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Salvaging an old Macbook

Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
5,105 (0.78/day)
Location
Sydney, Australia
System Name UltraPC
Processor E8500 Core 2 Duo, 1333Mhz FSB, 3.16Ghz @ 4.5GHz (got into Windows @ 4.75GHz)
Motherboard ASUS P5Q-e
Cooling CPU Cooler - TT V14 Pro, 2x120mm CM Blue LED fans, 1x90mm CM Blue LED fan
Memory G.Skill Pi 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel DDR2 PC8000 (1000MHz), 5-5-5-15
Video Card(s) Sapphire HD4850 512mb with ASUS EAH4850 BIOS
Storage 2x 500GB Seagate 7200.12 Raid 0
Display(s) Acer AL1912, 19" LCD screen
Case Thermaltake Soprano Black ATX case
Audio Device(s) Onboard 7.1, Speakers - 5 + Sub + Monitor speakers
Power Supply Thermaltake 850W Toughpower Cable Management - Quad (2x18A and 2x30A) 12V rails
Software Win 7 Pro x64, MSN, CS:Source, etc etc
I've been given an older 13" macbook which has its casing pretty much destroyed.

The specs on it aren't half bad; 2.1ghz c2d/2gb ram.

My server has been running pretty slow lately (as I have bogged it down with heaps of different things...and it isn't all that fast anyway) and so I want to use this thing to replace my server (as it wouldn't need much power)

A few things to note:
I can't change out the mac's CPU as it's soldered on
I don't need a screen/keyboard/mouse attached to the server unless it doesn't start up
The macbook has inbuilt GB LAN so I don't need an external card (even though it would be impossible anyway).


I've removed the casing (well, what was left of it) on the laptop and it runs fine.

The main problem I have is:
I've plugged a desktop HDD into the SATA port and it doesn't spin up. I need a desktop HD as I need at LEAST 1TB (I have almost filled my current 1TB so it will need upgrading soon). Question is...is there a way I can feed it more power?

The smaller problem is:
The power button looks to be attached to the keyboard. Is there a way of starting it without this button?
 

Corduroy_Jr

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
1,102 (0.21/day)
Location
barrie ont
Processor Phenom II 965
Motherboard Biostar TA870+
Cooling Zalman CNPS10X Performa
Memory Kingston hyperx 1600mhz 2x8gb
Video Card(s) ASUS Radeon HD 6870 DirectCU II 990/1250 stock volts
Storage Seagate 500gb, Wd 1tb black
Display(s) SAMSUNG 2433BW 24
Case Thermaltake v3 black edition
Audio Device(s) onboard, Logitech x540
Power Supply Antec true power modular 650 watt
Software Windows 7 x64 ultimate
its a mac, your cpu has a low clock, to give u a tip its all about cpu clock frequency not how many cores u have, most program's or games use only 2 core are threaded
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
5,105 (0.78/day)
Location
Sydney, Australia
System Name UltraPC
Processor E8500 Core 2 Duo, 1333Mhz FSB, 3.16Ghz @ 4.5GHz (got into Windows @ 4.75GHz)
Motherboard ASUS P5Q-e
Cooling CPU Cooler - TT V14 Pro, 2x120mm CM Blue LED fans, 1x90mm CM Blue LED fan
Memory G.Skill Pi 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel DDR2 PC8000 (1000MHz), 5-5-5-15
Video Card(s) Sapphire HD4850 512mb with ASUS EAH4850 BIOS
Storage 2x 500GB Seagate 7200.12 Raid 0
Display(s) Acer AL1912, 19" LCD screen
Case Thermaltake Soprano Black ATX case
Audio Device(s) Onboard 7.1, Speakers - 5 + Sub + Monitor speakers
Power Supply Thermaltake 850W Toughpower Cable Management - Quad (2x18A and 2x30A) 12V rails
Software Win 7 Pro x64, MSN, CS:Source, etc etc
Yeah that's why I want to go from a 1GHz VIA chip to a 2.1GHz core 2 duo, lol.
 
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