11 replies to this topic

[Russ Good]

So this will be my first build and after getting my head around all the do's and don'ts, this is the system I intend to build so far!
However if I have gone horribly wrong somewhere or if anyone thinks this system will not run Mountain Lion I would really appreciate some direction and advice. Sincerely a newbie looking for help.

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad Core Processor 8MB L3 Cache 5GT/s Bus Speed

NVIDIA GeForce GT640 2GB Graphics Card

2x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 3.5" Hard Disk Drive
4 x Corsair CMV8GX3M2A1333C9 Desktop Memory 8.
Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H Motherboard GA-Z77-DS3H

CiT 1011 Midi Case 1011B

Thanks in advance!

[rockinron_1]

Looks good to me but without an SSD your wasting the potential of that system.

Edit: Unless you actually need 32GB of RAM you'd be better spending the money on better quality / lower latency RAM rather than just amount.
Also the processor is way better than the rest of the build, you haven't stated what the purpose of the system is but sticking a top level cpu with the rest mid-level isn't a great idea. IMHO its better to have a balanced system...

[Russ Good]

Apologies, i'm only having 16 gb of RAM not 32, the purpose of it is to run Logic and Pro-tools for music editing , so in terms of graphics high spec is not essential. I'll just need to run lots of "applications" ( music software plugins, vst's, au units and plug ins etc) and audio at the same time.

I appreciate the feedback and your faith that the system will work. In your experience would a smaller ssd be better suited for running my system and then having a larger one to store samples and data on as apposed to two larger ones.

thanks

[rockinron_1]

Ah, as a music production system your hardware makes far more sense.

How I set up my SSD/HDD combo: Install OS X to the SSD, straight after install open system settings, go on users, unlock it, right click your user account, advanced -> change location of your home directory to your HDD.
This way all apps & important stuff are on the SSD and general files / user stuff  (things that take up space) are on the HDD.
My 128GB SSD is more than enough for a full OS X system + logic (samples can be moved off the SSD if you run short on space) so don't worry if you can't stretch to a 256gb.
Also don't buy cheapo SSD's, there not worth it.

Desktop1 in my sig is used for ableton / logic / traktor / serato (+others) all run at lowest latency settings (with large projects for the DAWs) and never miss a beat and the system never struggles; yours will be an awesome machine.

Also if you haven't hackintoshed before I strongly suggest you do a vanilla install; there's plenty of guides out there for it, mine is in my sig

[Rampage Dev]

Buy the Samsung 830 SSD. Solid SSD and works with no issues on SAS controlers (always look forward to what you may use it for).

Also that motherboard uses VIA audio which the patched AppleHDA for it is curently causing poping. I would buy the UD5 model or the UD4 with Realtec Audio which is much more stable.

[Russ Good]

Thanks Dev, would having an external sound card and not using the built in audio prevent or circumnavigate the popping problem ?

[rockinron_1]

USB soundcard would solve your problem provided you didn't want on board audio at all

[Rampage Dev]

rockinron_1, on 15 November 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

USB soundcard would solve your problem provided you didn't want on board audio at all

Bad idea. Low quality. Onboard is not bad at all just some users have reported poping with the early driver.

Russ Good, on 15 November 2012 - 09:03 AM, said:

Thanks Dev, would having an external sound card and not using the built in audio prevent or circumnavigate the popping problem ?

I would just spend a little more money and get the UD5 which has thunderbolt as well.

[rockinron_1]

Rampage Dev, on 16 November 2012 - 12:37 AM, said:

Bad idea. Low quality. Onboard is not bad at all just some users have reported poping with the early driver.

Please tell me your joking? Onboard is noisy and awful, half the quality soundcards out theres are USB thesedays. For someone involved in audio on-board is the worst possible way to go....

[Rampage Dev]

rockinron_1, on 16 November 2012 - 12:42 AM, said:

Please tell me your joking? Onboard is noisy and awful, half the quality soundcards out theres are USB thesedays. For someone involved in audio on-board is the worst possible way to go....

That was not to what I was refering to. I was thinking you were taking about the $5 USB audio cards.

[rockinron_1]

$5 audio cards may well be a piece of crap but since OP is talking about running Logic & Pro Tools I would hope he's spent a little more on one...

[Russ Good]

Yea ill be spending a few hundred on sound cards eventually so quality shouldn't be an issue. Is the popping on the onboard stuff that bad and definitive or is there a solution for it ? tried scouring the forums for people talking about the problem or ways around it but could find anything.