Hi all,

I finally decided to upgrade my hardware (currently an old Athlon 2400+ Socket A with no SSE2 ) just for the very sake of running Mac OS X, as I need to run it for professional reasons (making Mac versions of my VST plugins) and I've always wanted to do that anyways . At first I'll most likely run OS X in VMware but eventually I'd like to switch entirely to Mac OS X so I think it's best if I get the right hardware just for that.

I have however no single clue about modern hardware and all of that stuff. I tried to figure out what kind of thing out there would suit my need by looking at the latest HCL on the wiki but it's filled with names I've never heard off, so I'm referring to you guys for the best advice on the matter. So what is/are the best CPU/mobo(s) out there for Mac OS X, in the cheap and good bang-for-buck category?

Here are my needs and priorities : it has to be pretty cheap, at least dual core, have the best compatibility with Mac OS X (I went through hell a couple of years ago with an ASUS A8N and OSx86 as it was very poorly supported, never that again please), preferably a future (I'd like to keep the mobo for a few years) and bonus points if the SATA controller is recognized right off the bat by Windows XP (I never want to slipstream again).

Thanks a lot in advance! I can't wait till I can join the fun .

Intel core 2 duo any or q6660

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R

Look at my specs.
My mobo has everything working with OS X without any patching except for sound which needs taruga's patch (but then again all audio requires patching in OS X). It's also very cheap and supports even the newest 45nm cpus. Processor, get a Pentium dual core if you don't need to do any CPU intensive work. Add in 2GB of ram and a fast hard disk (Samsung is absolutly great, although it's still new) and you've got a great new very compatible system for everything (XP,Vista,OS X10.5.4+,Linux).

PS. Choose the 945 chipset because it has the best support, not only in OS X but also Linux (and of course windows too).

Thanks for the insight. As for the audio I've seen on the 10.5.2 HCL that some mobos work right out the box with no patching, not even for audio.