Ok so far I have the processor down. I am looking for advice on a motherboard for this build that will support as much ram and be nearly perfect for the Hackintosh SL build. I here tons about the Gigabit boards but was wondering if any other board is better overall?

I also need to know what is the single fastest video card that works right now with SL, or if SLI is an option of osX then maybe 2 9800's or ati's options but I am not sure what ones those would be.

I am going to dual boot 7 and SL, I basically want to build a fast win7 pc with the option to run SL as an added plus!

Other help would be nice like memory idea's.

I have been sorting through the ton's of posts but seem to find that they all end up with some issue or problem and not many people can say something works 100%

Lastly is the i7-920 a good investment now that it seems the i5 is going to be supported? I mean I hear the the i7 is as fast as the i5 but is more future proof, and does that mean the same for the mac world, or will it be better to go with something that is going to be actually made by apple such as the i5 on the 1556 chipset because it should be support for many years by apple?

I don't mind waiting until they release the new software to support the i5/i7 but I just want to make sure that I don't buy that and then wish I had the 1366 chipset.

Here is what I am thinking for a build, can anybody give me any idea's of possible pitfalls, or changes that might help me out?

Intel Corporation Core i7 920 Processor Boxed

2x SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

G.SKILL Perfect Storm 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL8T-6GBPS

The UD5 MB is a good choice. I had a virtually pain free experience setting one up with SL using this guide.

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=185097

Any sort of a Crossfire/SLI set up tends to be problematic, since there is no support or drivers for it in OSX AFAIK. Though I think some people have managed to get such set ups working, but I get the impression that if you have to ask if it's a good idea, you don't know enough to screw around with it.

Also as I understand it, unless you are going to be using a 30" monitor at max rez, that you will do just fine with a powerful single card.

Some sort of nVidia board is a better choice for a graphics card. I'm not familiar with all the reasons, but basically the Radeon cards substantially complicate things. The 250/9800/8800 (all just variations on the same chip) boards seem to be the best supported. Though a 285 should work just fine.

OK sounds good, the memory I picked will be fine?

I will change over to the Nvida cards and find one that works well and get just one of those, from what I see on websites and things even in windows SLI isn't a huge improvement so I guess just one 285 might be better in the long run anyways.

New Overall setup and price for those intrested from Microcenter and NewEgg. I intend to follow my build from the ground up with a tutorial and performace numbers. Kind of a build for noob's type thing.

Intel Corporation Core i7 920 Processor Boxed
199.00 Microcenter

BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCXDE GeForce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE 55 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
209.99 20.00 rebate 189.99

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
278.99

G.SKILL Perfect Storm 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL8T-6GBPS
259.99
Total - 947.97



Can anybody look at this and make sure that I will have a good hackintosh setup when I am done! Any advice would be good at this point. I should start the purchase process next week.


Thanks in advance.

Should be fine. It's the 216 core version which is a noticeable step up from the older version.



You're paying too much to get this memory. According to all the tests I've seen paying for really fast memory is a waste. Something in the $150 range should be just fine.

Ok should I got with the Core 216?

I can adjust the memory and get a combo deal from them if its not that important.

Thanks for your help with the build.

If you mean "go with" then yes. The 260 is a good card, especially the 216 core version of it.

So we're clear on this, "216 cores" means it has 216 processing units on the card. It has NOTHING to do with the card series # which is "260" (like 275,280,285,250,etc...).

Ok great thanks. I think I got most of it figured out at this point.

Does the brand matter on the cards or should any GTX260 core 216 work?