Hi All,

Currently i own a Asus P5W DH Deluxe with a core2 processor on it and it works prefectly with OS-X. I am running several other operating systems in the background that i need for developing.

Now i am thinking on buying a system with 2 Xeon processors in it and my eye fell on a mainboard from Asus (DSBV-D) but actually any mainboard that supports dual Xeon Quad core processors is fine with me. Now the question is if Leopard will run with intel I5000 chipsets? I am open to any suggestion on which mainboard to buy that supports two Xeon Quad core processors.

Honestly, if you need Xeon based power, just buy a real Mac Pro for $2299(4 cores, 2600xt), because you'll only save a few hundred bucks at most by the time you select the mobo, processors, etc.

I do not wish to be rude or anything and I appreciate your advise. But if i wanted to buy a Mac Pro i wouldn't have post a question here. Reason why i want just plain hardware is that i wish to be compatible with all OS system and not limit myself to only Mac. If i deside to switch to Microsoft (God forbid) i would like it if i can install everything without to much hassle. Also reading the forums the general advise about dual Quad Core Xeon mainboards is to buy a Mac Pro but i was actually hoping that we could start a thread that discusses non Mac solutions that support Quad Core Xeon mainboards.

Limit yourself to only Mac? You know that Intel Macs can run Windows via Boot Camp, which lets you dual boot natively, right?

Yeah i know that i can just install Vista or XP on a Mac without having OS-X installed. And believe it or not i have have actually purchased Leopard for my current system just to support Mac but their hardware is just to expensive for me to purchase in comparison what i could buy with other hardware.

Bornsilly,

I get where your coming from. It used to be if you built your own machine you got more machine for $. The problem is OsX is monopolized. Isn't that the whole point of hackintosh, to break the monopoly and open up the world of building your own mac systems? I would love to see a thread on a dual xeon hackintosh. I know people on these forums have done it, but I haven't seen a good write up yet?

Daddy_Phats,

I agree with you and it is very unfortunate that on a forum that is all about getting OSX to work on a Intel there recommendations are buying a MAC rather then to share thoughts what is supported and what is not. Anyways, i hope that other people see it the same way and a threat about Xeon socket 771 mainboards will no be started and people with a setup like this will share there experience.

To be honest, by the time all is said and done, you will have hardly saved anything, if anything at all. The processors in the Mac Pro are over $700 each. Unless you plan on stepping down to something considerably slower, you will spend more than what a real Mac Pro costs to build a Hack.

None of the onboard features of the board you suggest will work. You will have to buy PCI and USB devices to replace everything, and you will still end up with a computer that is slower than the real thing and was only a few bucks less. I suppose you could build a Xeon machine for about 2K but why?

If you want Mac Pro power on a budget, your best bet is going to be a single LGA775 quad on a more compatible board.

GTR-33,

The quad 775's are not $700, is it because the dual boards require different chips? Why can't you do a dual q6600 system... or am i missing something about the processors in the mac pro, do they blow the q6600's out of the water?

It is really a shame that all what i am reading is a advise to buy a Mac while it has been mentioned plenty of times that this isnt something that some of us want to do so i really dont understand why people keep on posting messages on buying a Mac. This thread was meant for other people to share there experiences with OSX that actually have a Xeon mainbord. So i am asking all of the Mac salespeople not to post there Mac hardware advertisement and for people that have OSX working on a socket 771 to share there experiences and give a insight in their hardware.

Finally to answer why i don't want to buy a real Mac is partly because i find them overpriced but most of all. Mac's are made to run OSX and nothing else! There is no specific driver support from Mac that guarantees us that future Microsoft releases will be supported.

You can't do a dual Q6600 because they don't make dual socket LGA 775 boards.

Well, a 5000X chipset is a 5000X chipset, be it in a Mac or Dell system, or one you build yourself for that matter. Unless Apple take away your CSM, any OS that will run on current 'PC' hardware will run on a Mac. There's no way they can stop you downloading NVIDIA/ATI drivers, chipset drivers, etc from the manufacturer. You might have a few problems with drivers for custom Apple hardware like the IR sensor and built in iSights for future OSes, but then again, the Mac Pro doesn't have any custom hardware like that.

Seriously, I'd usually agree with you and say it's an interesting project, but I've tried to spec up dual quad Xeon systems, and since the current generation Mac Pros came out, there's no way to beat the price by more than a few dollars for own-build systems. Dell might do you something cheaper, they certainly used to... If you want to be trying to beat the price of a Mac Pro, spec-for-spec, you should wait a few months until prices fall on the hardware and Apple's machines look outdated before the next refresh.

I know it's annoying to be told something over and over, but that's the reality of it. You're welcome to dive into new territory, since all the Xeon builds I've seen round here have been using the previous FSB1333 parts and platform - you'll spend thousands on a system that might not work properly in OS X (though I don't see why any hardware that's in a real Mac Pro shouldn't work in other systems too) but don't expect anybody to follow you or already have tried it. It's simply not worth the risk for the little you'll save. Yes, Apple hardware is overpriced in general, because they don't update the specs frequently enough or drop the prices, or in the case of things like the MBA, they have a niece market, but with the Mac Pro just refreshed, you're unlikely to beat it. That kind of hawrdware can't be done 'on the cheap'.

Well i live in Europe, Holland for that matter. And if i would buy the latest Mac Pro (Standard) it would come around 2200 euro's. I am not saying i am going to build something similar as in the same specs since i do not exactly know what kind of Xeon processor Mac is using but a dual Quad Core system that i put together myself would come around 1500 euros. Which is a difference of 700 euros. Which to me is a lot of money. So we are not talking about a couple of bucks here


Right now for me it is not really important if it is going to work or not since i can always switch to Linux of Windows with that custom build system and create the setup i need in either one of those OS'es but since i am liking OSX that i have running currently it would be nice if the system i am planning on building is going to work with it as well and if there are already people that have experience with a Socket 771 and OSX 10.5 then i would be very interested to know what specs there computer have.

Untill then, i will post my findings once i have purchaced everything and tried it. Till then i am hoping to read about other people their experiences.

well 700 euros comes out to about $1000 us...


I would say a hackintosh is for you, because of the ridiculous taxes that are in the uk on hardware.

That board doesn't take LGA775 processors, it takes LGA771 Xeons only and the cheapest ones are around 250 each IIRC. There are no dual LGA775 chipsets on the market and there probably never will be. The processors in the Mac Pro have more in common with the Core 2 Quad Extreme than anything else. They have more cache than the Q6600 and a faster FSB. The current Harpertown chips that are in the Mac Pro are $750 for the 2.8GHz and $1000 for the 3.GHz each. You could get away with the slower E5405 2.0GHz Xeons as they are $250 but you will still have at least 1500 into this for something that significantly less grunt than the current Mac Pro. I suppose it can be done, I just don't see the point. The Xeon lineup IMO is too expensive and the boards too incompatible for what they cost. Now if we could get our hands on a real Logicboard from a Mac Pro I would be all about it.

I would like to build a dual 771 myself and I have given it a lot of thought, I just wish I could get my hands on the real board and not pay $1000 for it.

There is no reason it shouldn't actually work though, provided you get the necessary hardware to make it work. IE Video/LAN/Sound as none of the onboard stuff on the Asus board will work. The Mac Pro board is an Intel 5000X chipset, but it's custom made for Apple so the onboard sound etc are completely different than the average 5000X board.