mATX HTPC hackintosh build

[jedmitchell]

So, after helping my friends build an iMac-class hackintosh for editing, I'm sold that they can run stable and consistent even with some very weird hardware. The experience also managed to pull me away from Windows and remind me of why I like OSX so much. To this end, I'm going to take a crack at a cheap, small, and hopefully close to silent mATX based HTPC running Leopard.

 

Hardware:

 

GA-G31M-S2L motherboard -- $59

 

hec 7KJ9 slimline case -- $39

 

E5200 CPU -- $85

 

8400GS fanless low-profile GPU -- $20

 

2 x 1Gb PC6400 memory -- $18!

 

Wiimote! -- $40

 

Bluetooth dongle? -- $13

 

Random optical drive I already have -- $0

 

HDD from my stack of SATA drives -- $0

 

Relative subtotal: $271, maybe up to $300 depending on what rebates are available when I purchase.

 

Questions:

 

I'm still on the fence about the mobo; whether I want to stick with the G31 for 45nm support or whether I should just scrap it for a P965 board and pick out an older C2D (E2180?), saving myself $40 or so in the process. Since I'm not using the onboard video it shouldn't make much difference, but I do like the power/thermal efficiency of the Penryn. There also isn't a documented case (that I've found) proving that the E5200 will actually run OSX, but I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't, considering its lineage. If anyone wants to comment on this logic, by all means do so. One caveat is that I want Gigabit Ethernet to stream from my DNS-323 (this part of the setup is already tested and works fine).

 

I'm going to try to go as close to fanless as possible -- depending on how the included hec PSU sounds I'll either replace it or just try to play with the temperature in other ways, but this machine will live in a room with a spectacular pair of speakers (Mach One 4024s!) and I don't want any ambient hum if I can avoid it. So if anyone has a recommendation for an alternative silent PSU I'm all ears.

 

I'm also unsure about using the onboard audio. Because I'm driving an all analog, 2 channel sound system I don't care about digital outputs, but if the sound quality itself is poor I may have to spring for a discrete sound card, though I'd rather not if I can avoid it. More components = more heat to dissipate = more noise.

 

For control I was initially thinking about using an Apple IR remote to control the setup, but after reading about the Darwiin project and Remote Buddy I bought a Wiimote and I'm going to go with a Bluetooth dongle to power it. I was hoping to find an internal BT solution, but the dongles are just very cheap.

 

I'm also going to rig up some IRLEDs for the Wiimote and play with using it as a pointing device. I've already ordered the Wiimote so I'll post the results of that test (with my MB) first.

 

If anyone is interested in following this thread let me know if there's an obvious mistake in my hardware layout. I'm hoping to order the core components sometime next week.

 

Thanks,

Jed

[PeterHaas]

I'm still on the fence about the mobo; whether I want to stick with the G31 for 45nm support or whether I should just scrap it for a P965 board and pick out an older C2D (E2180?), saving myself $40 or so in the process. Since I'm not using the onboard video it shouldn't make much difference, but I do like the power/thermal efficiency of the Penryn. There also isn't a documented case (that I've found) proving that the E5200 will actually run OSX, but I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't, considering its lineage. If anyone wants to comment on this logic, by all means do so. One caveat is that I want Gigabit Ethernet to stream from my DNS-323 (this part of the setup is already tested and works fine).

 

I'm also unsure about using the onboard audio. Because I'm driving an all analog, 2 channel sound system I don't care about digital outputs, but if the sound quality itself is poor I may have to spring for a discrete sound card, though I'd rather not if I can avoid it. More components = more heat to dissipate = more noise.

 

A GA-G31M-S2L is an excellent choice. It was my very first Hackintosh, although I have now graduated to the GA-P35-xxx series for much greater OC-ing flexibility.

 

An E2180 is fine, too, although an E2200 is only $5 more at the "usual suspect" places.

 

(I bought an E2200 just to back-fill into one of my two Shuttles, so I can move a C 2 Q Q6600 or a C 2 D E8500 into the P35).

 

As you probably know, these are really Core 2 processors, but with one-half the L2 cache of a Core 2-branded processor. Intel has been erroneously branding these as "Pentium Dual Core", but these are true Core 2s, and are recognized as such by the "usual suspect" installers, but not by Apple's installer.

 

Try a 8169 gigabit E-net card. The 8169 is native to MacOS, and has been for years now.

 

The on-board audio is no problem with Taruga's patcher.

[hoyanf]

A GA-G31M-S2L is an excellent choice. It was my very first Hackintosh, although I have now graduated to the GA-P35-xxx series for much greater OC-ing flexibility.

 

An E2180 is fine, too, although an E2200 is only $5 more at the "usual suspect" places.

 

(I bought an E2200 just to back-fill into one of my two Shuttles, so I can move a C 2 Q Q6600 or a C 2 D E8500 into the P35).

 

As you probably know, these are really Core 2 processors, but with one-half the L2 cache of a Core 2-branded processor. Intel has been erroneously branding these as "Pentium Dual Core", but these are true Core 2s, and are recognized as such by the "usual suspect" installers, but not by Apple's installer.

 

Try a 8169 gigabit E-net card. The 8169 is native to MacOS, and has been for years now.

 

The on-board audio is no problem with Taruga's patcher.

 

Just to note that E2xxx is not totally Core 2, if you were to run VMWare Fusion you wont be able to run 64bit Guest Machine as it's not supported by the CPU.

 

Overall it just runs fine...

 

To me it's just Intel making money out of you... ;)

[jedmitchell]

Just to note that E2xxx is not totally Core 2, if you were to run VMWare Fusion you wont be able to run 64bit Guest Machine as it's not supported by the CPU.

 

Right, I should really call it Core 1.5 Duo, or something else clever. Either way though I might stick with the E5200 just because it's within the $10-$15 striking range of the older E2XXX products and if I'm going to get a 45nm ready board anyway I may as well take advantage of the power/thermal savings. And really, I should try blazing a trail with at least one component in this build.

 

Try a 8169 gigabit E-net card. The 8169 is native to MacOS, and has been for years now.

 

The GA-G31M-S2L actually supports gigabit on board, I believe. At least according to the manufacturer specs it does. But I'll keep the 8169 in mind if this is not the case or I can't make it functional (though the 10.5.2 HCL looks promising on that front).

 

And thanks for the heads up on the Gigabyte board in general, PeterHaas -- I'll be picking it up this week I think. In the meantime look for my walkthrough on getting the Wiimote up and running with my MB in the next several days (soon as I kick this flu...).