The other day it clicked that I hadn’t posted any updates regarding my Hack Pro (Late 2013) Hackintosh build since my last post way back in January.
2014 has been a crazy busy year for me so I’ve struggled to find the time to work on ‘The Bin’ as I like to call it. It hasn’t helped that roughly for the past 6 months the bin has left in the workshop back at my family home, with me stuck in London with no workshop. So work towards the project has been very hit and miss, with me only able to work on it when I found myself back home for an unexpected weekend visit.
That said, I would like to share with you my progress so far on the build. With project being away from me for most of the time, I have had a lot of time to think the design over. Initially my time was
This post is one big post that should of been many smaller posts, so be prepared for one long post with lots of build photos. I’ll do my best to post the build details in chronological order, solely relying on the photos date metadata to guide me.
The build so far
It’s been a challenge to find components that will deliver good overall computing performance, that are reasonably priced within the chosen budget, and most importantly will conform to the space restrictions of fitting comfortably in the small bin.
My new case.. a bin.
How it should look
How I intend to positon it
With 17x17cm dimensions, this board is tiny!
Best motherboard I could find at the time that would fit.
Intel i7 4770k should pack a punch
The original power supply I intended to use
This thing is absolutely tiny and supports up to 250w
Needed an external AC>DC transformer so decided against using it in the end
14cm fans, 1 for intake, 1 for outtake.
New PSU stripped down.
Popped into local Apple store to take some measurements
The cage will be fabricated using aluminium
Just trying it for size.
Corner L brackets to support fans.
Removed Wifi antenna for now.
Positioning Motherboard and GPU together.
Mockup held together with clips
Trying to give the PSU a good airflow
The big 3 that I need to make fit.
Should fit quite nicely
Whack out the Dremel
Diamond cutting discs cut through the plastic like butter.
Cut around the rim as a guide
After a bit more cutting and sanding.
Initial fitting.
More sanding.
Bottom inlet hole for fan.
Looking smooth
Moved the workshop home because things got messy.
Motherboard mounting rails
Tapped a thread for the motherboard raisers to screw into.
Make the alignment bracket.
Wasn’t sure of the final motherboard position, so just drilled lots of evenly spaced holes.
Going to blend this in to make it circular again.
Cold welded the cage together using metal epoxy.
Begin cutting up the PSU.
Might of voided the warranty.
Initial alignment.
IO hole cut, everything lines up nicely 😉
Slides on and off easily enough.
Anodised black aluminium power button
Glows blue when switched on.
Initial bench test using external PSU. No sparks!
Struggle to get the case over with PSU in current place.
Removed unneeded cables.
New low profile CPU cooler should allowed relocation of PSU.
A work colleague shared with me a link that he found on Tonymac86 (Hackintosh Forums) where some clever guy had found a bin that was of similar shape and size to the new Late 2013 Mac Pro, and had thrown a mini-ITX board inside combined with an i3 CPU…
It’s a good effort, but I’m sure I can do better.
From undertaking all the project and design work on my car last year, I know the key for success in a design and build project such as this is PLAN, PLAN and MORE PLANNING!!!..
Pick up a pencil first, before you reach for the saw
You need to start drawing/thinking/working out how you are going to do things from the moment you make that mental commitment to undergo the task. Until you have a clear enough picture within your head about how things are going to fit together, you don’t even touch the toolbox.
That is exactly what I will be doing. Nothing will be ordered for this build until the plans are in good shape.
