Potential Build Opinons

[iindigo3D]

I just realized that I posted this in the wrong forum, and thus posted it here, in its appropriate place. Sorry. Please allow posters to delete their own topics!

 

Anyway -

 

So I may be building a hackintosh for my roommate in the near future to upgrade him from his aging 2.1Ghz iMac G5. What he'll be using it for mostly is normal college stuff, normal consumer stuff, and playing WoW. Here's the build I have set up at the moment:

 

- GIGABYTE G41M-ES2L Mobo

- 2.93Ghz Wolfdale Core 2 Duo

- 4GB DDR2 SDRAM (2GBx2)

- nVidia GeForce 9800GT (probably 512mb, but may go for 1GB model)

- Samsung Spintpoint F3 500GB HD

- LITE-ON DVD-RW

- 400W PSU

- Antec 300 Case

- 21.5" 1920x1080 Display

 

This all rings up to ~$500, not including the display.

 

I built a hackintosh based on the G31M-ES2L back in spring 2009 for my younger brother, and it runs well to this day despite having no maintenance of any sort done on it. I expect similar results from the G41M, plus it will be drop-dead easy to set up with Kakewalk.

 

Are there any changes you guys would make? Personally, I'd like to set him up with an i3 build, if nothing else simply for vastly better upgradability, but socket 1156 mobos are much more expensive.

[Mackilroy]

You can build an i3 machine for about $560 - could you step up that much more? I just put together a machine with a Core i3-530 (same processor speed as the C2D chip you mention) and otherwise similar specs as the computer parts you've got listed. I'll make it public and link you to it, if you like - that might take a day or two, though.

[guavajuice]

You can build an i3 machine for about $560 - could you step up that much more? I just put together a machine with a Core i3-530 (same processor speed as the C2D chip you mention) and otherwise similar specs as the computer parts you've got listed. I'll make it public and link you to it, if you like - that might take a day or two, though.

 

I'm looking to build a simliar machine for about 500-600 bucks. Can I see you list of parts?

 

Thanks.

[iindigo3D]

You can build an i3 machine for about $560 - could you step up that much more? I just put together a machine with a Core i3-530 (same processor speed as the C2D chip you mention) and otherwise similar specs as the computer parts you've got listed. I'll make it public and link you to it, if you like - that might take a day or two, though.

 

If you could link it, that would indeed be appreciated. My main concern when trying to put together an i3 build was finding a motherboard that wasn't going to be a pain in the rear when installing OS X and wasn't terribly expensive.

[Mackilroy]

Here you are. The GPU I had selected originally is no longer available, and the cheapest equivalent is about $20 more, but that only matters if you really want a 9800 GT or better for your system. I've checked motherboard compatibility and I'm not absolutely certain that one is compatible, but I have seen a successful build listed with this motherboard which is similar to the one I've put in that build, and is the same price.