zeamp Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 I found a great deal on a Mac Mini, 1.66GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, all the software, etc. My question is this: I would love to swap out the motherboard and the case so I can ditch the onboard video. I'm looking for something very similar so that Leopard will boot and function without issues using the new motherboard. I've already purchased a graphics card that has been working fine on my Tiger Hackintosh and from the HCL's I've seen, support Leopard without any problems. Do you know of any motherboards that will take the CPU/RAM/OS and be fairly inexpensive? I know I'll use Ethernet and Bluetooth and everything else on the stock board but that's OK. I searched around the thread and did a lot of Googling but couldn't find anyone swapping boards on their Mini's to overcome the "Mac Mini is not a gaming machine" gripe. Thanks in advance to anyone with some board names, advice, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 Case is too small to provide proper cooling for high performance computers. No cooling = no go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Adams Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 maybe this one? http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=32#j9f2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 That board would work but you would need to do some serious modding, especially on the back I/O ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbau Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 If you swap out the motherboard and case, you're left with a CPU, hard drive, RAM, and DVD drive. What was the point of buying the mini when none of those are Mac specific? Only the motherboard and case make it a Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special-K Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 I searched around the thread and did a lot of Googling but couldn't find anyone swapping boards on their Mini's to overcome the "Mac Mini is not a gaming machine" gripe. You want a gaming PC and your looking towards a Mac. Are you {censored} serious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apowerr Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 You want a gaming PC and your looking towards a Mac. Are you {censored} serious? I don't mean to sound like a jerk but here goes: You bought a Mac and expect it to handle modern games well? If you swap out the motherboard and case, you're left with a CPU, hard drive, RAM, and DVD drive. What was the point of buying the mini when none of those are Mac specific? Only the motherboard and case make it a Mac. QFE. Why not buy off Newegg and save some money? If you want the 'full' Mac experience (which is a {censored} one that is full of the 'why-didn't-I-build-a-hackintosh?' blues) , you have to use a Mac motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 This is more of a case mod project, not really a modification to the mini. Basically you're stripping everything except RAM and DVD drive. And like I said earlier cooling is a big issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U.C. Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 My iMac with a 2600HD satisfies my gaming needs pretty well. I wouldnt suggest the Mini. Why not buy a G5 Case and use that?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special-K Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 What can I say? Great minds think alike erei. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTR-33 Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 What is the point? The only benefit of buying a Mini is that it has genuine Apple logicboard. I doubt you will get anything else to fit into it and those that have simply upgraded the processor are seeing large temperature increases. Fit alone you do realize the logicboard that's in it was specifically made to fit into that case right? This seems like an lesson in futility. Unless the Mini is free, it will be cheaper just to build a proper hack box. In the end that's all you will have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeamp Posted December 24, 2007 Author Share Posted December 24, 2007 You're right. After some more hard work on my Hackintosh, I've gotten everything to work including QE/CI on my cheap GeForce card. Things run a lot smoother with full GFX support. Thanks for all the input, guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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