Newbie looking for hackintosh video better than mac PRO for less $$$

[inkobl]

Hello,

 

I'm a graphic designer I would like to develop myself around video as I come from graphic print.

 

I would like to build a computer able to manage FCP7, CS6, one or more color software like : Rain / Mistika / Resolve / Scratch lab / Color front / Smoke... Able to read video and very powerful for less than $1500. With a displayport able to put a 10 bit monitor like NEC PA241W-BK.

 

MoBo :

• Gigabyte - Z77X-UP5H -> 285€ with thunderbolt + TB FW800 29€ = 314€ (89€ more)

(or Gigabyte - Z77X-UD5H ->198€ without thunderbolt + FW800 card 27€ = 225€)

 

Processor:

• 3770 core i7 3,4Ghz 8Mo -> 267,99 € without overlock

(or 3770K core i7 3,5Ghz 8Mo -> 309€ 304 with overlock) (25€ more)

 

GFX:

• EVGA GTX660 268,71€

(or EVGA GTX670 433€ best but quite expensive (50€ more))

 

Power Supply :

• Seasonic - X-560W 130€

Antec TP 650W 120€

 

Various:

• SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA III -> 164€ idem cdiscount

• Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10 -> 95€

• Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 2To SATAIII 3,5" 7200RPM 64Mo -> 95€ 89,90€

• NZXT - Source 210 Elite - Boîtier PC - USB 3.0 - Noir -> 44€ (second hand)

 

Total: 1380,71€ TTC (1154,43€HTT)

 

Would it work almost like out of the box?

 

What are the options to make a bit of overclocking? What will be the benefit? Does I really need it? How much it will cost? Maybe I can try to let the door open for later, in this case maybe it's better buying a bigger power supply and a K processor?

 

Thanks for your comments, advises or whatever...

Bye

[PookyMacMan]

Honestly the main thing to look for when purchasing a new hack is graphics. It's a good thing you chose nVIDIA, ATi/AMD cards can be a pain. However...I'm personally not sure about the compatibility of the 6xx series. Since the new retina MBP has a GT 650M, there's a good chance it is supported, but I can't guarantee it and it will for sure support Mountain Lion only. To be safe I would personally get a 5xx series card.

 

Thunderbolt wouldn't be a large factor in my mind, as hackintoshes cannot use it yet. So, unless you will use it in Windows, don't bother.

 

The only CPU consideration is that you can only run Mountain Lion with Ivy Bridge. Not that big of a deal unless you don't like ML. Since it's Intel that makes things easy.

 

For the SSD, be sure to enable the TRIM hack after installing Mac OS.

 

I'm not sure about the FW400 card or USB3 card compatibility with Mac. You can look up those specific cards to see if others have used them in hacks or Macs previously. If you can't find info on it, usually FireWire doesn't have many compatibility issues so you could probably get that card, USB3 OTOH is quite specific, and I'm not sure if it's possible to get a non-explicitly Mac compatible USB3 card working. However, since the USB3 controller is onboard, there is a possibility that the hacked USB3 driver might work. You are aware that the FW card you linked in your post is FW400, right?

 

Basically here's a checklist for buying a new hack:

 

1. What CPU is it? Get Intel if you can; AMDs work but only through Snow Leopard, unless they're Bulldozer and then they can run Lion. Also, with AMD much patching is necessary, while most Intel CPUs work great out of the box. Even legacy Intel CPUs (pre-Core) require less effort then AMDs. When buying a CPU, know what architecture it is (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, etc.) so you know which Mac OS version you should or shouldn't install.

 

2. What GFX card is it? Get nVIDIA if possible. Almost all modern nVIDIA cards work practically out of the box (with the possible exception of the 6xx series), and yes this includes Go or M versions. Many ATi cards work great as well, but they usually require more effort, and many of not most of the Mobility Radeon cards have many problems. The only time I would get ATi would be if you must work with 3 or more displays, as nVIDIA cards currently can only drive 2 displays in OS X. If you don't need 3 or more displays, get nVIDIA.

 

3. What SATA/PATA controller is it? For new motherboards (and when working with SATA), any Intel controller (chipset) should work great right away. If you want an nVIDIA, ATi, VIA, or any of those other chipsets you will need to look up the Mac OS compatibility with that specific mobo/chipset/controller. This will also be necessary when working with PATA or older Intel SATA/PATA controllers (pre-ICH9).

 

4. Are the expansion cards I have or am getting Mac compatible? If the card explicitly says it will work with Mac OS, you can purchase it without delay. If not, either look up an explicitly compatible card (if purchasing) or look up the card and see if other users got it working on OS X (if using an existing card). If no info can be found, pop the card in and see what happens. USB2 cards tend to work OOB no matter what, and usually the same with FireWire (both 400 and 800). Networking cards can be iffy, you'd have to look up the network chip for compatibility. USB3 cards are somewhat tricky too, getting an explicitly compatible card is probably the safest bet. Sound cards, well, if they are an HDA audio card then usually they will at least work, albeit sometimes with limited compatibility. Creative cards (except for some later HDA-based models) many times can only use an old 32-bit driver.

 

There you have it.