666-mac-mini-duo-img_0301.j

 

75068d1385456657-mac-mini-duo-img_0300.j

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Haravikk
Haravikk
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I'm starting to think a Brix Pro may be the best option; I didn't realise the 4770R was OEM only, does that mean there are really no socketed Iris Pro parts? I hate the case for Brix Pros, and the cooling doesn't seem great, but I'm thinking perhaps I could transplant it into a nicer case, perhaps not quite as cosy as Allan's pictures, I'm not quite handy enough for that :)

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