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This is a bizarre question, but here it goes. My wife's first computer was an iBook G4 14" machine, which she loved. That is until the processor itself fried for some reason. I know this is the case because I can see scorch marks on and around the processor itself. That said, she got herself a new machine (MBP 15") and is very happy.

Now, I like to tinker. So I started to wonder if there are any motherboards that can use modern day processors that might be able to fit the enclosure of the iBook. Yes, I know this would be a Hackintosh, but then again this is mainly for "See what I did" than anything else.

Any ideas?

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Even if you did find one, you do not know what the air circulation will be like. But heat dissipation has been a major issue with most of Apple's products as they are build so tight. Such a task is very risky because you'll probably have to use a logic board which is not from apple and has not been used much under such conditions. There has been posted a similar question to yours: apple.stackexchange.com/questions/36453/… – gentmatt Jan 13 '12 at 16:24
Instead of doing something that is against Apple's terms, why not just buy a new board for it? ifixit.com/iBook-Parts/iBook-G4-14-Inch-1-33-GHz-Logic-Board/… – Chillie Jan 13 '12 at 16:24
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Generally the term "Hackintosh" is used to refer to building a computer from non-Apple parts and running MacOS on it, which is against the license terms for MacOS. You are indeed referring to doing some hardware hacking on a Mac, but repairing Apple hardware on your own is not the same thing. You might get better responses here if you take the term "Hackintosh" out of your question. – Daniel Lawson♦ Jan 13 '12 at 16:26
As I understand it, you're looking for a buying recommendation for a motherboard. Shopping or buying recommendations for hardware ("let's go shopping") questions are off topic here. Please take a look at the FAQs for more info. Thanks. – Nathan Greenstein♦ Jan 14 '12 at 16:08

closed as off topic by gentmatt, Jason Salaz♦, Nathan Greenstein♦ Jan 14 '12 at 16:08

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1 Answer

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There are several micro-ATX boards that support the new Intel Sandy Bridge family that are designed for home-theatre PC and media servers similar to the Mac Mini. I would think that you'd be able to fit one into the iBook case. The Sandy Bridge processors include on-CPU video circuitry (Intel HDA3000 for example), so you wouldn't any expansion cards, just a stick or two of low-profile memory.

Take a look at www.tonymacx86.com for several examples of this kind of build.

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