Media box - Mac Mini alternative?

[Bob LLama]

Hello all!

 

I need some advice.

 

I've been using a Mac Mini as my media center for a little while now, but it's starting to lag a bit, and I need to upgrade. I'm looking at the new Mac Minis, but the price tag is a bit more than I feel comfortable spending, and it also lacks Blu-ray capability.

 

All of our music is on my Mac Pro, so for parties and whatnot we stream it via Front Row. It's not very large-database friendly, but it works. Up until now, we were watching everything at 1024x768 on a projector, but this black friday I picked up a nice 46" 1080p TV that our old mini just couldn't stream to. I've checked out the 2.53 mini and it seems to be able to handle streaming hulu @ 1920x1020, but that's $800.

 

Is there anything off-the-shelf that you'd recommend that is hackintosh-friendly? I've made my own Mini 9 hackintosh, so I'm moderately familiar with the process, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to outright build myself something.

 

I need to be able to access the music on my desktop, I want to be able to watch the highest-res streaming media easily available (Netflix, HD hulu, etc), and although OS X doesn't support it, having a built-in blu-ray player would be pretty effing sweet. I could just dual-boot into windows and watch it that way.

 

**EDIT: I'm open to building something myself, but have no idea where to start. I've been a Mac guy my whole life so know nothing about the current status of what to buy and what works with that... If you've got advice on a sweet low-profile/ultra-compact media solution for me, I'm all ears.**

 

Thanks!

[broken]

Have you considered something like the Western Digital TV Live Media Player?

 

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/...asp?DriveID=735

 

Supports about every media format under the sun...though I am not sure of its status with Netflix and Hulu.

 

 

It would be really great (and probably ideal) if you want to stream audio and video from one of your Macs across

your home network.

 

There are a couple other devices on the market with similar capabilities and most of them are also inexpensive.

 

 

 

But, if you want something with more horsepower and utility and want Mac OS running on it, than a Hack would certainly

do it.

 

There isn't any off the shelf computers you would want to use, so lets skip right past that. You are going to need to build

and you aren't going to get something as small as the Mac Mini. But what you will get is something cheaper, faster and

with upgrade potential.

 

 

An inexpensive micro ATX tower build should work fine. You can build something in the $400 to $500 range (or less) that would

work great.

 

 

But are you ok with a small tower machine?

[Bob LLama]

Building a small tower is fine, but I was pricing stuff out and it seemed like it was going to cost $600+... Is there like a list of approved hardware I can browse through?

 

And as far as size, I'm fairly limited on space. Ideally, the closer in size t a mini, the better, and my shelf is only 12" deep, so it needs to be less than that.

[broken]

Building a small tower is fine, but I was pricing stuff out and it seemed like it was going to cost $600+... Is there like a list of approved hardware I can browse through?

 

And as far as size, I'm fairly limited on space. Ideally, the closer in size t a mini, the better, and my shelf is only 12" deep, so it needs to be less than that.

 

 

Yes, there is a Hardware database:

 

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

 

 

Your biggest trouble is going to be meeting that 12" depth requirement using micro atx hardware. There are few cases that even come close to that using mATX hardware because of the way they are designed.

 

 

 

I will go ahead and list my suggestions for hardware. I chose this hardware since its compatible and you can do a Vanilla install of OS X. No hacked up custom kernels or garbage like that. You don't want to use any of these "distro" based versions. Keep it as close to a retail install as possible.

 

 

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L - $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...%20GA-G41M-ES2L

 

Cpu: Intel Pentium Dual Core e6300 - $81

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6-091-_-Product

 

Memory: 4 GB G.Skill 1066 DDR2 - $95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231241

 

Video Card: Sparkle fanless 9400GT - $50

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814187037

 

Hard drive: 500 GB Western Digital Green series - $55

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136358

 

DVD Burner/Reader: Samsung 22x DVD+R - $32

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827151188

 

Case: Antec NSK1380 mATX cube - $110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129038

 

Total: $483

 

 

Now, there are somethings to keep in mind. Notice I spec'd out a regular DVDRW for the optical drive. If you want to go Bluray, you will need to substitute out the dvdr for that. Also, the case I suggested is one of the smaller one's that allow both mATX boards and full size video cards and comes close to your space constraints. According to Newegg its 13.20" deep. I know thats more than 12", but sadly there aren't alot of choices if depth is a concern. If you had a few more inches it would open up your options a lot plus probably lower your costs. If you could swing a small mATX tower (something like 15" tall and 15" deep) then you would have mountains of choices.

 

 

The cpu I picked is a little power house. It would slay anything currently shipping in the Mac Mini's. Plenty of horsepower to decode just about anything video related you can throw at it. Eats HD video for lunch. The Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L motherboard has started to become very popular amongst the Hackintosh crowd. Its well supported with its onboard LAN and audio. Onboard video is the Intel x4500 which isn't supported so I decided on a Sparkle fanless 9400GT. The current Mini's and Macbooks use the 9400 series GPU, so you know its well supported. Plus its fanless so one less source of noise. I currently use the Sparkle 9500GT and had the 9400GT so I can speak from experience that work great with OpenCL acceleration in Snow Leopard.

 

I don't know how important storage is to you on this or if you plan to just stream most of it to the machine across your network. I picked the 500 GB Western Digital Green hard drive as its extremely quiet, draws less power and runs cooler than most its rivals. Decided to just go with 4 gigs ram. DDR2 probably ain't getting no cheaper from here on out, so might as well just stock while you can.

 

 

 

Since the initial cost comes in under $500, you still have a lot of room to play with component selection depending on thats really important to you.

 

You could always swap out the dvdrw drive for a bluray, move up to the slightly more expensive 9500GT video card (though for media purposes it wouldn't make a difference), drop the ram to 2 gb's or move up or down with hard drive space. A SSD drive would be fast, noiseless OS drive, but expensive.

 

 

Thermally the case isn't designed for extremely hot running hardware. So stay away from overclocking and power hungry video cards.

 

Pretty much the only two components in the build that are really important as far OS X compatibility goes are the motherboard and video card. Those are ALWAYS the most important elements for a Hackintosh.

 

 

You would probably run Snow Leopard on this build and use Boxee or Plex on it for the media front end.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

Found a case that might be a better solution.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811163158

 

 

This Silverstone case is just under 13 inches deep. I know you were looking for less than 12, but realistically most of them are 14 or 15 or more.

[Bob LLama]

You are a gentleman and a scholar! This is perfect!

 

This is looking perfect. If it sticks out a little, that's fine. Now a couple other questions: Bluetooth? Should I just get a USB bluetooth dongle? Also, I need to buy a PSU, don't I? Finally, will any old optical drive work? Such as this one?

[Bob LLama]

Update:

 

Thinking of forgoing the optical drive altogether and getting a stand-alone bluray player (that upsamples regular DVDs to boot) for roughly the same price. Then I don't need to worry about the dual-boot business and buying an extra HD to run windowze.

 

That being said, what about this case? Slightly updated version to the one you rec'd, but it only has a 300w PSU. Is that enough juice?

[broken]

You are a gentleman and a scholar! This is perfect!

 

This is looking perfect. If it sticks out a little, that's fine. Now a couple other questions: Bluetooth? Should I just get a USB bluetooth dongle? Also, I need to buy a PSU, don't I? Finally, will any old optical drive work? Such as this one?

 

Yeah, you can use a Bluetooth usb dongle. Keep in mind it won't work in the bios and until you get in OS X (drivers have to load). I would install and setup the OS with a regular usb keyboard and mouse and then plug in and configure the bluetooth dongle. After that it will work fine.

 

There are many bluetooth dongles that work in OS X. The hardware compatibility wiki has several listed.

 

If you go with that first Antec case I suggested it already has a PSU included.

 

The Silverstone does not. You would need to purchase a regular ATX power supply. Lots of choices under $50 for a quality PSU.

 

I am not sure about that LG Bluray drive. I think some folks use a Pioneer unit, but I am honestly not up to date on Bluray in OS X.

 

 

 

Update:

 

Thinking of forgoing the optical drive altogether and getting a stand-alone bluray player (that upsamples regular DVDs to boot) for roughly the same price. Then I don't need to worry about the dual-boot business and buying an extra HD to run windowze.

 

That being said, what about this case? Slightly updated version to the one you rec'd, but it only has a 300w PSU. Is that enough juice?

 

 

Perhaps just ditching the optical drive would be best. Save space and money.

 

Sadly the Sugo case won't work. Its a Mini ITX format. Case is far too small to fit a mATX board in it. I wish there were some mini ITX solutions that ran

OS X perfectly, but the few that can run OS X are dodgy at best or just unsuitable for Media playback purposes (like the Atom boards).

[jnp]

Did this box ever materialize? If so, would love to hear the final specs and how it's working out.

[csgllc]

Hello,

 

In following your information below, if you suggest using a retail disc, how would that be possible since you cannot install on hardware other than apple? (Using the recommended motherboard)

Sorry I am new at this. I am going to assume that you may be suggesting using a Retail disc with a special boot loader?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, there is a Hardware database:

 

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

 

 

Your biggest trouble is going to be meeting that 12" depth requirement using micro atx hardware. There are few cases that even come close to that using mATX hardware because of the way they are designed.

 

 

 

I will go ahead and list my suggestions for hardware. I chose this hardware since its compatible and you can do a Vanilla install of OS X. No hacked up custom kernels or garbage like that. You don't want to use any of these "distro" based versions. Keep it as close to a retail install as possible.

 

 

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L - $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...%20GA-G41M-ES2L

 

Cpu: Intel Pentium Dual Core e6300 - $81

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6-091-_-Product

 

Memory: 4 GB G.Skill 1066 DDR2 - $95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231241

 

Video Card: Sparkle fanless 9400GT - $50

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814187037

 

Hard drive: 500 GB Western Digital Green series - $55

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136358

 

DVD Burner/Reader: Samsung 22x DVD+R - $32

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827151188

 

Case: Antec NSK1380 mATX cube - $110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129038

 

Total: $483

 

 

Now, there are somethings to keep in mind. Notice I spec'd out a regular DVDRW for the optical drive. If you want to go Bluray, you will need to substitute out the dvdr for that. Also, the case I suggested is one of the smaller one's that allow both mATX boards and full size video cards and comes close to your space constraints. According to Newegg its 13.20" deep. I know thats more than 12", but sadly there aren't alot of choices if depth is a concern. If you had a few more inches it would open up your options a lot plus probably lower your costs. If you could swing a small mATX tower (something like 15" tall and 15" deep) then you would have mountains of choices.

 

 

The cpu I picked is a little power house. It would slay anything currently shipping in the Mac Mini's. Plenty of horsepower to decode just about anything video related you can throw at it. Eats HD video for lunch. The Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L motherboard has started to become very popular amongst the Hackintosh crowd. Its well supported with its onboard LAN and audio. Onboard video is the Intel x4500 which isn't supported so I decided on a Sparkle fanless 9400GT. The current Mini's and Macbooks use the 9400 series GPU, so you know its well supported. Plus its fanless so one less source of noise. I currently use the Sparkle 9500GT and had the 9400GT so I can speak from experience that work great with OpenCL acceleration in Snow Leopard.

 

I don't know how important storage is to you on this or if you plan to just stream most of it to the machine across your network. I picked the 500 GB Western Digital Green hard drive as its extremely quiet, draws less power and runs cooler than most its rivals. Decided to just go with 4 gigs ram. DDR2 probably ain't getting no cheaper from here on out, so might as well just stock while you can.

 

 

 

Since the initial cost comes in under $500, you still have a lot of room to play with component selection depending on thats really important to you.

 

You could always swap out the dvdrw drive for a bluray, move up to the slightly more expensive 9500GT video card (though for media purposes it wouldn't make a difference), drop the ram to 2 gb's or move up or down with hard drive space. A SSD drive would be fast, noiseless OS drive, but expensive.

 

 

Thermally the case isn't designed for extremely hot running hardware. So stay away from overclocking and power hungry video cards.

 

Pretty much the only two components in the build that are really important as far OS X compatibility goes are the motherboard and video card. Those are ALWAYS the most important elements for a Hackintosh.

 

 

You would probably run Snow Leopard on this build and use Boxee or Plex on it for the media front end.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

Found a case that might be a better solution.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811163158

 

 

This Silverstone case is just under 13 inches deep. I know you were looking for less than 12, but realistically most of them are 14 or 15 or more.

[maximilian298453]

By coincidence, I seem to be in the process of building pretty much this same configuration (have a Cored2Duo processor and some RAM lying around that will work with the MB). Went with the Sparkle 9500, though, since it's so much cheaper now (the 9400 is now hard to even find). It will be my HTPC / light computing setup (have a Windows box for heavier tasks and gaming). Wanted HDMI, but that proved a tall order on my meager budget, so I'm settling on VGA to my TV instead, since it has the input.