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best osx86/gaming rig for under $1000


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please share some ideas and or advice for the best gaming/hackintosh for under $1000

this is where I am at so far...

Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price Update GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail

Model #: GA-EP35-DS3P

Item #: N82E16813128083

Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock $149.99 $149.99 Update MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Model #: NX8800GTS 512M OC

Item #: N82E16814127325

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

In Stock

Mail-in Rebate $224.99 $224.99 Update hec Zephyr750 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail

Model #: Zephyr750

Item #: N82E16817339002

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

In Stock $129.99 -$35.00 Instant $94.99 Update Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

Model #: BX80570E8400

Item #: N82E16819115037

Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

In Stock $199.99 $199.99 Update G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

Model #: F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ

Item #: N82E16820231145

Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy

In Stock $129.99 -$40.00 Instant $89.99 Update Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Model #: WD3200AAKS

Item #: N82E16822136074

Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock $74.99 -$5.00 Instant $69.99 Update MASSCOOL 8WA741 92mm Ball CPU Cooler - Retail

Model #: 8WA741

Item #: N82E16835150082

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

In Stock $20.99 $20.99 Subtotal: $850.93

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That power supply is a ripoff. Get a Sparkle Power 700w ESP12v. Costs a little more but you get easily double the quality. Of course it's not lime green and lacks spinning lights.

 

You can find a 500 gig WD or Seagate for that price (or lower) if you shop around. I got a 500 Seagate sata2 for $65 after rebates from frys a while back.

 

That Masscool sink is garbage. If you're gonna get a big tower cooler get an AC7 and modify it with a backplate mount.

 

Everything else looks good. :D

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The 300 isn't bad for the money. I like the P180 myself. Dollar for dollar one of the finest and quietest cases on the market. Fry's had 'em on sale last week for $84.99, but they usually run $120-$130.

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That p35 mobo particularly good ?

 

Or is it that all p35 mobo, abit for example, are good for osx86 ?

 

(by good I mean all onboard functionality)

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I use the Antec Sonata III case, it runs somewhere around $100, it looks nice (full black), most of the case is solid metal, its sufficiently spacious, and it includes a pretty good quality 500 watt power supply. A great package, 0 problems with it so far.

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Those boards are quite compatible. Quiet a few threads here on those GA-xP35-DS3/4x boards (replace x with various letters).

Reason I ask is that I have 3 pcs working at home (with 1 put aside for trying out osx86 stuff) - thing being when Abit decide to release the 45/48 mobos, as the pcs rotate mobos I`ll have an Abit IP35 Pro spitting out the other end and if it`s likely to be just-as good as the GA variant, I`ll have no need to spend unecessary cash.

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Yes, I would say so. The graphics card does not draw 250W, it's 150W at the most. The whole computer will probably draw about 300W at most, meaning there is plenty of room to overclock with. Just read the review on newegg, most people are very happy with that antec setup.

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Ventilation is absolutely excellent, even if it doesn't look like it. There is a hidden air filter in the front, so air can get through, but no dust :) And the big 120mm fan at the back keeps things cool in Low mode. If you switched the fan to Medium or High you would have excellent cooling. I have a 2.4GHz Q6600 in that case with no water cooling/no custom heat sink (I'm just using the plain jane Intel stock cooler) and I have nice temps (around 40C total, about 25C per core) with next to zero noise.

 

Excellent choice, and if the PSU isn't enough for you, you can always swap in a more powerful one, but the 500W stock PSU will do nicely with your current config :thumbsdown_anim:

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Thanks for all your help

This will be my exact set up except I am planning on getting a PNY 8800GTS 512(it will overclock higher according to reviews) and I'll get a diffrent heat sink probably an arctic cooler pro 7(I think thats what its called)

 

last but not least a friend of mine was wondering if there are any good SLI boards that are very compatible, we all know you cant use SLI in osx but he wants to work in OSX and game in XP/Vista

 

Thanks so much

Alec

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No, there aren't any SLI compatible boards because they all use nvidia chipsets which are really hard to get working on OS X. If you want great gaming power and OS X compatibility all I can recommend the 9800GTX single cards, or 3870X2 crossfire.

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