mifki Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Im still keeping my X1600XT maybe getting two of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 Im still keeping my X1600XT maybe getting two of them That brings up interesting question, Kiko. Has anybody every tried that before with OSx86? Will using two ATI x1600 cards work to drive dual displays in extended desktop mode? That would solve my major objection here and also rule out the DS3 because it has only one PCIe x16 slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conroe Mac Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 New Core 2 Duo Imacs are out. Perhaps they use 965? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 New Core 2 Duo Imacs are out. Perhaps they use 965? If they do, we may have support earlier than leopard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainman01 Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 New Core 2 Duo Imacs are out. Perhaps they use 965? They are merom based...can 965 support merom? I thought the merom uses a different socket completely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedguy Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Wait, so you are saying an IDE to SATA isn't going to work? Some people have said it has... Also, on your overclock, what CPU is it? An Allendale/Conroe? I have an E6300 in there up to 3.4 Ghz - stable. What are your settings? Have you updated the BIOS to F4? It is my RAM which is preventing my from going higher than 3.6 Ghz - what RAM do you have? There has only been one person on here to use IDE to SATA, and he had no luck using a Gigabyte DQ4. I was not that person so take it as a grain of salt. My cpu is the Allendale e6300. I've tried F4 and F5e bios with no luck, messed around like crazy with voltages. I've tried pulling all USB devices, running a PCI (non-e) card, and I put a 120mm fan at 12v on the northbridge (it was running cool to the touch) and it refused to go up at all. I even tried jumping way up to see if it was one of those wierd walls. The only thing I can figure is my chip or boards FSB just can't take it, or my PSU just can't move the power. But this PSU was on sheepdogs 805 running at 3.7ghz, which needs way more current than my chip. Hopefully I'll get the chance to fire the board up with the 700w quad rail 12v (18amp each!!!) PSU, and find out for sure if I'm having power trouble. When I can get time, I'm gonna make a formal post on Xtreme systems. In other news, the DS3 does work with 10.4.6 with 10.4.7 (jas 10.4.7 dvd has issue's with the networking, internet works fine, but network browsing doesn't), doesn't seem to matter if I use the SSE2 patch or run SSE3. USB dvd rom to install to SATA seagate drive, running with "Sata native mode" disabled in bios, but the drives are slower than a turtle (write score was a 5 on xbench), OSX won't see them with native mode turned on. The ALC883 Realtek HD Audioo doesn't seem to work. LAN works in the JAS 10.4.6+versions, even in the installer. Not sure if it's an issue with all USB-DVDrom setups, but this board will not recognize a USB-dvd unless its on cable select, and pluged in after the system has turned on (unless system was shutdown with the drive properly functioning). edit: just noticed thread in hardware section, when time allows we'll see if audio will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 My cpu is the Allendale e6300. I've tried F4 and F5e bios with no luck, messed around like crazy with voltages. I've tried pulling all USB devices, running a PCI (non-e) card, and I put a 120mm fan at 12v on the northbridge (it was running cool to the touch) and it refused to go up at all. I even tried jumping way up to see if it was one of those wierd walls. The only thing I can figure is my chip or boards FSB just can't take it, or my PSU just can't move the power. But this PSU was on sheepdogs 805 running at 3.7ghz, which needs way more current than my chip. Hopefully I'll get the chance to fire the board up with the 700w quad rail 12v (18amp each!!!) PSU, and find out for sure if I'm having power trouble. What RAM do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Bofors, i dont know, im not going to buy a new card yet as im not going conroe, its just not a viable sloution, by the end of the year Intel will have relaesd Clovertown, and thats what i will spend my money on, a Quad Core CPU, Sure its only 2 conroes stuck together, but i still much rather get that that one Conroe, i recommend you wait too. Also, i am not sure Crossfire works on OS X. IT might, i say someone should give it a go Bofors, i dont know, im not going to buy a new card yet as im not going conroe, its just not a viable sloution, by the end of the year Intel will have relaesd Clovertown, and thats what i will spend my money on, a Quad Core CPU, Sure its only 2 conroes stuck together, but i still much rather get that that one Conroe, i recommend you wait too. Also, i am not sure Crossfire works on OS X. IT might, i say someone should give it a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 Kiko, you mean Kentsfield, Clovertown is the Xeon variant. I read that is going to be very expensive, like $1k. My cpu is the Allendale e6300. I've tried F4 and F5e bios with no luck, messed around like crazy with voltages. I've tried pulling all USB devices, running a PCI (non-e) card, and I put a 120mm fan at 12v on the northbridge (it was running cool to the touch) and it refused to go up at all. I even tried jumping way up to see if it was one of those wierd walls. I think you should also try to isolate the RAM as a potentially limiting variable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 The graphics card I want is the XFX Geforce 7300GT. It is cheap, has dual DVI out and with the apparent exceptions of S-Video output and a smaller, 64KB, EPROM, it looks like the same card Apple is using in the Mac Pro: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...nplm=MA567Z%2FA The only problem is that it doesn't work in Hackintoshes yet. EDIT: Thanks to Omni's Titan kext and the derivative Natit project, the graphics card situation is now completely changed: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showforum=129 Now there are many Nvidia cards that are with practically full support including the 7300GT. I ultimately choose the XFX 7600GS because it has been on sale for little for more 7300GT (or even less after rebate) and unlike the 7300, it does not share system memory (a feature I do not need or want for performance) Furthermore, the 7600 appears to be significantly faster than the 7300. $82.50 XFX PVT73EUDJ3 Geforce 7300GT 256MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814150162 The cheapest that is suppost to work is the GigaByte x1600 Pro, but it is one ugly card that takes up two slots so I think I will pass: $94.99 GIGABYTE GV-RX16P256DE-RH Radeon X1600PRO 256MB Silent Pipe II: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814125021 That leaves the Asus EAX x1600XT Silent which is well known to work with with OSx86: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=23809 $148.99 ASUS EAX1600XT SILENT/TVD/256M Radeon X1600XT 256MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814121548 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 Here is my working shoping list, this prices do not explictly include shipping costs. Intel D975XBX :: Mwave :: $247.86 Zalman ZM-NBF47 :: ZipZoomFly :: $14.95 Conroe E6600 Retail Box :: PageComputers :: $329.50 Scythe SCINF1000 :: Directron :: $58.35 Asus EAX x1600XT :: NewEgg :: $148.99 Lian-Li PC-V1000B Plus II :: CoolerGuys :: $179.95 Enhance ENP-5150 500W :: Ewiz :: $67.00 Pioneer DVR-111D :: NewEgg :: $31.99 WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS OEM ::NewEgg :: $67.99 ORION Pro SATA Cable, 90 deg. ::NewEgg :: $3.49 Vantec IceBerq DDR-A1C :: CoolerGuys :: (4) $18.00 ThermalTake A2029 :: OverCool :: (2) $27.90 Total :: $1,195.97 plus shipping I am going to hold off on RAM for the moment and plan to just use 2GB of the Cosair Value RAM I already have to start with and instead just buy some copper heat speaders for it. This is because I really want to see want to see if this "discount" DDR2-667 CAS 4 RAM works for my goal and also because RAM prices seem a little at the moment. Likewise, I am not going to buy anything else I really do not need yet. This means only one harddrive where I will ultimately being running at least one RAID 0 pair. I also am deferring the purchase of any displays until the issue of dual support in extended desktop mode is settled. Finally, I already have enough keyboards, mice and speaker sets. Basically, I am going "retire" my G4 cube to server status, use its CRT on this new box and move my PowerMac G5 into its place with its keyboard, mouse and speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Yes the EAX is a good card, Pioneer DVD burnere, i have that it works fine, WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS OEM i have that as well, good disk. Hehehehe, i was considering not getting water cooling but saving up some more and getting a Vapochill cooler (http://atomicmpc.com/article.asp?SCID=16&CIID=36965), i am seriously considering it, oh yeah i di mean kentsfiled, woops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bofors Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 In short, this means that if FB-DIMMs were not twice as expensive as regular DDR2, that the Mac Pro would be stiff competition to a Conroe hackintosh and is what I will ultimately be comparing to: $2499 Mac Pro 2.6GHz: $1512 FB-DIMM 667, 8 X 1GB: http://dealnews.com/memory/prices/systems/...4047/1GBx8.html _____ $4000 Approximate total with tax. Now that I know what I want and have put a price on it, about $1300 with shipping but not RAM, it is time to get back to the comparison with Mac Pro. Does it make more sense to just get a Mac Pro? In short, it might. In January when I built my first Hackintosh, there was no contest from Apple. The Mac Pro was not availible and I was able to build a machine that was at least as powerful as what Apple offered (PowerMac Dual G5 2.3) for literally half the price: Now, for an even more fair price comparison my system with stock Dual 2.3GHz PowerMac G5 at the actual discounted price I could buy it for of about $2332 (a little more than 10% off retail price plus the State sales tax that Apple charges me), let's go ahead and add in about $170 for nice Lian-Li or SilverStone aluminum case: Dual Hackintosh Pro: ~$1150 Dual PowerMac G5: ~$2300 The situation now is hardly the same, I am looking at spending $1300 for machine that as far as performance is concerned is about half that of the Mac Pro. But let's try to be a little more percise, while recognizing that this is a gross oversimplification of real performance complexity, and that there are major pros and cons (with both the Mac Pro and Hackintosh) not being considered here. I hope to clock at 3.6GHz, so let's give my proposed dual core box a score of 7.2. The 2.6GHz Mac Pro's four cores would then have a score of 10.4. Now let's score the cost of CPU GHz, my box would cost about $180 per GHz, while the Mac Pro costs about $240 per Ghz. That's not bad, a savings of 25% but certainly far from being the half off deal we had six months ago. Now let's factor in the cost of RAM with 2GB per core. So, my proposed box will take 4GB at about $400. That translates to $236 per GHz, while the Mac Pro comes in at $385. Now we are talking about a savings of 37%, that might be worth the hassle. Finally, let's consider the high performance end, because that is what I am really interested in. This means computing with a Mac Pro 3GHz at $3300 instead. With RAM, the Mac Pro comes in at $400 per GHz, which correlates to a Hackintosh savings of 41%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedguy Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 What RAM do you have? Patrio 667 2x1gb. I bought this ram specifically because it's known to overclock quite well. Atleast with the ES (non production) chips. Several site reviews and private users have hit 450mhz FSB, I've seen a couple of 500mhz. I may dig up a spare ram stick and see what happens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Patrio 667 2x1gb. I bought this ram specifically because it's known to overclock quite well. Atleast with the ES (non production) chips. Several site reviews and private users have hit 450mhz FSB, I've seen a couple of 500mhz. I may dig up a spare ram stick and see what happens... Hmmm... Well, it certainly is strange that you can't overclock it very well. What motherboard revision do you have? I think it is the C2's which don't OC very well. I have C1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedguy Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 C1 as well... I may RMA the board and hope for a better one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 C1 as well... I may RMA the board and hope for a better one. I have doubts as to whether it is the board. There are so many factors involved, you can't pin it down that simply. Besides, what are you going to say - "I'm RMA'ing the board because it won't overclock my CPU very well?"... :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedguy Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 no now because it's having other troubles with it. I've never liked Gigabyte boards, but I may give them a chance with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 no now because it's having other troubles with it. I've never liked Gigabyte boards, but I may give them a chance with this one. What PSU do you have? That can be one of the deciding factors of overclocking if its voltages aren't stable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stainboy Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 bofors, about the mem. i'm running mine @ 800 4-4-4-12 perfectly stable and it comes 667 stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 bofors, about the mem. i'm running mine @ 800 4-4-4-12 perfectly stable and it comes 667 stock. Yup. I have the 5400c4 model, and they're running at 936 Mhz 5 5 5 14. Quick question, is 936 Mhz @ 5 5 5 14 better or worse than 800 Mhz @ 4 4 4 12? Also, what voltage is yours set to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedguy Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 MY PSU is an antec Truepower 2.0 430w. Or something similar. Sheepdog has used it to overclock is 805 to 3.7 with it, that thing requires boat loads more power and had more hooked up to it. This is all why I though I had to have gotten on of the few dud boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conroe Mac Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 People have been having a lot of trouble with EAX1600 Silent depending on what version it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stainboy Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Hmmm well, to be sure we'd have to test them at both 936 and 800 with both timings but my guess is that they both perform nice i have mine at 2v. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conroe Mac Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Wouldn't it be nice if hardware problems weren't complicated by the fact that the bits that make up hardware are constantly changing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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