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G4 cube mod question

baby duck monge

baby duck monge

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 16, 2003
1,570
0
Memphis, TN
If one were to have a Mac Mini and a G4 Cube case, would it be possible to transfer the guts of the Mini into the Cube? How rediculously hard would this be? Also, would there be room for say, a second HD or anything? I know the dimensions of the Cube are bigger than those of the Mini, but I haven't really peeked around inside both to see what can be done. Anyone have a clue? Guides? Anything?

Thanks!
 
You could probably do this with room to spare. The Cube measures 7" x 7" and the Mini is 6.5" x 6.5". Since the majority of the Cube case is dedicated to the heatsink as well, you could probably fit another 3.5" drive in there with a Mini if you wanted. I've thought about doing something similar, but it feels kinda dirty to violate the Cube like that.
 
livingfortoday said:
I've thought about doing something similar, but it feels kinda dirty to violate the Cube like that.
Click to expand...

Don't think of it as violating the Cube, but rather giving a nice upgrade to both the Cube and the Mini :p !
 
I thought I saw somewhere, a company selling replacement cases for the G4 cube. You could bascially purchase one of those replacement cases and go from there.
 
SC68Cal said:
I thought I saw somewhere, a company selling replacement cases for the G4 cube. You could bascially purchase one of those replacement cases and go from there.
Click to expand...

That's kinda what I was going for; this would just be a project to keep me occupied for a day or two... or more. I would basically relocate the Mac Mini into the empty shell of the Cube and perhaps add a second HD (set it up to auto-backup or something). It looks like it's very much possible, and even not hugely difficult (though I would have to look around my Mini for a while to make sure about all that). Now I just have to decide if it's worth my time, the effort, and the cost of the shell.
 
If you were to do this, some pictures documenting the process would be interesting to see...:cool:
 
livingfortoday said:
Why can't you just do this:
http://homepage.mac.com/kennedye/.Pictures/cube_mini.jpg

See? That'll make them both happy!
Click to expand...

I could see a mini burning up inside that little room there! :eek:

Getting the Mini guts inside the Cube might take a little bit of ingenuity, but the results (especially with the addition of a HD) would be well worth it. Does the Cube have a brick similar to the mini?
 
Superdrive said:
I could see a mini burning up inside that little room there! :eek:

Getting the Mini guts inside the Cube might take a little bit of ingenuity, but the results (especially with the addition of a HD) would be well worth it. Does the Cube have a brick similar to the mini?
Click to expand...

The Cube has a huge external power supply. The end that plugs into the Cube is rather fragile as well, and since the whole setup goes for over $100 nowadays... yeesh.

Actually, lookin' at them both, you could probably even fit the Mini's power brick into the Cube's if you wanted a totally stealth Mini in a Cube.
 
Hey, I put my Mini in my Cube case, so that you can see how well it'll fit. You could probably stack 3 of them in there together:

minicube.jpg


minicube2.jpg
 
IJ Reilly said:
Something is missing here, and I think it's the point. What is the point of doing this?
Click to expand...

Hey, don't ask me, I've been against this from the start. If he want to do it, though, it can be done.

I don't know if the optical drive will line up. You can probably make it do so by just stickin' it in there, or by removing the top shell of the Mini.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Something is missing here, and I think it's the point. What is the point of doing this?
Click to expand...

The point is this:

I find the aesthetics of the Cube to be much greater than those of the Mini - especially of the Mini when you have a couple external HDs connected to it. I don't have a Cube, don't want an actual Cube (still too expensive for the performance), do have a Mini, and would rather it look like a Cube.

If I could take the guts of the Mini and put them into a Cube, I could pretty much have it all: the looks of the Cube, the power of the Mini, and a lack of external HDs just hanging around.

Also, it would give me a fun project for a couple days. :D
 
baby duck monge said:
The point is this:

I find the aesthetics of the Cube to be much greater than those of the Mini - especially of the Mini when you have a couple external HDs connected to it. I don't have a Cube, don't want an actual Cube (still too expensive for the performance), do have a Mini, and would rather it look like a Cube.

If I could take the guts of the Mini and put them into a Cube, I could pretty much have it all: the looks of the Cube, the power of the Mini, and a lack of external HDs just hanging around.

Also, it would give me a fun project for a couple days. :D
Click to expand...

What you need to do, is take all that creative energy and do something useful with it, like building me a spaceship. You can even use a Mini in it somewhere, or make it look like a big Cube! As long as it gets me to Mars and back, I'll be happy.
 
livingfortoday said:
What you need to do, is take all that creative energy and do something useful with it, like building me a spaceship. You can even use a Mini in it somewhere, or make it look like a big Cube! As long as it gets me to Mars and back, I'll be happy.
Click to expand...


Despite the fact that I started my college experience as an engineer, I ended up as an English major. With that in mind, I don't think I have the technical ability to make you this spaceship. I do know that it would have really crappy aerodynamics if I made it look like a cube, though. I guess I could just get back to the novel I'm working on...
 
baby duck monge said:
The point is this:

I find the aesthetics of the Cube to be much greater than those of the Mini - especially of the Mini when you have a couple external HDs connected to it. I don't have a Cube, don't want an actual Cube (still too expensive for the performance), do have a Mini, and would rather it look like a Cube.

If I could take the guts of the Mini and put them into a Cube, I could pretty much have it all: the looks of the Cube, the power of the Mini, and a lack of external HDs just hanging around.

Also, it would give me a fun project for a couple days. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation, but I still don't get it. :)

I always thought the cool factor of the Cube was more than the shape of the box. The engineering and technology Apple put into making it all go together was awesome. The Mini isn't a bad engineering achievement either. To slap the two together, well, that just seems like a bastardization of both to me.

(BTW, you can put together a real Cube with about the same horsepower as a G4 Mini for about the same price as a G4 Mini. That's what I've got.)
 
IJ Reilly said:
(BTW, you can put together a real Cube with about the same horsepower as a G4 Mini for about the same price as a G4 Mini. That's what I've got.)
Click to expand...

If I didn't already have the Mini, that's what I would most likely do.
 
I don't see much of a problem other than I don't think the mini has the correct internal ports to hook up a second internal hard drive. There may be a way to do it but the ability is definitely not there to begin with.
 
yippy said:
I don't see much of a problem other than I don't think the mini has the correct internal ports to hook up a second internal hard drive. There may be a way to do it but the ability is definitely not there to begin with.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty easy problem to solve. I can just hook up the drive(s) via firewire and keep all the wiring inside the Cube's shell. One of my HDs is already daisy-chainable, but if I needed more ports than that I could always fit my firewire hub in there.
 
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