Newbie who wants in...

[bozman]

Hi all.... Been lurking for a while and finally just registered.

 

I have been following Knewsom's thread about his new Final Cut Pro build and it got me salivating (congrats BTW Knewsom, sounds like a winner).

 

I have about $2,000 burning a hole in my pocket (could go as high as $2,500 easily, so money is not really a factor for this build) and would like to build a high-end hackintosh / Windows XP machine (dual boot, not vitalization).

 

-Windows XP for work & gaming (stuck with XP for proprietary software and I still like the OS)

-OSX for my ever increasing photography hobby

 

I would like to purchase:

 

-Motherboard (the more bells & whistles the better, such as on-board firewire, LAN, sound, SATA, maybe RAID controller, enhanced bios functions & auto overclock)

-Intel quad-core processor

-Nvidia graphics (already have a 8800 GTS that I can use, but will probably get a new card when Nvidia releases them in the next few months)

-4 gig of ram

-TV Tuner (if it turns out that this will not be supported by OSX, then it will be a "Windows Only" device)

-SATA hard drives & optical drives (have 2 WD Raptors I can use)

-Dedicated sound if able, but will use integrated if it is a more compatible option

 

-Case and power supply I have already picked-out (PC Power & Cooling PSU & Cooler Master case).

 

Also, overclocking is not a priority, but would be nice if I can get a little bit of "free" performance from it.

 

Anybody beside Knewsom built a rig like this lately that can confirm that everything is running on the OSX side?

 

For your help, I promise to post my hardware purchased, build photos and benchmarks/install results.

 

Thanks in advance...

 

The "Boz"

[flamesrock]

If money isn't an issue, why not just buy a mac pro? I doubt you'd regret it.

[Synaesthesia]

Well you can get a Mac Pro, single Quad Core Xeon (Penryn) 2.8ghz, 8800GT, 500 gig HDD for $2500. Then just throw in your 2x74Gb Raptors. Perfect.

 

Or you can build your own Quad-Core powered Hackintosh, for which there are a zillion guides on this forum, seriously.

[bozman]

Thanks all.... As for purchasing a "real" Mac, I want to limit the amount I give to Apple to just purchasing a legal copy of the OS. I would also like to upgrade the components that I can as time progresses. From my understanding, outside of memory and the OS, that is not as easily done with "real" Macs.

 

I have the skills and enjoy building PC's. I also enjoy troubleshooting issues, however, I do not want to set myself up for defeat.

 

Let's change my question around a bit and limit it to 1 item.

 

What is the most compatible, most widely used Nvidia chip set based Intel core2duo motherboard that has a very good to excellent track record with respect to Hackintosh builds?

 

I do appreciate all comments.

 

I will continue to look at the guides and doing my research.

 

Thanks again,

 

The "Boz"

[nocluejimbo]

On a Mac Pro, you can upgrade the graphics card, install up to four hard drives, install your own RAM, install your choice of two optical drives, and istall just about anything else on the three remaining PCI Express sockets. If you have the money for a Mac Pro, there is absolutely no reason not to. It is as or more expandable than most Hack Pros out there, and of course with the reliabilty of a Mac and the option to download the official software updates that OSX owners are entitled to.

[Purple Puppy]

Thanks all.... As for purchasing a "real" Mac, I want to limit the amount I give to Apple to just purchasing a legal copy of the OS. I would also like to upgrade the components that I can as time progresses. From my understanding, outside of memory and the OS, that is not as easily done with "real" Macs.

 

I have the skills and enjoy building PC's. I also enjoy troubleshooting issues, however, I do not want to set myself up for defeat.

 

Let's change my question around a bit and limit it to 1 item.

 

What is the most compatible, most widely used Nvidia chip set based Intel core2duo motherboard that has a very good to excellent track record with respect to Hackintosh builds?

 

I do appreciate all comments.

 

I will continue to look at the guides and doing my research.

 

Thanks again,

 

The "Boz"

 

Although as the others have said, a Mac Pro would be perfect, I understand that you would like to build your own system and thus I will give what advice I can.

 

First of all, NVidia chipset-based motherboards all are reputedly very incompatible with Hackintosh.

 

Second of all, if you don't need SLI or any of those fancy Nvidia things, you can go for a motherboard with an Intel chipset. I am sure that on the OSx86 Wiki there is a list of motherboards that are compatible with modified versions of Mac OS X.

 

Third of all, if you have $2000, a Geforce 8800GTS (which is already one of the best performing video cards), and two WD Raptors, then $2000 can get you a heck of a way further than what you think. Firstly, 8 GB of DDR2 800Mhz RAM only cost $200 or less. Secondly, the 45 nm Quad Core Intel CPU that I recommend, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 aka Intel Xeon X3350, which runs stock at 2.66GHz but can be overclocked to 3.6 GHz on air, retails at no more than $350. Ordinary motherboards have most (if not all) the "bells and whistles" that you ask for, but if you want to get a high-end one for more room for upgrading, you can get a good one for not more than $200. I would personally opt for the cheaper $125 Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R, but of course there are so many other options. Again, check the hardware compatibility list on the wiki.

With $2000 to spend, you can also invest in a large 30" monitor, which I'm sure your Geforce 8800 GTS and the upcoming NVidia cards that you are planning to buy would run very smoothly. As for optical drives, the generic DVD burner would do.

 

Hope that helps.

[bozman]

Purple Puppy... Thanks.

 

To everyone else who has responded, thanks as well.

 

I understand that I could walk into a Apple store and walk out with a shiny aluminum or bright white Mac and fit it with all the other hipsters out there. But I am a practical man who has several other hobbies which I would love to continue... and all cost a {censored}-load of money. Although I have some smack to throw down on this build, I premised all of my questions so that I would not get the typical "this is a Mac clone that only cost $800", but the poster goes on to tell you that they had to swap components 5 times, make multiple trips to the local mega-store and spent 3 weeks getting the OS installed all so he can say he/she has a cheaper, but as capable system as someone else.

 

My other hobbies, in case anyone was wondering, are photography and flying (currently pursuing my IFR rating). I find the 2 go together nicely and I have been able to sell some aerial shots to private and corporate types.

 

Purple Puppy, the only reason I was pushing the Nvidia chip set was because I would like to run SLI, but I have noticed that in all my years with Nvidia based boards, I have never once run SLI. By the time I would get to purchasing the second card, a newer, more capable card had been released with the processing power in a single card to skunk the previous iteration in SLI. Like I said, I am also a gamer that is heavy into flight simulators for both fun and practice (shooting ILS approaches in Flight Simulator X is very good procedural practice at a fraction of the price of real flight time).

 

I will fore-go the Nvidia motherboard and stick with an Intel chipset... Thanks.

 

Now I am off to NewEgg to put together a wish list and will report back when complete.

 

Regards,

 

The "Boz"

[Spol]

Mac Pro quad is a bad idea, why pay $800 for a dual processor motherboard when you are not gonna use it? However, the 8-core version is a different story. If you wanna build a hack pro, for about $1300 you can get a similar setup like in my sig. I use my machine as a very serious workstation with lots and lots of power and bandwidth hungry devices connected to it at all times, and so far it's been a wonderful and solid experience.

[bozman]

Okay... So here it is. I posted this in another forum that tends to attract hard-core gaming & overclocking types for their input as well, so the following is a cut and paste job from that posting.

I would like some constructive criticism on my new build. This will be a triple-boot system that will include:

 

- Windows XP (for gaming and proprietary business apps),

 

- Linux (to learn the OS and wean myself off of Windows at some time in the distant future), &

 

- Mac OSX (for my growing obsession with photography)

 

(1) COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case (Model #: RC-1000-KSN1-GP) = $199.99

 

(1) GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS4 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard (Model #: GA-EP35-DS4) = $174.99

 

(1) PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (Model #: S75QB) = $149.99

 

(1) Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor (Model #: BX80569Q9450) = $359.99

 

(2) A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (Model #: ADQVE1B16K) = $163.98

 

(2) Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (Model #: WD6400AAKS) = $199.98

 

(1) ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA (Model #: DRW-2014L1T) = $35.99

 

(1) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 SB1090 5.1 Channels USB Interface Sound Card (Model #: 70SB109000000) = $59.99

 

(1) ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink (Model #: CNPS9500 AT) = $49.99

 

Total = $1,419.23 (without tax and shipping)

 

Included in the total is some Arctic Silver, cables and other little items.

 

Overclocking is not a priority, but I will probably do a little on air only (I would rather not compromise stability or over complicate this build for now).

 

What do you think? All comments are appreciated....

 

The "Boz"

[Synaesthesia]

Looks like a great setup.

[Spol]

Looks good, My advice is to get a thermalright Ultra-120 over zalman, and maybe a seasonic power supply. And how about the GPU?

[Purple Puppy]

Looks good, My advice is to get a thermalright Ultra-120 over zalman, and maybe a seasonic power supply. And how about the GPU?

 

I think he already has a Geforce 8800GTS.

 

Anyway, I would recommend a Xeon X3350 over the Core 2 Quad Q9450 since they are nearly (if not exactly) the same, and the Xeon comes in a retail box with a heatsink and fan (and it can be cheaper too, for some reason). But since you are getting an aftermarket cooler, the retail box doesn't really matter...

 

And because these 45 nm CPUs are relatively cool compared to their 65 nm counterparts, unless you are doing extensive overclocking, a less powerful, cheaper, and quieter heatsink can suffice.

 

The rest of the system looks awesome. Sometimes, like in http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820144079, you can get 8 GB of RAM for under $200, so you might consider it. I don't think that paying $164 for 4 GB is the wisest option.

[bozman]

Thanks all for the input...

 

I am partial to PC Power & Cooling PSU's. I have NEVER had one fail or not deliver the goods in the 12 or so PC's I have built for myself and others. I will look at the Seasonic however and look for some reviews. Thanks.

 

The Zalman heatsink/fan I know I will not have interference problems with on this motherboard from the reviews I have read. I will see if the alternate you mentioned is also compatible in terms of space.

 

I have a BFG 8800 GTS. That will suffice for now and when Nvidia releases their new parts, I will get the latest and greatest (I have a 8800 GTS in my current machine, a 7900 GT and a 6800 GT sitting around in boxes... is there a trade forum in here where I may be able to pass some of these along to someone who can use them?).

 

I will look into the Xeon again... But the price and cache on that quad core is a good one (did not really look at the Xeon and the processor I selected is a retail part with a heatsink/fan and thermal tape included. However, it is a clip style heatsink/fan and I hate those)

 

The memory I selected is a decent overclocker and it is 8 gigs worth... 2 packs of 2 sticks with 4 gigs each stick.

 

If I do decide to go with any alternates after I research these items, I will let you know.

 

I will be ordering tomorrow and building next weekend (all parts are in stock).

 

I will have picks of the build, but because I have never installed a Mac OS on a PC, I may need some assistance. After that, I will post benchmarks for both XP and OSX.

 

Thanks again.... and please, continue to comment.

 

The "Boz"

[Spol]

You won't have any interference problems with the thermalright Ultra-120 and DS4, I have a Ninja which is way bigger than the thermalright. For the PSU I still suggest you to go for seasonic, they are a very respected brand, they also manufacture PSU for Corsair. Their PSUs are reliable, cool and quiet. If you shop around maybe you could find a Enermax EMD625AWT for the price of a seasonic, this PSU is suggested over the best seasonic.

[bozman]

Spol...

 

Thanks for all of the information.

 

I have decided to stay with PC Power & Cooling on the PSU. I love these things and am going to stick with what I know and what has treated me well.

 

On the heatsink however, I am looking at a 3rd option someone turned me onto. I am looking at the following:

 

HDT-1283

 

What do you all think of this?

 

Regards...

 

The "Boz"

[Purple Puppy]

Spol...

 

Thanks for all of the information.

 

I have decided to stay with PC Power & Cooling on the PSU. I love these things and am going to stick with what I know and what has treated me well.

 

On the heatsink however, I am looking at a 3rd option someone turned me onto. I am looking at the following:

 

HDT-1283

 

What do you all think of this?

 

Regards...

 

The "Boz"

 

That heatsink looks huge (and furthermore in the Newegg comments, it covers 2 RAM slots which means that you won't be able to fit all your 8 GB onto your motherboard after you use that heatsink)! I don't think that the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 needs such a huge heatsink unless you are overclocking it immensely plus running certain programs which cause the CPU to be at 100% load for hours (like I do). A conventional cheap heatsink such as the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro would be sufficient for the Q9450.

 

and although I would recommend the Enermax 625W heatsink that Spol recommended, I found that PC Power & Cooling seems to be part of OCZ, which is a pretty well-known company and thus should be pretty trustworthy....

[CLiDE FTW!!1]

I never knew sound blaster stuff worked in OS X

[bozman]

Purple Puppy... I just confirmed that the HDT-1283 will not interfere with the memory slots or any of the north bridge cooling pipes. I found pictures on the net with this board and heatsink/fan installed. All looks very good with respect to it fitting in the case and not interfering with the motherboard slots.

 

Killa... on the wiki it appears that most, if not all USB sound cards work. This is a USB sound card, so I am giving it a go.

 

My system components have been ordered and should be here by Friday... I have taken next Friday off and will begin building it when all the stuff arrives.

 

Thanks all and I will keep you up to date with the build.

 

Regards,

 

The "Boz"

[CLiDE FTW!!1]

Killa... on the wiki it appears that most, if not all USB sound cards work. This is a USB sound card, so I am giving it a go.

Relatively old thread, though, he didn't clarify if it was USB or internal:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=39882

 

A new thread that no one has answered:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=102500

 

I'd say, proceed with caution. Don't throw out the box. I just don't want to see you disappointed.

[bozman]

Killa... Thanks.

 

I guess if it does not work, then I will box it back up and see if I can return it. If not, I can try to sell it off to someone or keep it for use with a laptop.

 

I made a mistake and got this product confused with another creative product that shows as compatible on the wiki.

 

Reading the wiki, looks like the onboard sound may work with my motherboard with a simple patch, but this was going to be my back-up if the patch did not work.

 

Well, 1 mistake in a system build is not bad... Considering this new system couldn't be touched by a system builder like Dell, Gateway, eMachines, Alienware, etc. for the price this one is going to cost me.

 

Thanks again...

 

The "Boz"