Will an PPC Mac Mini fit into an Intel Mac Mini?

[AppleTVNoob]

I have an early Mac Mini (1.42GHz PPC) and have the opportunity to pick up parts of an Intel 1.66GHz Mac Mini.
Specifically the bottom case and the motherboard with processor (but not hard drive or RAM).

The question I have is whether the top half of my PPC Mac Mini will physically fit the bottom half of an Intel Mac Mini?
Will it be a simple case of putting the two halves together?

Thanks for any help.

 

[nullx86]

the cases are the same, as the way they fit together, so it should fit. You might have to tweak the back with a dremel though, as the ports have changed on each model.

 

[AppleTVNoob]

So, do you think if I just transfer the HD, RAM and DVD Drive from the PPC mini and attach it to the frame of the Intel mini I would end up with a fully working Intel mac mini?

 

[mrsir2009]

I'd think so

And yes, the Mini's were the same size so they would fit

 

[bigandy]

The RAM is certainly a no-go. The hard drive drive on the PPC Mac mini won't work in the Intel mac as they now use SATA (PPCs used IDE).

As for the optical drive, it depends on which generation of Intel mini you've got on the cards - previously, they had IDE DVD drives but certainly in the 2009 model, they're SATA.


Does the Intel one you're looking at come with the internal frame (the structure that holds the fan/ducting, hard drive and optical drive) and the Airport/BT antennas for it?

If it doesn't, I just plain wouldn't bother. The internal structure is very different between the processor shift, and you're clutching at straws just to get the top case fitting correctly.

The sticking point is the antennas for Airport/Bluetooth - they require cutaways in the top case which would make me just not bother.

 

[NJuul]

So, do you think if I just transfer the HD, RAM and DVD Drive from the PPC mini and attach it to the frame of the Intel mini I would end up with a fully working Intel mac mini?

No, you need to buy a new SATA harddrive and PC5300 memory modules. The DVD drive might work, I think it connects to via a PCI interface, but I could be wrong (google). It will probably still be worth it, you can get a 500 GB drive and 4 GB of memory for roughly 160$, less if you go lower. And as someone else said, you will need to "open up" the back to get to the ports.

Edit: Argh, beaten to it. As said above.

 

[AppleTVNoob]

Thanks for your help. The parts are for a 1.66GHz Intel and are only £25 on eBay (including internal frame), so I thought I would take a punt.
I would have to buy RAM, SATA Hard Drive for it though.

As I’m using it as a file server, I’m not particularly fussed about RAM size or Hard Drive size.
Will be connecting to it via Ethernet and using screen sharing or VLC, so airport and Bluetooth aren’t important to me either.

 

[nullx86]

PPC models used IDE across the board. The Intel Core Solo model used IDE Superdrives and Sata HDDs. The Core 2 Duos (current) use Sata across the board. The PCI-like interface is for the pullout caddie for the cooling module, HDD and Superdrive. The chassis have all been the same overall.

 

[ADent]

PPC models used IDE across the board. The Intel Core Solo model used IDE Superdrives and Sata HDDs. The Core 2 Duos (current) use Sata across the board. The PCI-like interface is for the pullout caddie for the cooling module, HDD and Superdrive. The chassis have all been the same overall.

Correct. And the Core 2 Duo models with the single video output port (built until 2/2009) are the same as the Core Solo models - IDE for optical, SATA for HD.