bigeasy Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Hi all, i have a chance to buy an apple intel prototype motherboard. this is the link: Apple prototype board on ebay I lost the main auction, but have been offered a 'second chance'. now obviously for the price ($210/£105) plus shipping, i could buy a great motherboard and use a hacked install disk to get osx working, but the prototype board has the benefit of apple' tpm so i could install using a regular intel install disk. the problem i can see is that it doesnt support core 2 duo processors straight off and it also doesn't have any pci/pci-e expansion slots apart from the graphics card slot. apparently it will work with c2d processors if you can add microcode into the firmware, but i have no idea how to do that....... does anyone here have any suggestions? Should i go for it or buy a newer board? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/49194-apple-intel-prototype-mac-mini-motherboard/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelhydra Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Hi all, i have a chance to buy an apple intel prototype motherboard. this is the link: Apple prototype board on ebay I lost the main auction, but have been offered a 'second chance'. now obviously for the price ($210/£105) plus shipping, i could buy a great motherboard and use a hacked install disk to get osx working, but the prototype board has the benefit of apple' tpm so i could install using a regular intel install disk. the problem i can see is that it doesnt support core 2 duo processors straight off and it also doesn't have any pci/pci-e expansion slots apart from the graphics card slot. apparently it will work with c2d processors if you can add microcode into the firmware, but i have no idea how to do that....... does anyone here have any suggestions? Should i go for it or buy a newer board? Just go through the HCL and get a new motherboard with a Core 2 Duo. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/49194-apple-intel-prototype-mac-mini-motherboard/#findComment-351923 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I agree with chelhydra. Just buy a new board that works with the C2D. The board you linked to is not really like the one in a Mac Mini. He says "it's very small [a mere 8.5x10 inches]." That's much bigger than the Mac Mini (whose exterior dimensions are 6.5x6.5 inches, so the board can't be more than 6x6). What that auction looks like is a slightly modified version of the Intel D945GRW. I think the name "PicoBTX" is misleading. It makes it sound much smaller than "MicroATX," when in actuality, they are almost the same size. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a board the size of a Mac Mini that works with a Core 2 Duo, has DVI and the other features, and isn't a Mac Mini. lol Edit: Maybe not that hard-pressed. lol. I just found this - AOpen MiniPC. Same exact dimensions as the Mac Mini, and basically the same features. They're sold bare-bones without a CPU, HD, or RAM though, so you may end up paying more than you would for a real Mac Mini, but it does give you the choice of CPUs other than the 32-bit Core Duos used in the Mac Mini. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/49194-apple-intel-prototype-mac-mini-motherboard/#findComment-352013 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigeasy Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 I've decided to go with a different board now, although the size wasn't the issue, it was going into a full size case, i just thought it would be less hassle having a genuine apple motherboard which can be used in a custom rig. but for the same price i can get a sweet asus board with one of those little touchscreens you mount on your case asus board Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/49194-apple-intel-prototype-mac-mini-motherboard/#findComment-352414 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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