Hey guys,

(I would have posted these questions as a response to an existing thread, but the ones I've seen haven't been answered as definitively as I'd need them to be to invest in the system I'd like to build.)

Ahem, so, I'm thinking of putting together an Athlon-powered system to run OS X 10.4.8 and eventually Leopard (in a dual boot with Windows XP).

Here, more specifically, are the components I'd like to use:

Motherboard: ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz (Socket AM2)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon X1900GT (PCI-E)
RAM: Kingston "HyperX", 2 x 1GB 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ES (320 GB)
(and an optical drive and such to be determined)

I suppose what I'm wondering most (and what's been the primary impetus for this thread) was how well (and easily) the above hardware would get along with the software I plan on using.

The software:

-Final Cut Pro 5 (and above)
-Compressor
-Adobe CS2 and CS3 suites
-Blender 3D
-Adobe After Effects (eventually)
-Shake (eventually)
-Motion

(-iTunes
-Safari)

And by "getting along" I mean not having to edit some text file or install a patch to acknowledge every piece of software I'd like to use. Is this too optimistic an aspiration?

Thanks in advance.

just visit http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page it will have all your answers, also, id recomend you go with INTEL rather than amd. the intel core 2 duos work fantastically with osx, i havent been able to slow mine (specs below) down no matter what i run.. its fast, and increadibly good value if you buy em from the net. the 2gb memory is a good start.

and yes those programs will work if all supported by mac and your computer graphics is running, which wikipedia will tell u about if your card is compatible. (search video card in the 10.4.8 or any earlier installation guide on the wikipedia to find out its compatibility.

my advice: build of the wikipedia sight with YES YES YES YES YES to fully compatible hardware if your lazy and dont want to change a few .kexts around etc to make things work

and go with core 2 duo.

I've spent quite a bit a time there already, and though it's useful as far as general operating system compatibility goes, it doesn't say anything about software. I don't want to sound as if I don't appreciate the suggestion; I do. But from my limited exposure to x86 as related to Final Cut Pro (in this thread, to be precise), it seems there are more considerations than I had initially thought. Getting the operating system up and running well is fine, but I'm worried about having to always be making little file changes and other tinkerings to simply be able to install a program I'd like to use.

the software will run if the hardware is runnning properly. thats all there is to it

if you want to take the software compatibility for completely granted, buy a real mac..