- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Messages
- 7
- Motherboard
- ASUS ROG Maximus Gene VII
- CPU
- Intel Core i7-4790K
- Graphics
- ASUS ROG STRIKER GeForce GTX 760
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
The main components I used:
ASUS H81T R2.0/CSM LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Thin Mini-ITX Intel Motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813132714
Intel Core i3-4370 Haswell Dual-Core 3.8 GHz LGA 1150 54W BX80646I34370 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600
https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i3-4th-gen-core-i3-4370/p/N82E16819117446
HyperX Impact 16GB (2 x 8GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Laptop Memory Model HX316LS9IBK2/16
https://www.newegg.com/hyperx-16gb-204-pin-ddr3-so-dimm/p/N82E16820104476
Thermaltake Engine 27 1U Low-Profile 70W Intel 60mm Low Noise PWM Fan Forty Fan Blade CPU Cooler CL-P032-CA06SL-A
https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-engine-27-cl-p032-ca06sl-a/p/N82E16835106417
Foxconn PVA080F12H 8020 80x80x20mm Cooler Cooling Fan PWM 12V 0.36A 4Pin M353 QL
https://www.newegg.com/p/1YF-003V-000N4
StarTech.com USBPLATE 2-Port USB A Female Slot Plate Adapter
https://www.newegg.com/startech-usbplate-usb-gender-changer/p/N82E16812200086
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5" 480GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SV300S37A/480G
https://www.newegg.com/kingston-ssdnow-v300-series-480gb/p/N82E16820239757
I bought a couple of Cubes at a great price because they were untested and did not come with a hard drive or power adapter. This is the one I decided to mod:
Disassembly begins:
The opening for the IO panel is cut with the edges filed smooth:
The left side of the IO panel had to be cut in order to fit the case:
The IO panel installed:
I used a pair of M3 threaded rods to hold the motherboard in place:
For the optical drive I designed and 3D printed a pair of brackets to retrofit it:
This test fit actually did not go well, it was misaligned with the opening in the outer case, but after a small redesign it now works perfectly:
Ideally it would've been great to keep it passively cooled like in MacTester57's build, but unfortunately I don't have access to a shop or the machining skills, so I just cut off the stock heatsink and used low profile CPU fan/heatsink. The positive thing is that the weight is considerably reduced. Since I'm using an i3 for this build, it stays cool and quiet. I didn't like the way the aluminum pieces looked after I cut off the heatsink so I filed and sanded them until they looked smooth and symmetrical:
Here it is assembled with the case fan, SSD and power/reset buttons installed:
For the power switch I considered using a 3rd party touch sensor but then decided to get the stock switch to work because I like how the LED reacts to touch, and I couldn't find a touch sensor with a light built in. I used minihack's guide to get it to work but it didn't fit properly due to motherboard clearance. So I decided to install it upside down. I 3D printed a pair of brackets to offset the screw holes:
I'm very happy with the way it turned out:
Here's how it looks assembled. Also you can see how the CPU fan/heatsink perfectly fits without any modification:
Here's the other side with the IO panel and extra USB ports installed. I also made a vinyl decal with the correct labels to cover up the stock labels:
Here are all 4 sides (almost) completed:
I wanted to integrate an Apple IR receiver so I can use an Apple remote with the Cube, but I didn't want to modify the external enclosure of the Cube. So I made a USB dongle using an Apple IR receiver board, a USB connector and a 3D printed enclosure (you can see the full build info here):
Another thing I wanted to attempt was to mod a pair of Apple Pro Speakers to work with USB and Bluetooth and also look as close to stock as possible (full build info here):
The only thing left was to get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which I'm still currently working on. I wanted to use the original locations for the antennas. Since there was space for 2 antennas, I used the Apple BCM94360CS2 card with a Mini PCI-E adapter. I 3D printed a pair of antenna holders that fit perfectly in the original brackets:
I found a pair of antennas from China that ended up being the perfect size and fit even better than I hoped:
Wi-Fi is working, with excellent speeds. Bluetooth is not working at all. From the info I gathered on this site, it has to do with USB mapping, which is something I have not done yet. So that would be the next step in this project. I will be posting updates here.
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