Building Mac Pro/ Gaming PC

[kmkarim]

Hey guys, So im thinking of buying a hackintosh Mac Pro in october and was just going over the parts. I think i got evreything down except the motherboard so what motherboard would you guys recommend to go with these parts:

 

Intel Core 2 Quad: Q6600

DDR2 RAM - 800 or 1066

Video card: 8800 GS, GTS, GTX (still trying to find the best bang for buck here)

PSU: Corsair TX750 or 650

 

Ideally I would prefer to have a motherboard that dosent give me problems with install osx86 so its pretty much put in kalyway and im done or Boot 132 with no problems. So what would you guys recommend? (Right now i was thinking of the EP45-DS3R would this be my best choice? Im hopinh to do some casual FCP on the hackintosh)

 

Thanks,

 

kmkarim

[JBLanteigne]

Here's a list of the components that are compatible with the EFI-X. The reason I'm giving you that list is because I believe that if a component works well with the EFI-X, it has even more chances to easily work with osX86.

 

Now, considering your parts, I wouldn't go under DS3R.

 

maybe the DS4 or DQ6 would be good choices for you.

[SunDevil2008]

Hey guys, So im thinking of buying a hackintosh Mac Pro in october and was just going over the parts. I think i got evreything down except the motherboard so what motherboard would you guys recommend to go with these parts:

 

Intel Core 2 Quad: Q6600

DDR2 RAM - 800 or 1066

Video card: 8800 GS, GTS, GTX (still trying to find the best bang for buck here)

PSU: Corsair TX750 or 650

 

Ideally I would prefer to have a motherboard that dosent give me problems with install osx86 so its pretty much put in kalyway and im done or Boot 132 with no problems. So what would you guys recommend? (Right now i was thinking of the EP45-DS3R would this be my best choice? Im hopinh to do some casual FCP on the hackintosh)

 

Thanks,

 

 

kmkarim

 

 

I have the EP-45 DS3R and it worked great OOB. No need to configure Firewire or LAN. Audio needs some work, but it is way easy. I was in the same situation as you, I wanted to build a good mac and a semi good gaming machine for about 1200. Here is what I went with:

 

EP45-DS3R Mobo

4x2gb Corsair 800mhz Dominator Ram (8GB total)

Intel Core2Duo E8500 3.16Ghz, stock fan ( I picked this because it was affordable and I can always upgrade when quad prices drop)

EVGA 9800 GTX. Its worth the 185 bucks. I got QE/CI working with Aqua Mac's instructions.

500GB Seagate 7200 SATA (for the steal price of $69)

320GB WD 7200 SATA (for my mac partition)

Linksys W300N (that may be the wrong code) N wireless.

Antec Sonita III case w/500W PSU (i need to upgrade)

Antec vCool fan for 9800gtx card

Samsung DVD-rw SATA

Antex 120 LED front fan. Now this blows, I bought the fan for 13.99 and found out my video card is too big for the fan to be placed in there. I couldnt take the sucker back and its too cheap to sell on ebay, so I had to rig it in there with some tape. Made ghetto

 

 

Nonetheless, the machine is fast. Geekbenched recently to 4300.

[vbetts]

8800GT is $110. For that price, you CAN'T go wrong. The q8200 is about $20 to $30 more than the q6600, and has a higher fsb, and is 45nm versus the q6600 65nm.

[kmkarim]

Hrm, the only difference I could find between the EP45-DS3R and the DQ6 is that the DQ6 supports more RAM and has more PCI slots Are they any other major differences?. Also on ncix.com when I search DS3R the first 4 motherboards (http://www.ncix.com/search/?categoryid=0&q=DS3R) all seem to be realtivley the same. Is there much of a difference and will they all work will with osx86? Also with the 8800GT is it possible to get QE/CI working with relative ease?

 

 

Thanks Again,

 

kmkarim

[glitch-meister]

EP45-DS3R Mobo

4x2gb Corsair 800mhz Dominator Ram (8GB total)

Intel Core2Duo E8500 3.16Ghz, stock fan ( I picked this because it was affordable and I can always upgrade when quad prices drop)

EVGA 9800 GTX. Its worth the 185 bucks. I got QE/CI working with Aqua Mac's instructions.

500GB Seagate 7200 SATA (for the steal price of $69)

320GB WD 7200 SATA (for my mac partition)

Linksys W300N (that may be the wrong code) N wireless.

Antec Sonita III case w/500W PSU (i need to upgrade)

Antec vCool fan for 9800gtx card

Samsung DVD-rw SATA

 

SunDevil, I was curious what install guide/process you used to get this system running?

 

Oddly enough the system I've ordered is almost exactly the same as yours (mobo, memory, CPU, video, hd's) and after spending nearly 2 days sifting through these and other forums, I'm still left wondering what will work with the components that I have.

 

I'd like to go as VANILLA as possible.

 

Any tips/pointers/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

----- [EDIT] -----

So, after doing a little searching (specifically through your posts) I came across this link (Hackintosh Tutorial: Install a Mac Leopard OS X Retail DVD on a PC) which was the gold nugget I was hoping to find (THANKS menoob!)

 

I was hoping you had a minute to answer a few questions for me:

1. I purchased a retail Leopard DVD, except it's already 10.5.4. Do you think this will cause any problems?
   
2. Were you able to resolve the issue you had with the 9800 GTX fan?
   
3. I intend to do a dual boot system with XP Pro 64 bit using 2 drives, are you aware of any caveats for this?
   
4. Are there any other things that you stumbled upon that might help me out?
   

I'll be getting all the components on Friday and assembling the computer that night and (fingers crossed) will be starting the Hackintosh build shortly after that. (This weekend is going to be one wild ride!)

 

Thanks for any help!

[SunDevil2008]

SunDevil, I was curious what install guide/process you used to get this system running?

 

Oddly enough the system I've ordered is almost exactly the same as yours (mobo, memory, CPU, video, hd's) and after spending nearly 2 days sifting through these and other forums, I'm still left wondering what will work with the components that I have.

 

I'd like to go as VANILLA as possible.

 

Any tips/pointers/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

----- [EDIT] -----

So, after doing a little searching (specifically through your posts) I came across this link (Hackintosh Tutorial: Install a Mac Leopard OS X Retail DVD on a PC) which was the gold nugget I was hoping to find (THANKS menoob!)

 

I was hoping you had a minute to answer a few questions for me:

1. I purchased a retail Leopard DVD, except it's already 10.5.4. Do you think this will cause any problems?
   
2. Were you able to resolve the issue you had with the 9800 GTX fan?
   
3. I intend to do a dual boot system with XP Pro 64 bit using 2 drives, are you aware of any caveats for this?
   
4. Are there any other things that you stumbled upon that might help me out?
   

I'll be getting all the components on Friday and assembling the computer that night and (fingers crossed) will be starting the Hackintosh build shortly after that. (This weekend is going to be one wild ride!)

 

Thanks for any help!

 

I had retail 10.5.4 and there was not one problem.

As for the fan, no. I have been following Aqua Mac's postings but I have not been able to find a work around. I bought an Antec VCool fan that fits in a expansion slot under the graphics card and it sucks cool air from the outside and blows it onto the gfx fan. I also made sure there was proper ventilation in the case (2x120mm fans, arctic silver 5, after market heatsink for cpu) Again, these are not fixes, but they need to be done considering the 9800gtx's fan problems.

 

Good luck with everything. Have fun.

 

Hint of advice: TIME MACHINE!!!! USE IT! back everything up before you start f-ing with kexts.

 

QUESTION: What BIOS are you using. I am currently on f5, but people said they are having a lot of luck with f8.

[mrbrick]

Good thread.

 

This is helping me a lot right now.

 

After researching for a few days I came up with a list very similiar to what you have built Sun Devil.

 

My ultimate goal here isn't gaming (though Im sure Ill install a game from time to time) but Video work (so FCP, After Effects, Shake, Color ect..) along with 3D (3ds max on my windows side and Modo + Lightwave on the mac side). So Im thinking I might be able to go with an 8800 and avoid the fan issue (which I didnt realize was a problem till reading this thread).

 

My hard drive set up will be different. 2 500 gig drives for work storage- and 2 320 gig gives for OSX and Vista respectively.

 

Thanks for the info! Im coming in at just under $1200 CND off of Newegg

[JaE-V]

Great board go for it, i'm up and running perfectly. However on my pc gaming side i need more video memory for my 28". Purchasing a new card soon, 9800GT anyone? lol