Ok, so I want to buy a new pc, and be able to run osx86 on it for most things:

Dual boot:
Windows xp or Vista, not sure yet
And osx86

Now preferably I want to run everything through paralells if that is possible. But otherwise I don't mind running things in Xp.

What do I want to use this pc for?
- Primarily to play poker, it's attached to a 23" apple cinema display 1900*1200, so it needs to run that resolution smoothly, and I will need to be able to run 6 tables at once, and some memory have database programs in the back.
- Photoshop/internet, and maybe some supreme commander

What parts did I pick?:

- An asus T3 barebone (socket 775)
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=1&...amp;modelmenu=1

Simply because it looks amazing (more white metal irl)
- One of the C2D processors, not sure which one yet, kind of depends on how much I want to spend. But more importantly are they all compatible with osx86?
- 2gig of kingston valueram ddr2 800 (will probably make that 4gig later on)
- An asus 8600gt Silent edition
- A Western digital sata 2 500gb (from my old pc)
- A nec 3510 dvd writer (old pc)
-onboard sound and network card

Another option would be too keep everything in my old pc, and only change the mb/cpu/ram:
- so a new motherboard (one that is fully compatible with osx86, I've read about the bad axe 2 boards but they are easily twice as expensive as other boards on the market here, so I prefer a cheaper option)
- one of the C2D
- 2gig of compatible ddr2 800 ram
- my old asus 7600gt
- WD sata2 500gig
- Nec 3510 dvd writer

The first option is obviously more expensive, but I definately like the look of the case . But will it work with osx86, cause I wouldn't really mind upgrading my old pc either, cause that would save me a lot of money, and since my case is tucked away I don't really care that much either.

It might work and looks like a nice board. For garunteed compatibility, go for a 915, 945 or 975 based intel chipset motherboard.

They're all compatible.

Compatible
This is not fully compatible. The ati X1xxx series works, as well as nVidia 6- and 7- series model cards.
- A Western digital sata 2 500gb (from my old pc)
- A nec 3510 dvd writer (old pc)
-onboard sound and network card



This will work better. The 8600 is hardly any better than the 7600GT. Why not try the gigabyte 965p-s3?

Thanks for the reply, yeah I will just keep the 7600gt, get one of those gigabyte mb's and I should be set right?

One more thing, I found this cheap asrock board (€80): will it work?
ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI, it also has a 945g motherboard.

And the memory, I'm new to the core2duo's but they all seem to sport a 1066fsb, yet all these boards only support memory up to 800, what's up with that?

At stock speed, 1066mhz conroes run DDR-II at 533mhz. DDR = Double data rate.

DDR-800 is just rated to run even faster!

I think that asrock conroe works!

Ah so my best bet is still 800ddr memory.

Ok this is what I want to order, I've chosen the ' cheapest' route:

Geheugen DDR2-800 - 2 GB DDR2-800 Kit (2048 MB)€ 79,-
memory, well they don't have kingston/GEIL in stock, so I guess DMT will suffice.

Moederborden Socket 775 - 965P-DS3 (Intel® P965)€ 99,-According to the wiki it's fully compatible, and supports up too 8gig of ram, and it's the newer 965 chipset

CPUs Socket 775 - Core™ 2 Duo E4300 (1800 MHz)
€ 119,-
From what I heard this cheap fella overclocks quite easily too a full grown e6600, the other option (at 190 euro's) would be a e6620, but if this cpu is so easy to overclock, then why bother right?


One more thing I was wondering though; a Sata drive, I only have a sata harddisk the wiki said it was no problem with this motherboard. And if I make a new partition for osx, can I still acces the windows partitions from osx (got a 100gig music database I would like to be able to acces from osx86 as well as win xp)

On the cross access with OS X and Windows, you need the data to be on either:

• FAT32: For a universal storage, but limited to 4 gig files.
• HFS(Mac format) and use Macdrive in Windows to access it.
• Use NTFS and Macfuse in OS X.

I would do the FAT32 or Macdrive. Macdrive is proven to work and Macfuse isn't. I mean many use Macfuse, but reading and writing NTFS in Linux or Mac is so so. Just my two cents. heh

Hmmm well the problem is that most hdtv movies are up too 8gigs. Is it even possible to play movies on my tv (second dvi port on my videocard) with osx86, or is there no dual monitor support?

I will probably make it like this then:

mac
40gig HFS for osx+apps
300gig HFS for movies (if dual monitor setup is possible with osx, otherwise I will make it a ntfs and watch my movies in windows)

windows
30gig ntfs for windows vista or xp
30gig ntfs for games

Shared
100gig fat for music (accesible in xp and osx)

I just ordered all my components btw, will give you guys a report next week if things are working or not .

Which graphics card did you get? A buddy of mine has a 7600GT and it's pretty damn good. You shouldn't have any problems with SupCom with that card and proc. I know you already ordered, but a couple things on the RAM- First, you'll see little if any performance increase from 533 to 800mhz memory. Latency (timings) are more important, and I've heard that Intel procs are better off with memory that's a multiple of the FSB (ie, 533 or 1066mhz DDR2 would be best for a 1066mhz FSB proc)

I will be using my old graphics card (that's a 7600gt), mainly because I won't be playing a lot of games (got my xbox 360 for that), and the new model 8600gt isn't compatible with osx86 (from what I heard). And I needed the faster ram, because I want to overclock my e4300 from 1.8 to at least 2.8.

Thanks for the advice though!

Storing 8 gig stuff, I would make the second storage HFS and then use Macdrive in Windows. Problem solved.

That board works perfectly. I have it running a Core2Duo 6400ES (basically a 6420) overclocked to 2.85ghz and it rocks. You just need to install Neo's ethernet driver and edit the sound kext and you are done. Both of those take a grand total of about 15 seconds if you know what you are doing. Here is the page that tells you what to do: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/ConRoe945G-DVi

Good luck!